Distinguished Artists Series: Kremlin-Buechner concerts Feb 4-5  

Perfect Music Storm Converges in Aptos

By Peggy Pollard

Aptos, CA -- Once every few decades comes a confluence of elements to create a perfect storm.

On February 4, 2012, three major forces of music will converge on the perfect stage in Aptos for such an extraordinary phenomena in the classical scene…

… for those who have ears to hear.

One of the top chamber orchestras in the world, will be joined by one of the top pianists in the world, who will perform on what is probably the finest piano on the West Coast, in a new, nearly perfect acoustical venue.

Twenty of the finest string virtuosos in Russia comprise the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Misha Rachlevsky Director. They will blow into town, landing at Cabrillo’s Crocker Theater, a new concert hall with near perfect acoustics, along Tschaikovsky Bronze Medal winner pianist Sara Davis Buechner, who will play on probably the finest piano on the West Coast, a Yamaha CFX grand for only its second public performance.

Rachlevsky would not predict for certain how the orchestra’s talents would pair with Buechner’s until rehearsals, but his forecast is: “judging by the credentials, it should be within "very good" to "excellent" range.”

At the center of this tornado is a quiet man who has been meddling with musical meteorology in this area for more than 40 years.

Dr. John Orlando, music professor, is founder and 26 years Executive Director of the Distinguished Artists Concert and Lecture Series.

“This is a major cultural event for Santa Cruz County and the biggest event in the history of the Distinguished Artists Series,” Orlando says.

Distinguished Artists Concert and Lecture Series

The mission of the series is “to bring together artists of international and local reputation … in projects… that reach a broad cross-section of the community.”

“What I want to do for our community is introduce them to the tremendous variety of piano music” Orlando explained on a recent sunny afternoon, as he surveyed the ocean view from his hillside home overlooking the Monterey Bay. He has two grand pianos in his white furnished living room, used for rehearsals with visiting performers.

He has made good use of them in DACLS. The series has brought in more than 150 world class pianists in the past three decades.

The barometer has been steadily dropping. Under Orlando’s navigation the DACLS kept its focus on piano, it has becoming one of the best piano performance series in California, he says. “We don’t always present the most famous, but they are certainly at the highest level of virtuosity, and also present interesting programs, not-often performed works, including world premieres, late Beethoven sonatas, as well as the traditional repertoire that everyone loves.”

 “We’ve gotten on the radar screen of the major music artist managements in the world” Orlando notes. “I receive offers from them for some of their best known people. The quality has really been exceptional. So we are able to present some of the finest piano virtuosos anywhere.”

“Now that we have this magnificent, moderate size venue with ideal acoustics, where everyone can see and hear so well -- the new Crocker venue is the ideal combination for high quality performances,” Orlando surmises.

With the addition of the new piano, the clouds began to gather.  In addition to Cabrillo College’s  Steinway Grand, Orlando donated the new Yamaha CFX, considered by many the finest piano ever made, in honor of his mother, who passed away in 2009.  In April 2010 the Juanita Orlando Memorial Concert Grand piano was inaugurated. It is now owned by the Aptos Community Foundation, of which Orlando is President.

“A marvel of engineering!” Orlando raves. “It has a beautiful singing tone and power that will cut through any orchestra, range from the softest pianissimo to roaring fortissimo and easy to play, responsiveness to touch is incredible. There’s nothing like it I’ve ever played.”

The Yamaha was a gift not only for the elite players to perform on, but for the people of the community.  “We want to make it available for great concert artists to perform in our area and also for talented local pianists for special occasions.” says Orlando. In conjunction with the performances, community members will be invited onstage to try out the Yamaha themselves.

CONVERGENCE OF MUSICAL FORCES

Orlando felt the wind whip up when he got a phone call from The Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, asking to perform at the Distinguished Artists Series during their world tour.

The orchestra has received the Critics Choice award from both the London Gramophone and the New York Times and have performed over 1400 concerts in 24 countries.

