News and views for the UB community
Published March 18, 2024
Eric Huebner
UB pianist Eric Huebner, professor and chair of the Department of Music, will perform the world premiere of a piece written for him by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds in a recital on March 26 at UB.
The concert will take place at 8:30 p.m. in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus. Note that the concert is taking place an hour later than most Department of Music concerts to avoid a conflict with the appearance by Amanda Gorman in the Center for the Arts as part of UB’s Distinguished Speakers Series.
The program will open with Huebner performing Reynolds’ second book of Piano Études. The second half of the program features another recent Reynolds’ work, “Actions for piano and computer musician.” This highly interactive and semi-improvisatory work will feature Huebner, along with computer musician Jacob Sundstrom, processing a multi-channel spatial audio complement to the sound of the acoustic piano on stage.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster, at the Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and at the Slee Hall box office an hour before concert time. UB students with a valid ID receive one complimentary ticket and may pick it up at the box office right before the concert.
In 2021, Huebner recorded Reynold’s “Piano Études” in two books for the album “Roger Reynolds at 85, Vol. 2: Piano Études.” There are six Études in each book, and Reynolds allows the performer to not only choose the number of Études to be presented — including repeating them if desired — but the order as well.
Reynolds collaborated with Huebner on the 2009 Mode release “Epigram and Evolution” (mode 212/13), an anthology of Reynolds’ piano works to that date.
A UB faculty member since 2009 and chair of music since 2022, Huebner has drawn worldwide acclaim for his performances of new and traditional music since making his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 17. As a member of the quartet Antares, he won first prize in the 2002 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. He has been pianist of the New York Philharmonic since 2012, touring with the orchestra to three continents and performing in major European capitals multiple times.
A dedicated interpreter of new music, Huebner has premiered countless new works and has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across North America, Germany, Japan, and Brazil.