MID-DAY MUSIC @ COLUMBIA
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
12-1pm | Garden Room 2 | Faculty House | 64 Morningside Dr.
Come join us in the Garden Room at Faculty House, where Students and Music Associates from Columbia University's Music Performance Program will be showcased in a noontime recital series.
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I
Prelude and Fugue No. 18 in g# minor, BWV 863
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2
I. Allegro vivace
II. Largo appassionato
III. Scherzo - Allegretto
IV. Rondo - Grazioso
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)
Variations sérieuses, Op. 54
Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)
Préludes, Book II
II. Feuilles mortes
VI. Général Lavine – eccentric
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1945)
Études-tableaux, Op. 39, No. 5
BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Erik Nielsen (CC'18) is a New York City-based pianist and composer of soundtracks and contemporary classical music. A Baltimore native, Thomas began taking piano and violin lessons at the Peabody Preparatory when he was five years old, setting down the violin at age twelve to focus on composing. After winning the Peabody Preparatory's highest honors in piano and composition, he decided to take a gap year, studying piano with Benjamin Pasternack and composition with Dr. Judah Adashi at the Peabody Conservatory. At the conclusion of his gap year, Thomas commenced college at Columbia University in New York; now a junior, he is majoring in Music and English Literature with a concentration in Chinese. Now mainly interested in soundtrack composition, Thomas in 2015 scored "Campground," a short-form motion picture, and "Ennui," a theatrical production written and produced by a fellow Columbia classmate. More recently, Thomas in 2016 collaborated with filmmaker Andrea Marquez on "Sound and No Story," a silent film paired with his music. Thomas remains passionate about composing concert music as well; his compositions have been performed by numerous professional and student ensembles and include works for chamber ensemble, symphony orchestra, and solo instruments. In 2011, his "Morceau" was recognized as a finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers' Competition. When he is not composing or at the piano practicing, Thomas enjoys curling up with a book of poetry, exploring New York City with friends, or finding a new coffee shop to try.
