Into Silence: Unquiet Silence
Image credit: Streams and Mountains Without End (China, late Northern Song dynasty, Cleveland Museum)
Into Silence: Unquiet Silence
Register via Eventbrite.
In this recital-seminar, the internationally-renowned concert pianist Ji Liu will explore the role of silence in performance. Pairing works by Frederic Rzewski, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt and himself with movements from sonatas (in both finished and unfinished form) by Franz Schubert, he will invite participants to reflect on silence as creative act and maker of musical meaning.
The event will be chaired by Kate McLoughlin, Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and Co-Convenor of the Silence Hub.
Described as ‘a major talent’ by The Classical Source, Dr Ji Liu combines a distinguished and multi-faceted career as a pianist, composer, and scholar.
Biography:
Image credit: Kevin McDaid
As a soloist, Ji Liu has performed at major UK and international venues and festivals, including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre and Wigmore Hall in London; Carnegie Hall and 92nd Street Y in New York City; the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris; the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Verbier Festival and Gstaad Festival in Switzerland; the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival in Norway; and many of the major concert halls in China and the Far East. In 2021, Ji Liu gave the China Première of Philip Glass’s complete piano études.
He also performs frequently with orchestras across Europe and China. Ji Liu was soloist in the world premiere of Ludovico Einaudi's Piano Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2017, he performed for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and other distinguished guests at Dumfries House for Classic FM’s 25th anniversary.
Ji Liu is also a prolific recording artist. Highlights include his debut album Piano Reflections released by Classic FM, which reached number one on the UK charts, Piano Encores, Pure Chopin and Fire and Water.
As a composer, Ji Liu has composed works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble and solo instruments. His composition The Book of Hours, Sonata Fantasy, a work in 21 chapters that is eighteen hours in length, derived from his practice-led research in extended music and Schubert’s music. Guinness World Records certified the piece as the Longest Ever Released Instrumental Work. His research has been presented at major conferences and institutions such as the Orpheus Institute in Ghent and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Ji Liu studied Piano Performance with Professor Christopher Elton and Composition with Professor Ruth Byrchmore at the Royal Academy of Music. He holds a PhD in Music from King’s College London and is a Guest Professor at Shenzhen University. Since 2018 Ji Liu has served as Head of Performance at the Kent International Piano Course. He was elected an Associate (ARAM) at the Royal Academy of Music.