“We are fortunate to have them in Santa Cruz.” Orlando says “We couldn’t be happier.”

 He then called up Buechner, who had already been asking to perform in the DAS, feeling it would be an ideal partnering of talents. She was Gold Medalist in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and a Tscaikovsky competition Bronze Medalist. She has performed with many of the world’s prominent orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony as well as Santa Cruz and Monterey Symphonies. She plays on the Yamaha exclusively.

“This will be a major cultural event of the year,” Orlando predicts of the approaching acoustical storm.

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(Sidebar)

Not only the piano, but Orlando has also contributed his own share of musical talent to the community, no doubt helping Santa Cruz earn its ranking as the #5 city in the nation for number of artists per capita, according to The Atlantic magazine. (www.theatlanticcities.com)

Orlando himself being one of them.  He was one of the first Gail Rich Award for community service in the Arts in Santa Cruz Country, and was chosen Best College Teacher and Best Performer in Santa Cruz County by Good Times Weekly.

Orlando graduated summa cum laude with a PhD in Musical Arts performance from USC, He has held teaching positions at USC and Santa Clara University, is  instructor emeritus from Cabrillo College where he was head of the piano department for over 30 years. Orlando has performed with the San Jose, Santa Cruz country and Fresno Symphonie, Cabrillo Festival, and Intitute for the Development of Intercutural Relations for the Arts in Santa Cruz and has performed piano works written for him by Anthony Newman and George Barati on international tour. He is a founding member of Johannes Trio, toured with the Akademos Quartet, and performed with the San Francisco Sinfonietta.

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For Immediate Release                December 15, 2011

Press contact:  John Orlando, 1-831-539-0000  joorland@gmail.com 

Distinguished Artists Concert & Lecture Series, Aptos, CA,   www.distinguishedartists.org  

Now in its 26th year, the Distinguished Artists Concert & Lecture Series and the Yamaha Peninsula Music Center are proud to present one of the premier chamber orchestras in the world, a veteran of over 1400 concerts in 24 countries on an international tour coming to Santa Cruz County.

February 4 & 5, 2012

The Chamber Orchestra Kremlin     

featuring  pianist Sara Davis Buechner

Saturday, February 4, 8 pm.  At the new Cabrillo College Crocker Theatre

The virtuoso players of the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin with Sara Davis Buechner, Tchaikovsky Bronze medal winner, playing on one of the finest pianos in the world: the new Yamaha CFX nine-foot concert grand piano.

PROGRAM

Mozart’s charming Divertimento in D

Mozart’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 13

Tchaikovsky's luscious Serenade for Strings

Sunday, February 5, 7:30 p.m. Crocker Theatre:  Solo recital by Sara Davis Buechner on the Yamaha CFX.

PROGRAM

Haydn’s Sonata in E Flat, Hob. XVI:52

Von Weber’s Sonata in G Major, Op. 24

Turina’s Danzas Gitanas

Gershwin’s Foxtrots

TICKETS $25 - $45 purchase at www.ticketguys.com 831-656-9507 or www.BrownPapertickets.com or call John at 831-539-0000.

We are very proud to present one of the premiere chamber orchestras in the world and feature international star Sara Davis Buechner, who will play on possibly the finest piano ever made.

This is a major cultural event for Santa Cruz County and the biggest event in the history of the Distinguished Artists Series!!!  Don't miss one of the TOP cultural events of the YEAR!

Considered to be of the premiere chamber orchestras in the world the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin http://www.chamberorchestrakremlin.ru/indexorch.htm), under the direction of Misha Rashlevsky, has performed over 1400 concerts in 24 countries and received the Critics Choice award from both the London Gramophone and the New York Times.

