Ukiah Symphony "Romantic Masters: Frank Wiens, piano"

Piano Concerto in d minor, Op. 15
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
1. Maestoso 2. Adagio 3. Rondo: Allegro non troppo

INTERMISSION

Symphony No. 1 “Spring” in B-flat Major, Op. 38
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
1. Andante; Allegro molto vivace 2. Larghetto 3. Scherzo: Molto vivace 4. Allegro animato

SPONSORS
Dr. Larry Falk & Dr. Margaret Arner | Dr. Andrew I. Corbett DDS, MS, Inc. | Pacific Redwood Medical Group

Frank Wiens is a concert pianist who makes his home in Stockton, California. He has toured the United States annually in recital and with orchestra since 1974.

Mr. Wiens gave his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1984. His London recital debut took place in May of 1986. He made his European continental debut in Vienna, Austria in May of 1987 at the Brahmssaal of the Musikverein. Other international performances have included a concert tour of the Soviet Union, two such tours of South Korea, and engagements in Romania and Poland.

Frank Wiens won first prize in the North American Young Artists Competition and the Southwest Pianists Foundation Competition. He has performed as soloist with the Atlanta, Denver and Detroit Symphonies, and has been a touring artist with the Iowa Arts Council and the California Arts Council.

In the 1990-91 season Mr. Wiens returned to New York with an all-Prokofieff recital in celebration of the 100th anniversary of that composer’s birth. Mr. Wiens was invited to tour the Soviet Union in April of 1991 in numerous solo and orchestral engagements as part of the celebrations of the centennial in the composer’s native land. In addition he was featured in a lecture-recital on the Prokofieff piano sonatas at the national convention of the Music Teachers National Association in Miami. He closed the season with this lecture-recital at the Gina Bachauer International Competition and Festival in Salt Lake City, where he served as a member of the international jury for the competition.

In the fall of 1994 Mr. Wiens travelled to Bratislava, Slovakia, to record a compact disc including the Rachmaninoff Third Concerto with the Slovakia National Orchestra and the Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 1. The CD was released internationally in 1995 on the Fanfare-Intersound label.

Late in 2006, Frank Wiens appeared as soloist with the Orchestra “Dinu Lipatti” in Romania, and gave a pair of recitals devoted to the music of Chopin at the Chopin Academy and at the Lazienki Palace on Water in Warsaw, Poland.

A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Frank Wiens received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan, where he was awarded the Stanley Medal, that school’s highest award for musical excellence. He has taught at Drake University and, since 1976, at the University of the Pacific, where he holds the position of Professor of Piano.

In 1997 he was honored with the University of the Pacific’s Distinguished Faculty Award, and in 2000 with the university’s Faculty Research-Lecturer Award. In 2009 he was the recipient of the Stockton Arts Commission’s award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

His performance with the Ukiah Symphony in May of 2018 will be his third appearance as soloist with that orchestra. He has performed the Brahms D Minor Concerto in the past with the Atlanta and Stockton Symphonies.

Mr. Wiens lives in Stockton with his wife, mezzo-soprano Lynelle Frankforter Wiens. In his spare time he enjoys playing golf and trying his hand at gourmet cooking.
All season concerts are open seating and held at Mendocino College Center Theatre, 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah, CA 95482. Parking is free. An entrance ramp, wheelchair seating and listening devices are available at the theater. All music subject to change without notice.