presenting

ALEX MCDONALD, piano

in a recital of works on the theme of water by Franz Liszt

SUNDAY, APRIL 12 at 3:00 PM
GREAT HALL
FREE COVERED PARKING AND ADMISSION

RECITAL PROGAM AND NOTES

Alex McDonald has been described as “an archetypal American pianist: great technique, spacious sound…” (Fort Worth Weekly), containing the “full gamut of technique and musicianship… consistent in quality and virtuosity” (Salt Lake Tribune). The Miami Herald praised his “tender poetry” in addition to his “blazing firepower.” New York Concert Review, Inc. lauded how he “seemed to wash the blood, sweat, and tears from the stage.” Praised for his “rich, singing line… Complex rhythms” and “gorgeous sounds” as well as how he “showed how silences and sprays of notes could be equally propulsive” by nola.com, TheaterJones.com has likewise praised a recent performance as “deeper than lush and more timeless than merely moving.” McDonald has performed as soloist with orchestras since his debut at age 11, including the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, the Yucatán Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Fort Worth and Utah Symphony Orchestras. He has performed across the United States, Israel, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, and has been featured on PBS, WRR, NPR, and WQXR. Awards and fellowships include second prize at the 2007 New Orleans International Competition, and second prize at the 2001 Gina Bachauer International Young Artist Competition. He was a competitor in the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition. An active chamber musician, McDonald directed and performed in “Music for Animals,” hailed by TheaterJones.com as one of its Concerts of the Year for 2016. His students have been admitted to Juilliard, Colburn, Eastman, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, have won top prizes at national and international competitions. have soloed with the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphonies, have performed at Carnegie’s Weill Hall, and have appeared on the From the Top radio program. McDonald is artistic director of the Mozart Academy of North Texas Chamber Orchestra. He received his pre-college training under Lois Nielson, his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance under Russell Sherman, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Juilliard under Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin. His doctoral document, a source study on manuscripts and editions for Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, has been cited in the a recent edition of the sonata by Alfred Publishers, edited by Nancy Bricard. The Texas Music Teacher’s Association awarded him its 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award, and he was inducted into Steinway’s Teacher Hall of Fame in New York City in 2023. Visit mcdonaldmusicstudios.com.