SNC:AGO RECITALISTS
Stephen Ackert, organ
Mykola Suk, piano: March 24, 2017
This recital was presented jointly by the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the UNLV School of Music
Dr. Stephen Ackert, a native of Wisconsin, completed his doctoral studies in organ at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He also studied at Oberlin College, Northwestern University, and the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where his teachers were Helmut Walcha and Maria Jaeger-Jung. From 1974 to 1978 he had the unique opportunity to work as a professional musician in Persia, serving as music advisor and resident keyboard artist of the National Iranian Radio and Television Network.
A resident of the Washington area since 1979, Ackert has performed organ and harpsichord recitals in many of its prime venues: the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the National Cathedral, and the German Embassy. In 2007 he undertook his eighth recital tour of historic concert halls and churches in Germany. As Head of the Music Department at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., (recently retired), Ackert administered the free Sunday weekly concerts from October through June. His lectures on interrelationships between music and art have been a part of the National Gallery's public programs since 1990. He has taught high school and junior high school music in Minnesota and Virginia, and served on the Board of Directors of the Arlington (Virginia) Symphony and the Rouhollah Khaleghi Orchestra.
Dr. Mykola Suk was born in Kiev, Ukraine into a musical family, and made his first public appearance at the age of eight. He gained international recognition as the winner of the First Prize and Gold Medal at the 1971 International Liszt-Bartok Competition in Budapest, Hungary. His international career has spanned four continents, performing in the most prestigious venues from the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory to Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York.
He has given recitals in countries of the former Soviet Union, France, Germany, England, Finland, Egypt, Mexico, United States, Canada, Korea, China, Mongolia and Australia. He has appeared as soloist with numerous leading orchestras, and his passion for chamber music has brought him to many distinguished chamber music festivals and collaborations throughout the world. Suk completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance at the Moscow Conservatory; he also holds a combined Bachelor/Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance, Pedagogy and Chamber Music from the Moscow State Conservatory. Before coming to the United States he served as Professor of Piano at the Kiev State Conservatory and Moscow State Conservatory. In the U.S. he has taught at the New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Columbia University, and the University of Southern Alabama. In 2001, Mr. Suk settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, taking responsibility for keyboard studies at the UNLV School of Music.
PROGRAM: Music of Johann Sebastian Bach: March 21, 1685 to July 28, 1750
Fantasy in G Minor, BWV 542
Ackert: organ
From The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II:
Prelude in C Major
Suk: piano
Fugue in C Major
Ackert: organ
Prelude in F Minor
Suk: piano
Fugue in F Minor
Ackert: organ
Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825
Suk: piano
Praeludium
Allemande
Corrente
Sarabande
Menuets I and II
Gigue
From The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Ackert: organ
Prelude in E-flat Major
Prelude in A-flat Major
From The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II
Prelude in C-sharp Minor
Suk: piano
Fugue in E Major
Ackert: organ
From The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Prelude in A Minor
Suk: piano
Fugue in A Minor
Ackert: organ