Pianist, Sara Davis Buechner is a Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition Bronze medal winner and one of the top pianists in the world today. She has appeared with many of the world’s prominent orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony and our own Santa Cruz and Monterey Symphonies. http://saradavisbuechner.com/

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Chamber Orchestra Kremlin

Misha Rachlevsky’s lifetime affinity for chamber music and chamber orchestra repertoire began at the College of the Moscow Conservatory and the Gnessin Academy of Music. Born in Moscow, his violin studies began at the age of five and continued through the well-traveled path of the Russian school of string playing. After leaving the Soviet Union in 1973, he lived and worked in different countries on three continents, and in 1976 settled in the United States, becoming active in the field of chamber music.

Mr. Rachlevsky founded the New American Chamber Orchestra (NACO) in 1984, and led it to international prominence, completing nine European tours in four years. In 1989, Rachlevsky accepted an offer from the city of Granada, Spain—a two-year project under which NACO became the resident orchestra of Granada while, concurrently, Rachlevsky founded and led Granada's own chamber orchestra.

In 1991, in the heady aftermath of Moscow's momentous events of August 1991, Misha Rachlevsky found it impossible to resist an opportunity presented by Claves to record Russian works for this label. When Claves concurred with his suggestion to realize the project with Russian musicians, Rachlevsky called auditions, and Chamber Orchestra Kremlin was created.

About  Mozart’s “Divertimento in F major, K. 138”

Written in Salzburg in January 1772, Mozart’s Divertimenti K. 136-138 were scored for string quartet, and research suggests that they were composed in preparation for Mozart’s upcoming second journey to Italy. Most likely they were intended to be used as pleasant “filler” numbers for some occasions (a somewhat unsettling thought, but, nevertheless, true – these and other Divertimenti, as well as numerous Serenades and Cassations were written for and performed at garden parties and similar occasions as purely background entertainment – 18^th century elevator music, if you will). Researchers have also determined that the title Divertimento in the manuscript is not by Mozart’s hand.Today they are some of the most popular works in string orchestra repertoire. Thanks to the familiar “K” numbers which accompany Mozart titles (Kochel, in the second half of the 19^th century, made the first systematic catalog of Mozart’s works), we are reminded that 135 compositions preceded K. 136, including about a dozen operas and masses and some twenty symphonies. Around the time K. 136-138 were composed, Mozart was turning sixteen.

The Divertimento in F major, K. 138, is a bright, bubbling composition with spirited energy. “Mozart is never easy” is a cliche of course, but so true nevertheless. To verbalize the challenge of performing it is as much a challenge in itself. In most cases, I schedule this piece at the opening of the concert – as if offering a glass of champagne when guests arrive.

About Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings, Op. 48” (1880)

The music of Tchaikovsky creates an illusion that it arrived in this world absolutely effortlessly (like the music of Mozart, Tchaikovsky's favorite composer). It is indeed so at times, but far not always, and the supremacy of the results of his numerous revisions, from corrections to major rewrites, convincingly illustrate Tchaikovsky's saying that "the muse doesn't come without being called". The Serenade for String Orchestra (the correct Russian title, although in the West it is customarily called "Serenade for Strings"), written in a relatively short time in September - October 1880 (simultaneously with the 1812 Overture), was definitely one of those happy instances: ".. it poured from the heart" wrote Tchaikovsky. Another lucky moment was the immediate and unanimous success of this work.

The Serenade quickly rose to the top tier of the works Tchaikovsky was scheduling for the concerts he conducted himself, and under his baton was heard in many major European music centers as well as in his 1891 visit to the States, where he conducted it in Baltimore and Philadelphia. It seem that the composer himself was nearly embarrassed for the affection he felt for this work: (from his letter to Nadezhda von Meck, his pen-friend and patroness): "The first movement is my homage to Mozart, it is intended to be an imitation of his style, and I should be delighted if I thought I had in any way approached my model. Do not laugh, dear lady, at my zeal for standing up for my latest creation. Perhaps my parental feelings are so warm because it is the youngest child of my fancy".

