Kenny Broberg. Photography: Jeremy EnlowPianist Kenny Broberg will perform at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Sunday, March 27, as part of the UAB Piano Series.
The UAB Piano Series, presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music, brings the world’s finest pianists to Birmingham. Distinguished Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence Yakov Kasman, DMA, a Van Cliburn medalist, directs the series. Performances are held in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
Broberg is the winner of the 2021 American Pianists Award and the Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship. He is a silver medalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and a bronze medalist in the 2019 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. Broberg has won prizes at the Hastings, Sydney, Seattle and New Orleans international piano competitions, becoming one of the most decorated and internationally renowned pianists of his generation, according to his biography.
On the program for his UAB Piano Series performance are Medtner’s Op. 39 (1-5) “Forgotten Melodies”; Fauré’s Nocturne No. 7 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 74 and Barcarolle No. 8 in D Flat Major, Op. 96; and Schumann’s Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17.
The performance will be at 4 p.m. in the Alys Stephens Center’s Reynolds-Kirshbaum Concert Hall. Tickets are $15; $5 for students through grade 12 and UAB employees; and free to UAB students. For tickets, visit AlysStephens.org.
Broberg continues to build a reputation as “one of the most intelligent and intense artists on the concert stage today” (Theater Jones), with fresh interpretations complemented by a natural, honest stage presence. The Minneapolis native first came to international attention when he captured the silver medal at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, with performances marked by “an imaginative shaping of themes, revelation of inner voices, and an unfailing sense of momentum” (Texas Classical Review). Crediting his first exposure to classical music to his Italian grandfather’s love of the “Three Tenors,” Broberg began piano lessons on his family’s upright piano at age 6.