We're delighted to welcome back Mannes alum A Bu to The New School for a recital as part of the Mannes Summer Piano Festival!

Program:

A Bu - Invention No. 1 (World Premiere) 

Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101 – 20’
I. Etwas lebhaft, und mit der innigsten Empfindung. Allegretto, ma non troppo
II. Lebhaft, marschmäßig. Vivace alla marcia
III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll. Adagio, ma non troppo, con affetto
IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit. Allegro

A Bu - Improvisation 

Leonard Bernstein / A Bu - Overture to “Candide” (arranged for solo piano)

Intermission

A Bu - Three Unerased Impromptus, Op. 8 
I. Father
II. Like a Breeze Without a Scent
III. Sketch (at Neglia’s Piano)

Johannes Brahms - Ballades, Op. 10 
I. D minor. Andante
II. D major. Andante
III. B minor. Intermezzo. Allegro
IV. B major. Andante con moto

Friedrich Gulda - Prelude and Fugue

About A Bu:

Born in Beijing in 1999, A Bu is the First Prize and Audience Prize winner of the 2015 Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition. At age 13, he was invited by jazz pianist Chick Corea to perform a duet at Corea’s concert in Shanghai. That same year, he made his first jazz trio recording in Beijing.

Prior to moving to New York, A Bu attended the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where he received training as a classical pianist. He continued his classical music studies at the Juilliard School with distinguished pianist Hung-Kuan Chen and later pursued double-major in piano and composition at the Mannes School of Music, studying with the Chair of its piano department Pavlina Dokovska and American composer Lowell Liebermann.

As soloist, A Bu has performed with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Jazz Orchestra, Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, Nanchang Symphony Orchestra, Chengdu Symphony Orchestra, Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and others. He has performed at Foundation Louis Vuitton, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, FAZIOLI Concert Hall and many other concert venues.

Across the continuum of classical and jazz, A Bu has collaborated with many distinguished artists such as Herbie Hancock, Till Brönner, Igor Butman, James Morrison and with pianist Hélène Mercier, conductor Tsung Yeh and many more.

A Bu’s debut compositions under Schott Music Piano Sonata No. 1 “Pinus” and Fantasie “Sleeping in a Dream” Op. 7 can be heard on his latest studio recording New Memories, released by German label WERGO. His other compositions include pieces written for solo piano, chamber and orchestra.

Apart from his original music, A Bu frequently performs the music by Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020). As an advocate of the late composer, he gave the world premiere of Kapustin’s Nocturne, Op. 16, Minuet Op. 21and the New York premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 14. He is also the editor of the first Chinese edition of Kapustin’s solo piano works, published by Shanghai Music Publishing House in 2022.