Upon Further Reflection: Pianist John Wilson's AVIE Records Debut out 9/30 Features Michael Tilson Thomas Premiere Alongside Copland & Gershwin

                                       

On September 30, AVIE Records will release the solo album debut by American pianist John Wilson. Upon Further Reflection features the world-premiere recording of the title work written by Wilson’s friend and mentor, Michael Tilson Thomas, complemented by Aaron Copland’s Piano Sonata and Earl Wild’s virtuoso arrangements of iconic George Gershwin tunes. 
 
John Wilson first encountered Michael Tilson Thomas in 2015 when he was a fellow with the New World Symphony. John’s protégé status quickly evolved to that of close confidant and collaborator, leading to this solo debut album featuring the world-premiere recording of the title track, MTT’s three-movement suite for piano, Upon Further Reflection.
 
“I use improvisation as a way of finding myself,” MTT explains. “This piece came out of those improvisations.”  MTT began work on Upon Further Reflection more than 50 years before this recording was made, incorporating innumerable influences that formed the composer’s earliest musical language, including the piano music of Debussy and Schumann, bossa nova, gamelan, ragas, Monteverdi, Berg and Peggy Lee’s rendition of the song Alley Cat, all of which, MTT says, “flowed together in a way that seemed completely natural...to me anyway.”
 
In 2019, John Wilson premiered a portion of Upon Further Reflection that was broadcast live on Medici.TV to an audience of over 50,000. “You play it in a way that I dreamt I might ever be able to play it.  It is just so wonderful,” remarked MTT to John Wilson in a recent PBS American Masters documentary.  “I’m grateful for John Wilson’s enthusiasm that has caused all of it to be finally written down,” remarks MTT in the album liner notes, “and for his enormous artistry in playing it.”
 
Aaron Copland’s early Piano Sonata – a work lesser-heard than the composer’s other works for solo piano – and Earl Wild’s virtuoso arrangements of seven of George Gershwin’s most iconic tunes complete John Wilson’s debut album.  Copland’s Piano Sonata, John writes in the album’s liner notes, “is for me his greatest work for piano and one of Copland’s greatest pieces. It captures the dissonance of both the time in which it was written and our current time, and yet hidden beneath it is a current of hopefulness and unity. And what would an Americana-themed album be without some Gershwin?”
 
TRACKLIST
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS (b. 1944) Upon Further Reflection (world-premiere recording) 
Bygone Beguine (1973)
Sunset Soliloquy (Whitsett Avenue, 1963)            
You Come Here Often? (Hello Stranger, 1977)

EARL WILD (1915–2010) 7 Virtuoso Etudes after George Gershwin (1898–1937) 
I. Liza    
II. Somebody Loves Me 
III. The Man I Love                         
IV. Embraceable You
V. Lady Be Good
VI. I Got Rhythm
VII. Fascinatin’ Rhythm
 
AARON COPLAND (1900–1990)  Piano Sonata 
I. Molto moderato        
II. Vivace
III. Andante sostenuto

About John Wilson, piano 
With a repertoire ranging from the Baroque to the Contemporary, American pianist John Wilson has performed extensively in North America, with highlights including his recent solo recital debut under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony, playing works by Debussy. His playing was described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “having all the beauty and delicacy one would expect from Debussy”.  
 
Wilson has had the pleasure of being a part of numerous world premieres, performing on the U.S and World premieres of solo piano works by Michael Tilson Thomas, duo works by Timo Andres and Judith Lang Zaimont, and ensemble works by Steve Reich, Reinbert de Leeuw, HK Gruber, and Bernd Deutsch. 
 
As a soloist he has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra, and both the New Amsterdam Symphony and Orchestra Camerata Notturna. A regular top prize winner in international piano competitions, he most recently won 1^st prize in the 2019 International Respighi Competition. 
 
A devoted chamber musician and collaborator, he has appeared in chamber ensembles with musicians of the San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and San Diego Symphony, and has appeared in recital with violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Johannes Moser, violinist Anthony Marwood and soprano Audra McDonald. John has recorded for MSR Classics, and performances can be heard on Medici.tv and WQXR.
 

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