Other Minds Presents PastForward: Piano Concerts with Gloria Cheng, Ralph van Raat, and Geoffrey Burleson
Other Minds is pleased to introduce a new concert series, PastForward, looking back at important works from the 20th century and their influence on today’s music. PastForward kicks off with two piano concerts this March and April in Oakland, California. On March 26, we’ll mark the centenary of the eminent French composer Pierre Boulez with a concert by the duo of Gloria Cheng and Ralph van Raat, and on April 5, Geoffrey Burleson will perform a program titled “From Antheil to Zappa” of forgotten mid-century masterpieces by American composers. Both concerts will take place at Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland. These concerts are presented in cooperation with the Center for Contemporary Music, Northeastern University and Mills Performing Arts.
On Wednesday, March 26 at 7:00 pm, Other Minds presents a celebration of the centennial of Pierre Boulez, comprising an inventive concert of music for two pianos played by Gloria Cheng and Ralph van Raat. The duo will perform selections from the composer’s rarely heard two-piano masterpieces Structures Books I and II, alongside music by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Frank Zappa, and Magnus Lindberg, concluding with Igor Stravinsky’s elegant neo-classical masterwork Sonata for Two Pianos.
On Saturday, April 5 at 7:30 pm, Geoffrey Burleson presents his solo piano recital “From Antheil to Zappa,” featuring forgotten mid-century masterpieces by American composers including such rarities as the Piano Sonata No. 12, “Mirror Sonata” (1982) by Vincent Persichetti, “Mirrorrorrim” (1931) by Gerald Strang, Music for Piano (1947) by Irving Fine, Piano Sonata No. 3 (1947) by Norman Dello Joio, Samuel Barber’s Four Excursions, Piano Sonata No. 2, “The Airplane” (1922) by George Antheil, as well as works by Frank Zappa, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and Herbie Nichols.
Charles Amirkhanian with Pierre Boulez onstage at the Exploratorium in San Francisco (1986). Photo by Susan Schwartzenberg.
Ralph van Raat and Gloria Cheng rehearsing for their March 26, 2025, performance in Oakland.
Geoffrey Burleson. Photo by Jazmin Fillion.
