French Composers Highlighted in Piano Performance

On Sunday, October 8, at 2:30 p.m., virtuoso pianist Quynh Nguyen returns to the Montauk Library to perform a concert of works composed for the piano by French composers Germaine Talleferre (1892-1983) and Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992). Both are regarded as major composers of the 20th century.

A graduate of The Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music, Nguyen received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Graduate Center of City University of New York. Her dissertation, “An Analysis of Olivier Messiaen’s Last Piano Solo Work: “Les Petites Esquisses d’Oiseaux,” received the Barry Brook Dissertation award from the Graduate Center. Additionally, she is the recipient of several highly prestigious scholarships and awards. Nguyen currently serves on the music faculty of the Music Department at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the International Keyboard Institute and Festival. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Vietnam in notable concert venues. Her compact disc recordings can be found on the Arabesque Recordings, Naxos American Classics, and Music and Arts labels.

Composer Germaine Tailleferre (1892 – 1983) came of age in 1920s Paris. Well-known as the only female member of Les Six, the group of composers which included Darius Milhaud, Louis Durey, Georges Auric, Francis Poulenc, and Arthur Honegger, her circle of friends also included Charlie Chaplin, Picasso, Modigliani, Diaghilev, Ravel, Stravinsky and Monteux. The music spans 60 years and represents some of Tailleferre’s best and most significant work. Facing a number of obstacles to her career as a musician (a stubborn father, two jealous husbands, WWII, two temporary stays in the United States), this child prodigy managed to write a corpus of 178 works including a remarkable amount of chamber music and symphonic music, while her work for media such as cinema, radio and television is remarkable.

Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who is considered one of the major composers of the 20th century.

Montauk Library is at 871 Montauk Highway in Montauk. For more information or to register for the program, visit montauklibrary.org.