Piano at Butler: Illumination: Piano Works Based on Byzantine and Jewish Chant

Pianist and Greek Orthodox chanter Paul Barnes presents a unique program inspired by the mystical world of ancient chant from the Byzantine and Jewish traditions.   Barnes has collaborated with Philip Glass for the past 28 years and the program will include Barnes’ virtuoso transcription of “The Land,” Glass’s musical treatment of the Native experience from his Piano Concerto No. 2, “After Lewis and Clark.”   Barnes’ latest commission from composer J.A.C. Redford “Variations on the Incarnation” will also be performed.   The work is based on the beloved Greek Orthodox hymn “I Parthenos Simeron” which Barnes will chant before the performance of the new work. The program concludes with Victoria Bond’s “Illuminations on Byzantine Chant” which Barnes featured on his latest recording of the piano works of Bond released in 2021 by Albany Records.  Barnes is the Marguerite Scribante Professor of Music at the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.