While the whole composition is heard on a single breath, so to speak, the two inner movements are extraordinary. The Waltz is exquisite, and the Elegy is one of the most moving, heartfelt statements in music. Again, from Tchaikovsky's letter to Nadezhda von Meck: "It is often said that good actors never perform for a whole audience. They choose one person in the theater who appears to be a compassionate soul and perform the entire piece with the aim of pleasing only him or her". There are not too many scores that can rival this Elegy as a medium to address "a compassionate soul".

FAQ

The biggest drawback of touring for me, however, is in the abrupt termination of the emotional bond with the audience which we strive to establish. And it is especially regretful after the concerts in which we really "connect". … Happily, there have been some exceptions, and I very much hope to have more of them

Some performers offer quite limited repertoire for a given tour, or even a season, and have well founded arguments in support of this practice. The others prefer varying programs from concert to concert, also with good arguments in favor of this method. As for myself, I am a strong proponent of the latter and that, as you noticed, is well reflected in our repertoire policy.

And what about musicians in your orchestra, it seems that such approach necessitates a lot of extra rehearsing?
We all share the benefit of not worrying that our performances run the risk of become routine repetition of "last night’s gig"…. There are three major areas in our rehearsal process: learning new compositions and performing them for the first time; general "maintenance" work -- …; and relearning, or at times just retouching for the upcoming performances works from the repertoire we accumulated in our 9 years. Of those three tasks, the first two are really time consuming and often very tedious, the third, as a rule, is easier and always very enjoyable. So for us touring with large repertoire is not a burden, but quite the opposite.

recipe on how to select a good program?
Well, since you said "recipe", let me answer gastronomically, as if selecting menu for a dinner party: …consider the event as a whole. … first to determine "the main entree", and then select the rest accordingly. Don’t go over board with "everyone’s favorite dishes" – if there are too many of them, they will just fight with each other, none leaving a memorable impression. Don’t shy away from serving something new and unknown -- as long as it is of good quality and well prepared. …In my view, apart from performances themselves, the program selection process is actually the most enjoyable part of work for both, performers and presenters.

Do you specialize in any period, school or composer?
If one needs to attach a label of specialization, in our case it should read as follows: "This orchestra specializes in not performing music of the baroque period". Indeed, we do very little of it. The nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century account for the majority of our repertoire, but we do, of course, the classical and contemporary works as well.

Your favorite composer? Composition?
Well, it’s a cliche, but I believe it is true for all performing musicians: the favorite work is the one I am conducting now. Thanks to some protective devices Mother Nature instilled in us, there is no inner resistance to such polygamy. It is really true. Otherwise, our life would be quite miserable, and, by extension, that of our audience: "Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for taking two hours of your life and giving them to me and my orchestra. Now we shall perform for you a work which occupies the honorable 89th place in my list of favorite compositions".

REVIEWS

warm, full-blooded and virtuosic playing with colorfully shaped, gleaming phrases. …sweet-toned, lilting delicacy, with the violins particularly impressive. ….the players showed off their polished technique and tonal beauty

February 18, 2008

Chamber Orchestra Kremlin
Eclecticism …crazy quilts of diverse musical styles …anguished chords ….wryly spoofed dance forms, from ragtime to tango. …thoroughly absorbing -- especially when played with such warmth and tight ensemble

Gramophone,  London

What Misha Rachlevsky and his hand-picked players manage to convey, far more than rival recordings …is the sense of how much the music has had to overcome in order to come into being in the first place. … understated yet perceptive phrasing.

a forward-looking momentum…purges the music of confessional angst and substitutes inner resistance. …their inexorable drive makes them hair-raisingly intense; here is that feeling of the music beating inside your head which marks out the finest Shostakovich performances.

Rachlevsky has done a marvelous job on the Fifteenth Quartet. … succeeds better than most in suggesting sorrow drained to the bitterest dregs. …a terrifying beating of wings…

FANFARE, U.S.A.

The Chamber Orchestra Kremlin may be added to the list of first-rate small orchestras arising from the social turmoil in the former Soviet Union.

