Janice Carissa

Since her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 16, Indonesian pianist Janice Carissa has gone on to study at Curtis Institute of Music with a full scholarship. She's now undertaking her master's degree at The Juilliard School, while playing at the world's top concert halls with "the multicolored highlights of a mature pianist." (Philadelphia Inquirer) 

Opening with Busoni's transcription of Bach's iconic Toccata and Fugue in D minor, packed full of relentless rhythm and drive, Carissa then brings a rarer beauty: Rzewski's depiction of workers at a 1930s textile mill plant in Winnsboro, South Carolina. The piano creates a soundscape of industrial noises to reflect the repetitive looms of the cotton mills, which is punctured by bluesy sounds of the workers singing to overcome the monotony and hardship of such work. Character pieces by Brahms, a technically demanding but enchanting showpiece by Granados and an almost symphonic sonata by Scriabin complete the program.