Mark Clinton

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music Professor of Piano Mark Clinton’s Thursday, January 12, 2017 performance features the monumental opus posthumous A Major Sonata of Schubert (written two months before the composer’s death), and the epic Sixth Sonata of Prokofiev (the first of the composer’s so-called “War Sonatas” written during World War II). These are two “major” piano sonatas in the key of A major occupying important positions in the classical canon, but with diametrically opposed musical perspectives! The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall.

 The Schubert Sonata shows the composer at the height of his creative powers (although only months prior to his death in 1828), demonstrating an incredible optimism that is only occasionally tinged with anger and regret. The Prokofiev Sonata was written in 1940 and is a distinctly militaristic work which largely foreshadows the hardships and difficulties that were yet to come for the Russian people in World War II.

 Since entering the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory at age eight under the tutelage of Julian Martin, Mark Clinton has worked extensively with some of the world’s foremost pianists. This critically acclaimed pianist has been featured frequently on national radio and television broadcasts, including National Public Radio’s Performance Today and Monitor Radio. Critics have noted his “powerful performance [combined with] sublime lyricism” (Salisbury Daily Times), the “…drive and security of his pianism” (Baltimore Sun), and his “luminous, concentrated playing” (Washington Post). He has appeared throughout the United States as a soloist with numerous orchestras.