Rossini's … these performances go deeper than most, playing with the cantilena elements in an almost vocal manner, and getting some genuine bloom  into the central slow movements. Rachlevsky's string players are encouraged to luxuriate in instrumental tone in these expansive and subtly inflected readings which make most others sound underplayed.

The recording is roomy but not to excess, preserving the vivid character of this ensemble.

SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE

Superb Russian String Ensemble
By Heuwell Tircuit

uncanny musicality, precision and verve. …superb playing …

has drawn international praise everywhere from Glasgow to Tokyo, both for their concerts and for numerous recordings on the spiffy Swiss label, Claves. … Clearly this is one of the super ensembles on the current international scene.

Warm, Rich Ensemble

The sheer amount and velvety warmth of sound was thrilling. …superb balances between sections. …a stunning effect, largely due to the quality of the playing. These musicians are so terrific

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Sara Davis Buechner

Notes from Sara Davis Buechner on the Distinguished Artists Series performance --

“Of course I am delighted and excited to perform with the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, and will be intrigued to find out how my own conception of Mozart matches with that of such a fine ensemble.”

“The Yamaha CFX Piano is indeed a marvelous instrument, one of both power and grace, and I'm really excited to be playing it in Aptos. I'm sure it will make the Mozart sparkle.”

“You can never go wrong with choosing Mozart, of course, and I always enjoy playing his Concerto in C major KV 415. It's a rather unique piece, particularly in its final movement which veers freely between the sunny major and doleful minor keys - - quite experimental for its time. The piece also has a number of places where the pianist must do a little filling-in and even improvisation in Mozart's style, so that's always fun and challenging.”

“This December I have just played a recital in Kyoto, followed three days later by a recital in Lisbon. This necessitated my first "around-the-world" trip... Vancouver to Japan to Europe to Vancouver. As a child I imagined such travel to be very exotic and enjoyable. In reality it's only caused me enormous jet lag. Relief too, that my luggage has not been lost. But anyway, I can now brag to my friends, yes, I flew around the world.”

Current Areas of music I am exploring? “These days I am rather occupied with the picking-up of difficult virtuoso pieces that will keep my fingers in shape - - Weber's Sonatas, the Ravel Tombeau de Couperin, Etudes of Stravinsky and Liszt. I think that's because of the New Year coming up and a sense of making resolutions. To keep in shape! I'll probably re-join the local gym too, and get on that treadmill.”

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Pianist Sara Davis Buechner is one of the leading keyboard artists of our time. She has been praised on four continents for her “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (New York Times), “fascinating and astounding virtuosity” (Philippine Star), and “thoughtful artistry in the full service of music” (Washington Post). “Buechner has no superior” says Japan’s InTune magazine. Winner of a bouquet of prizes at the world’s great piano competitions -- Reine Elisabeth of Belgium, Leeds, Salzburg, Sydney and Vienna -- she established her early career with the Gold Medal of the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and a Bronze Medal in the 1986 Tschaikowsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. Now residing in Canada, Ms. Buechner enjoys a vibrant international performance and recording career.

Plays More Concertos Than Anybody Else, All Over The World

With an active repertoire of over 100 piano concertos ranging from A (Albeníz) to Z (Zimbalist), she has appeared as soloist with the world’s prominent orchestras: New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Montréal, Vancouver, Victoria; the CBC Radio Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic, City of Birmingham (U.K.) Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Kuopio (Finland) Philharmonic, Slovak Philharmonic and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (Spain). Audiences throughout the world have applauded Ms. Buechner’s recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Prague’s Dvorák Hall and Kyoto’s Alti Hall; and she enjoys a special following throughout Asia where she tours annually.

