Alumnus Mark Robson’s Piano Spheres performance praised by the L.A. Times

Pianist and USC Thornton alumnus Mark Robson (MM ’89) presented an adventurous program as part of REDCAT’s Piano Spheres series at REDCAT last month, featuring works by Stockhausen, Glass, and Rihm. Robson also premiered new work by the Los Angeles composer Daniel Rothman.

Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times described Robson’s Piano Spheres performance as “magnificent.” Of Robson’s take on Wolfgang Rihm’s 1975 Klavierstück No. 5 (“Tombeau”), Swed wrote, “Robson’s unflashy yet monumental technique found unsuspected colors in shades of gray, and simply watching his hands overwhelm the keyboard proved, in itself, enlivening.”

The Piano Spheres series was founded in 1994 by former USC faculty member Leonard Stein along with four of his former USC students, including Robson. The 2016/17 season will be rounded out by alumni Vicki Ray, Susan Svrček, and the HOCKET duo, which features Composition DMA candidate Thomas Kotcheff and faculty member Sarah Gibson.