Collaboration and innovation inspire this performance, in which Alden Gatt brings new life to rarely heard Satie repertoire with the imaginative gestures of mime artist Laine Barton, and the forward-thinking jazz harmonies of Chopin's Nocturnes are revealed through the glosses of saxophonist/flutist Jay Rodriguez. Alden's experimental settings of the mystical poetry of Rumi will be performed with a stellar ensemble including Arooj Aftab and Aida Shahghasemi.

About the Artist:

Alden Gatt, a twenty-two year old pianist from Naples, Florida, began his musical training at age eight. Before graduating from high school, Gatt won top awards in many local and regional piano competitions, including the Turiel Prize in the Naples Music Club, and since won the Southwest Florida Concerto Competition and had the honor of performing Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto with the Southwest Florida Symphony. Alden is committed to exploring 20th and 21st century repertoire, and recently performed Crumb’s epic cycle for prepared piano, Makrokosmos, in Kilbourn Hall and in the Geneva Opera House.

Alden believes that classical musicians, as the inciters of imaginative thinking and truth-seeking, have the power to catalyze significant social change. This belief informs every manifestation of his work, from community outreach projects and private lessons to innovative recital programs.

Alden lived in Beijing with a Chinese family during his junior year of high school, studying Mandarin and modern Chinese society. He returned to Beijing in the summer of 2007 to take further immersion courses through Princeton University, and recently attended the Beijing International Music Festival Academy as a simultaneous translator for piano professor Barry Snyder’s masterclasses.

Alden graduated with honors from the Eastman School of Music with a B.A. in Piano Performance and a minor in Chinese from the University of Rochester. He currently resides in Brooklyn, where he teaches piano and continues to pursue a career in performance.