It takes an act of curiosity and more than a modicum of interest to seek the experience of a first or second hearing of a pianist whose name and talent have not yet reached PBS or major record labels. Technological advances and changing social conditions have made it easier to stay at home for music than to journey to a distant location for an encounter with a "live" performer in recital. Why, then, do we do it?

The answer lies within each of us who attends events such as those in the Festival of Discovery. We are not satisfied with the endless repetition of music on recordings, with the quality of radio programming nor with the smaller-than-life sounds and images of videos and television. Particularly, we miss the time-honored, ultimate test of an artist - the solo recital - with its demands of repertoire, interpretation, personality and presentation. To us, the sound of a concert grand piano, well played in the room with us, is a thrill in itself. The music, heard in the instant of performance, provides other excitement - moving our emotions, stirring our minds. Then there is the artist, who has come to reveal both knowledge of the chosen program and a perspective behind the rendering of phrases, dynamics, textures and pacing.

The individuality of approach always attracts, sometimes fascinates and, occasionally, puzzles us. Each artist has chosen the "what" and the "how" of the time we spend together. As audience members, we are meant to follow - second-by-second - every inflection, every nuance behind the performance, feeling and judging simultaneously so that, by the end, our approval can be registered through applause. To this succession of moments, we bring our lifetime accumulation of musical experiences. The response is instantaneous. We know how we wish to react the moment a piece is concluded. Whether there is a new face behind the performance or one we know, whether the music is new or familiar matters less than the uniqueness of what we hear and see. Whether it proves forgettable or the stuff of which memories are made, we want to be there when it happens. We participate.

During the 2002 Festival, the Master Series permits us to observe reappearances by two breathtaking young Italians, Pietro de Maria and Francesco Libetta (Feb. 28: solo and duo-piano works by Mozart, Schumann, Libetta, Brahms & Copland), the first appearance of the exquisite Anderszewski Duo (violinist Dorota and pianist Piotr - Mar. 1: sonatas and solos by Brahms, Debussy, Bach & Prokofiev), an extraordinary evening of concerti by Mozart (Mar. 2: with Igor & Vesna Gruppman in the Sinfonica Concertante, K. 364, for Violin, Viola & Orchestra, Piotr Anderszewski in the Piano Concerto, K. 453, Pietro de Maria in the Piano Concerto, K. 271 & Francesco Libetta in the Piano Concerto, K. 467 (made famous by its use in the movie "Elvira Madigan").

Note: Two of the soloists have been encouraged to perform their own cadenzas - thus participating in the revival of a venerable tradition had has almost disappeared from present-day practice. The four-day Master Series festivity concludes with a special event focusing on "Prodigies of Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow" (Mar. 3: violinist Eugene Ugorski, 'cellist Eugene Lifschitz & pianist Derric Tay - all in their early teens - playing solos and joining forces for the Mendelssohn Trio in D Minor). Other distinguished participants includes lecturers Bryce Morrison and Norman Lebrecht, as well as panelists drawn from the performing artists and joined by the eminent violinist Dame Ida Haendel.

Between the Master Series and the Discovery Series, the Festival is sponsoring a Special Event of unprecedented nature at the University of Miami, featuring Francesco Libetta (Mar. 8: a Forum for pianists & piano lovers devoted to discussion & performance of Czerny's Fifty Studies in Brilliant Style, Op. 740).

The 2002 Discovery Series offers another opportunity to feast on the artistry of Pietro de Maria (Apr. 9: Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn & Ravel), and "debut" recitals by the exciting Mihaela Ursuleasa (Apr. 10: Schubert, Enesco, Bartok & Schumann), the immensely gifted Steven Osborne (Apr. 11: Bach, Debussy & Rachmaninoff), and the phenomenal Emanuele Arciuli (Apr. 12: Szymanowski, Beethoven, Debussy & Rezewski). Lecturers Bruce Payne and Geoffrey Norris and conversationalists Kemal Gekic, Pietro de Maria & Frank Cooper contribute to the pre-concert realm of ideas - to enhance the listening experience.

Truly, then, this is a Festival of Discovery - of ideas about interpretation and programming, of works both familiar and new to our ears, and of talent beyond the ordinary. Let us savor it.