Recording Acclaim   Ms. Buechner’s numerous recordings have received prominent critical appraisal. The New York Times greeted her Koch International CD of piano music by Rudolf Friml as a “revelation,” and devoted the front page of its Sunday Arts & Leisure section to her world première recording of the Bach-Busoni “Goldberg” Variations. Her George Gershwin album was selected as a “Record of the Month” by Stereophile magazine, and her recording of Hollywood piano concertos by Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman won Germany’s Deutsches Schauplatten Preis for best soundtrack. Current projects include a multi-CD collection of Bach’s keyboard works in the 1919 edition of Ferruccio Busoni, the complete violin-and-piano music of Joaquín Turina, and the first major recording of piano music by American composer Ray Green. Ms. Buechner’s discography includes extensive recording work for the Yamaha Disklavier and PianoSoft systems.

Varied And Interesting (Contemporary Music, Film Scores, Dance)

Ms. Buechner has commissioned new works, and given premières and prominent performances of important new music and film scores by Larry Bell, Dorothy Chang, Stephen Chatman, Pierre Charvet, John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Ray Green, Miriam Hyde, Dick Hyman, Henry Martin, Jared Miller, Joaquín Nin-Culmell, David Raksin, Miklós Rózsa, Yukiko Nishimura and Wim Zwaag. She is one of the few pianists to actively perform piano scores to silent movies, including notable restorations Battleship Potemkin and Ben-Hur, performed at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Ms. Buechner has also collaborated on dance projects with choreographer Neta Pulvermacher, performance artist Nori Nke Aka and mimist Yayoi Hirano, and toured extensively with the Mark Morris Dance Group.

Press & Media & Radio

Profiles of Ms. Buechner have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Macleans, Paris Match, Noticias del Argentina, Out, Blade and Frontiers magazines; and she has been featured on the television programs Entertainment Tonight, Extra, and In the Life. Appearances on radio include profiles on NPR’s The Fishko Files and Performance Today, WFMT’s Dame Myra Hess Recital Series, WNYC’s New Sounds with John Schaefer, and CBC’s Westcoast Performance and Richardson’s Roundup; and her recordings receive regular airplay worldwide.

Teachers & Background

Sara Davis Buechner studied piano with some of the most formidable keyboard virtuosos of the Twentieth Century -- Filipino pianist Reynaldo Reyes; Americans Ann Schein, Phillip Evans and Beveridge Webster; Canadian pianist William Aide; Busoni pupils Edward Weiss, Gunnar Johansen and Mieczyslaw Münz; and legendary keyboard masters Byron Janis and Rudolf Firkusny at the Juilliard School. She has inherited, and proudly continues, their pianistic mantle.

Teaching, Master Classes & Pedagogy

Ms. Buechner is a former faculty member of New York University and is currently Associate Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia. She has presented lectures and masterclasses worldwide, notably at the Juilliard School in New York, the Royal Academy in London, Indiana University, Yong Siu Toh Conservatory in Singapore, National Taiwan Normal University, Senzoku Conservatory in Tokyo and the Kobe-Yamate Gakuen in Osaka, Japan. She has also adjudicated important international piano competitions such as the Concert Artists Guild of New York, Firkušný Competition in Prague, and Asian Chopin Competition in Japan.

Music Consultant and Editor

Sara Davis Buechner serves as principal music consultant to Dover Publications, and plays the Yamaha piano exclusively.
She is also a proud honorary member of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team of Osaka, Japan.

Pianist Sara Davis Buechner is in Very Good Company

"Buechner's performance... with its soft contours and liquid, legato phrasing... had a beauty that might have taken even Mozart's breath away"  (The Washington Post). "There can be no doubt of her understanding and knowledge of Mozart's music and his very complex personality.  He would have been very appreciative..." (Montreal Gazette). " Buechner's brilliant performance was a reading that Rachmaninoff himself would have relished"(Milwaukee Journal). "There was old-fashioned grandeur in Buechner's performance, a sweep that pianists like Rudolf Serkin used to summon" (Albany Times - Union). "Buechner walked confidently in her teacher's footstep's, and in the bravura passages set a pace Rudolf Firkusny would have found difficult to match... tossing off some of the [Goldberg] Variations at tempi that might have arched the eyebrows of Glenn Gould and dramatizing others with a subjective freedom that made Gould's metric regularity resemble a corset" (William Littler, Toronto Star).

