Hanick masterfully spins a night of modern American piano music

"This concert could have been a CD. That’s not a joke, but high praise."

Excerpts from New York Classical Review

By George Grella

Pianist Conor Hanick’s solo recital Tuesday night for Merkin Hall’s “Piano Dialogues” series would make a terrific recording. This fine musician played a program entirely of contemporary American music, and the overall judgement, focus, and skill is something one would love to be able to hear again.

Hanick even played this as something close to an album, without intermission and a minimum of pauses—most for applause—between the pieces. The shape and sequencing of the program too, with strong edges of music from Julius Eastman and Adrian Knight to start, and Charles Ives’ Three-Page Sonata to finish, then some softness in new works from Matthew Aucoin and Samuel Carl Adams in the middle, also gave this a strong album (or even playlist) fine shape.

Hanick was at his best in the Ives sonata. Probably the most technically challenging work of the evening, his playing was exceptionally clear and commanding. Conceptually difficult as well, Hanick was expert in all the simultaneous phrases, rhythms, and moods. In the “Allegro moderato” he was accompanied by an uncredited bells player—following Ives’ suggestion—in the balcony, and he switched with verve and aplomb between the mystical opening music to a typical jaunty, anarchic Ives march to close this fine evening.

Read review in full here.