Kenneth Broberg. Photo credit: Jeremy EnlowKenneth Broberg, silver medalist at the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will perform at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Sunday, April 8.
Presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music, the UAB Piano Series brings the world’s finest pianists to Birmingham. Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence Yakov Kasman, a Van Cliburn medalist, directs the series.
On the program for Broberg’s performance are Préude, Fugue et Variation, op. 18, by César Franck/Harold Bauer; Sonata in E Minor, op. 25, no. 2, “Night Wind” by Nikolay Medtner; Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911 by J.S. Bach; and Sonata for Piano, op. 26, by Samuel Barber.
The performance is set for 4 p.m. in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall. Tickets are $15 general admission, $5 for students through grade 12 and UAB employees, and free to UAB students. Call 205-975-2787 for tickets. Call 205-934-7376 or visit www.uab.edu/cas/music.
Texas Classical Review praised his Van Cliburn performances for “an imaginative shaping of themes, revelation of inner voices, and an unfailing sense of momentum.”
For his 2017-2018 debut season as Cliburn medalist, Broberg was engaged for a recital tour in Hawaii; a return to his alma mater, the University of Houston, for its annual International Piano Festival; and orchestra and recital engagements in Denver, New Orleans, West Palm Beach and other cities across the United States. In Europe, Broberg was scheduled to appear with the Rye Arts Festival and Hastings Philharmonic in the United Kingdom, and in recital in Italy. His debut solo album is set to be released by Decca Gold, as part of his competition prizes. Also a prizewinner of the Hastings, Sydney, Seattle and New Orleans international piano competitions, Broberg has previously performed as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic, Minnesota, Sydney Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Chamber, Fort Worth Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic orchestras, among others. His solo, chamber and concerto performances have been broadcast on NPR and ABC (Australia) radio, and several of his performances at the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition were included on CDs released on the Universal Music Australia label.
The first musician in his family, Broberg started piano lessons at age 6, when he was first fascinated by his mother’s upright — a wedding gift from her parents. He studied for nine years with Joseph Zins before entering the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree with Nancy Weems in 2016. He resides in Parkville, Missouri, under the guidance of 2001 Cliburn Gold Medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University.