MARK SALMAN, pianist

Pianist Mark Salman returns to premiere the 2006-2007 Season of the Helena Symphony with the mighty Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Emperor, of Beethoven.  He appeared last season in the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major.  Hailed as a “heroic virtuoso,” Mark Salman's performances have been described as “powerful,” “astonishing, exacting and evocative,” “dramatic,” “wildly imaginative” and “touchingly lyrical.” Of his performance of Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata one authority stated, “there are probably only five or six pianists in the world who can play [it] as perfectly.”

Mr. Salman’s performances have taken him to Europe, Asia, Canada and throughout the United States. He has performed in Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, has been the subject of profiles in The New York Times, and has been featured in numerous radio and television broadcasts in the U.S. and in China. His account of his meetings with and playing for Vladimir Horowitz appears in David Dubal's book, Evenings with Horowitz. Mr. Salman is a co-founder of the Delmarva Piano Festival in Lewes, Delaware, which recently completed its twelfth season. He has also performed at the Newport Music Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2005 in Seattle, Mr. Salman performed a series of eight recitals devoted to the works of Franz Liszt, entitled “The Piano Music of Franz Liszt - from the Ultra-Romantic to the Avant Garde.”  Mr. Salman is a Steinway artist. 

In addition to his wide-ranging repertoire, Mr. Salman is perhaps best known for his expertise on Beethoven, having performed the complete cycle of the thirty - two piano sonatas on both coasts as well as in 18 broadcasts on KING-FM in Seattle.

Mr. Salman's recordings include The Transcendental Piano, featuring works by Alkan, Beethoven, and Liszt on Titanic Records, Mozart’s Piano Concertos K. 488 and K. 503 with the Northwest Sinfonietta conducted by Christophe Chagnard on the Immortal Classics label, an all-Chopin CD on Great Composers, as well as American Interweave, featuring contemporary American works for cello and piano on Ambassador Records. Currently in production is Beethoven and his 32 Piano Sonatas - A Musical Universe, a sixteen-part video series featuring Mr. Salman’s performances of the complete sonata cycle, hosted by the noted author and commentator, David Dubal. Mr. Salman is also authoring a book of commentary and analysis on the Beethoven Sonatas. 

Mr. Salman is a native of Connecticut, where he began his studies at the age of eight and made his recital debut at eleven. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he studied with Richard Fabre and Josef Raieff. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for two years, where he concentrated on chamber music and composition, studying with the noted composer, John Harbison.