Audrey Vardanega will pay tribute to the late George Cleve at a memorial recital in honor of her mentor. "Concert for George" is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 3, at the Hillside Club in Berkeley.
Tickets are available at the door — $20 general admission, $15 for students and seniors — and Vardanega is donating her share of the proceeds to Hand In Hand For Syria, an organization supporting families still trapped there.
The program includes Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 4, Liszt's Années de pèlerinage, Ravel's Ondine (from Gaspard de la nuite), and piano pieces by Brahms.
Vardanega, 20, a student at Columbia University and currently studying with Christopher Elton at London's Royal Academy of Music, is home for the holidays. She will be interviewed about the recital on KPFA, 94.1 FM, at 8 a.m. Dec. 27.
Vardanega told SFCV, "The last few months have been a whirlwind of emotions as I struggled to grasp how the world could possibly not have George in it. I found solace through wholeheartedly turning to the piano as a source of grief therapy." She adds the performance will be unlike a solo piano recital, saying she intends for it to be like "playing for George in the living room of his Berkeley home."
She says of the recital:
The Mozart sonata was an obvious choice because how can I not include Mozart in a concert for George Cleve? The first movement is incredibly beautiful, which reflects the way I've felt for the last few months — sadness, a feeling of nobility, and a catharsis. I haven't played a Mozart sonata in quite a while, but it felt right for some reason.
Ondine was one of his favorite pieces. I decided not to play the other two pieces in the suite because they're showy and virtuosic, and that's not what I'm trying to do in this concert. I don't want to treat this like a solo piano recital. It's a way to mourn, to remember, and to express my gratitude for all that time I had with him and the enormous effect he had on me.