What You Will Hear When Sara Davis Buechner Plays The Piano

"A virtuoso recital in the grand tradition" (William Littler, Toronto Star)   "Not to be missed" (Terry Teachout, New York Daily News) Sara Davis Buechner "kept the audience spellbound... From the moment of stepping onstage, Ms. Buechner had the listener's complete attention"(Montreal Gazette). "From the delicate opening chord, played oh-so-quietly with head down and body bent over the keyboard, she drew her audience in with a style that epitomized classical good taste" (Kitchener Record). "We hear an uncommon sublety of phrasing, unforced tone, refined pedaling, and goal-oriented sensibility that renders every structure intelligible. What's more, she finds the subtext of everything she plays, giving way to a work's caprice or passion, tenderness or gentility" (American Record Guide). "Buechner thundered from start to finish... She dazzled with her fiery command of the keyboard... Her tremendous power in the chordal passages, her digital flexibility in the fleet runs... What fascinating and astounding virtuosity!"(Philippine Star). "The audience was wholly captivated by her performance, which combined an unbelievable technical virtuosity, musical sensibility and personal dynamism" (Kobe Shimbun, Japan). "Buechner's charismatic, commited performance earned her an instant standing ovation -- well-deserved considering the quality of her playing"  (Calgary Herald).

A Musician Of Stature, Command And Authority

"With sure rhythmic sensibility, excellent phrasing and commanding technique" (El Norte de Castilla, Valladolid, Spain), "Buechner rose to every demand, delineating each inner voice with penetration, bringing each climax to a full boil, never daunted by technical challenges." "Buechner is a musician of stature" (Greenwich Times). "Buechner obviously has feelings about this music and she conveyed them with deft, immaculate fingering and musicality.  There is inner excitment in the score and Buechner delivered it tastefully and with authority" (Albany Daily Gazette).

Press / Reviews

A Musician Of Integrity

"Buechner has it all... intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess" (The New York Times)
"A pianist of exceptional merit, a musician of evident integrity, with an all-encompassing technique and natural sense of the composer's propulsive style....the pianisim never less than 100% committed and breathtaking" (Pianoforte Magazine, England). "What strikes you immediately about the pianist Sara Davis Buechner is the honesty and integrity of her playing" (Washington Post).  "There is no struggle in Ms. Buechner's supple, articulate and nuanced performances... I can't imagine this music played with more integrity and affection" (Anthony Tommasini, New York Times).

A Musician Of Taste And Intelligence"Buechner is the pianist, but the score is the star...This artist becomes the picture of self-effacing restraint, putting thoughtful artistry in the full service of the music.....unceasing drive and intelligence" (Washington Post). "What stands out is not only technique, but intelligence... When it comes to clarity, flawless tempo selection, phrasing and precise control of timbre, Buechner has no superior" (In Tune Magazine, Japan).

A Musical Tour Guide, At Home With Her Audience

"In the concert hall, there are still too few Sara Buechners... What differentiates her from so many of her colleagues is the curiosity to explore and share with her listeners so much of the non-standard repertoire" (Toronto Star). "Sara Davis Buechner got up in front of an adoring crowd and slammed her way through Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No 1, which is tailor-made for her extrovert temperament. Bouncing on the bench and muggling like a metal guitarist she tore into the keyboard with abandon" (Georgia Straight, Vancouver). "Her conversation among the works was droll and entertaining as well.  Being seated beside her at a formal dinner would be an evening's salvation" (Jamestown Post-Journal).  "Buechner is clearly a gifted entertainer, with the qualities of a master performer and a captivating story-teller... Along with her charmingly dry sense of humour, which was to blame for the evenings many bouts of laughter, she brought the audience along with her on a musical adventure" (Brockville Recorder and Times).