Acclaimed pianist Barbara Nissman makes meaningful connections with her music
One of the few pianists continuing the grand bravura tradition of Romantic pianism, Barbara Nissman is inextricably intertwined with the music she performs and its composers. Through her unforgettable performances, she magically connects the composer and the listener.
The acclaimed pianist takes the stage of the Moss Arts Center on Monday, April 8, at 8 p.m. for a special “Music on Mondays” performance co-presented by the center and the School of Performing Arts.
Nissman's recordings of Prokofiev, Bartók, and Ginastera are considered “definitive,” and she has garnered praise for her series of recordings of 19th century composers — Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, and Rachmaninoff. Nissman made history in 1989 by becoming the first pianist to perform all of Prokofiev’s piano sonatas in a series of three recitals in both New York and London. Her recordings of this repertoire represented the first complete set of Prokofiev sonatas made available on CD.
Her international career was personally launched by conductor and violinist Eugene Ormandy, who had previously engaged her as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has performed with the leading orchestras of Europe and America, including the London, Royal, Rotterdam, and Munich philharmonics, and the BBC Symphony. In the U.S., she has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, and the Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and National symphonies, among others.
She recently appeared on stage with Don Henley of the Eagles and Billy Joel, performing on the Walden Steinway in a gala fundraiser for the Walden Woods project, held at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She was also one of the participants with Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center’s 25th Anniversary Gala Concert broadcast on PBS Television.
Nissman has successfully taken music from the confines of the concert hall and has brought it directly to the people, performing in a variety of venues for all kinds of audiences: school children, university students, factory workers, prisoners, hospital patients, on Indian reservations, and even on a barge in the middle of a canal in Amsterdam.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now calls West Virginia home and lives on a farm in Greenbrier County. In 2008, she was the recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award from the State of West Virginia and in 2016 was honored by the State for her artistic contributions. In 2020 she received the Governor’s Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. In June 2023 she was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Related events
Nissman leads a master class with Virginia Tech students on Tuesday, April 9, from 2-3:15 p.m. in the Moss Arts Center’s Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre. Free and open to the public, audience members can watch Nissman observe and coach music students from the School of Performing Arts.
Tickets
Tickets for the performance are $15 for general admission, $12 for seniors, and $10 for students and youth 18 and under. Tickets can be purchased online; at the Moss Arts Center's box office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.
Venue and parking information
The performance will be held in the center’s Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located within the Street and Davis Performance Hall at 190 Alumni Mall. Convenient parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street and in downtown Blacksburg. Find more parking details online.
If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Jamie Wiggert at least 10 days prior to the event at 540-231-5300 or email wiggertj@vt.edu during regular business hours.
