Beginning on January 14, the Howland Chamber Music Circle will present its ninth annual Piano Festival, a series of three recitals by outstanding artists who will brighten our spirits this winter.

American pianist Jeremy Denk , already well known to the Chamber Music Circle’s audience, will open the series . He has gradually established a reputation as one of today’s most compelling young artists, with a wide-ranging, challenging repertoire. A 1998 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, he also won the 1997 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in June 2005. He has appeared as soloist at the Ravinia festival; with the San Francisco Youth Symphony; with the London Philharmonia, in Royal Festival Hall; and with the Juilliard Orchestra and Kurt Masur, in Avery Fisher Hall - a performance that was nationally broadcast on Performance Today.

He made a highly acclaimed New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in April 1997, as winner of the Juilliard Piano Debut Award; the Times reviewer described him as “a pianist with a searching mind.” A double degree (chemistry and piano) graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, he has tried to merge interests in literature and science with his performing career, and to create intellectually challenging, but still entertaining, programs.

His current performing repertoire ranges from these more standard works to Messiaen, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Kirchner, and Ives, and he maintains working relationships with a number of living composers. This season he will perform and record the Berg Chamber Concerto. For his concert at the Howland Center, Mr. Denk has chosen to play Bach’s Partita Nr. 3 and Prelude and Fugue in b minor, the “Davidsbuendlertaenze” by Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B minor.

The concert will take place on Sunday, January 14, at 4pm at the Howland Center, 477 Main Street, Beacon and, as usual, will be followed by a reception to meet the artist. The other two concerts in the series will feature the Austrian pianist Till Fellner, new to HCMC’s audience and a return by Andreas Haefliger, continuing his survey of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

Subscriptions to the series at $65 ($32 for students), or single tickets at $25 ($ 12 for students) can be reserved (reservations are highly recommended) by calling 297-9243. Further information on this and other presentations by the Chamber Music Circle can be found on its website at

www.howlandmusic.org