For 25 years, we have searched for artists with unique voices and a special way of communicating their artistry to the audience. We marvel every time we find that exciting and inspiring artist. Kenny Broberg graced our stage for the second time this season, and once again, he proved to be one of the most thrilling artists we have presented at our Festival.

His program was centered around Chopin's Polonaise Fantasie, Op. 61, and Schumann's Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17. "Fantasia" in music has improvisatory elements, a composition free in form and inspiration.

Broberg opened his program with Franck/Bauer Prélude, Fugue et Variations, Op. 18, a work dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns. The opening of the B-minor Prelude has a gentle melancholy, and Broberg's beautiful rendering of the piece set the tone for the entire program. The audience was immediately engrossed with this great artist's playing.

In Mozart's Piano Sonata in D major, K. 311, Kenny brought to life this delightful and exuberant piece with lyricism and brilliance, but also with the elegance and charm that characterized the classical period.

Medtner is one of Broberg's favorite composers. The stunning Fairy Tales Op. 48 are among Medner's most inspired compositions. Medner's piano writing is complex, loaded with fast chords, runs, and elaborate rhythms, as in the energetic first Dance Tale, suggesting an exciting Lisztian Waltz. But the essential nature of Medner's music is poetic expression and lyricism, as in the dreaming quality of the Tale of the Elves, which Broberg linked to Chopin's Polonaise Fantasie. His exhilarating performance left our audience full of excitement.

Chopin's last major work, Polonaise Fantaisie, Opus 61, was written in 1845-6. It ranks among the greatest piano compositions of all time. Its intricate, continuous chromaticism in chords and counterpoint, all within an episodic structure, makes it a bit dense for audiences to grasp. Kenny Broberg's understanding of this wondrous composition was clear, giving an illuminating performance of this piece.

The recital concluded with one of the most compelling interpretations of Schumann's Fantasie

in C major, Op. 17. This Fantasie is Robert Schumann's musical love letter to Clara Wieck, starting with the passionate "Clara's theme" at the very beginning. After a frantic courtship when Schumann had to withstand Herr Wieck's determined designs to keep them apart, along with a court-enforced separation, Robert wrote to his beloved Clara in March 1838, "The first movement (of the Fantasie) is the most passionate I have ever composed; it is a profound lament on your account."

Schumann's virtuosic boldness of the nearly impossible second movement leads to the heart of the final slow movement: a stunning and poetic statement of love. Its sighs, whispers, and aching longing reveal the composer's soul in its most exquisite, tortured agony and, finally, in noble triumph and peace.

Kenny Broberg's performance conveyed Schumann's intentions and inspiration, and the audience felt deeply moved. This was a truly powerful performance. American pianist Kenny Broberg is undoubtedly one of this generation's most compelling and exciting pianists. The stage of our Festival will always be there for him to share his artistry.