What does a revolution in music sound like? Well, it depends. A century apart, Beethoven and Prokofiev were composing not only for the ages, but also for their eras: Beethoven’s turn inward in the gloomy aftermath of Europe’s failed revolutionary moment; Prokofiev’s extroverted, motoric satire of progress from the powder-keg years before the First World War and the Russian Revolution. The two sonatas on tonight’s program display the aesthetic potency of these ideologies: Prokofiev’s Second Sonata, a wiry rebel agitating against the old doctrines, but, ironically, stuck in a rut (and even the past); Beethoven’s final sonata, a mighty struggle deliquescing into a transcendent journey beyond the self.

Prokofiev Sonata No. 2 in D minor

Hailed as “ter-RIF-ic!” by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, pianist Noah Alden Hardaway is forging a multifaceted career as far afield as Sardinia, Spain, and Lithuania, as well as Canada and the United States. He is a regular on the festival circuit, including Art of the Piano in Cincinnati and two summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he performed as soloist with the Aspen Sinfonia Concertante. Enthusiastic reception for his concert appearances have led to frequent reengagements.

In 2020, Noah’s concert activity includes digital appearances on the Literary Music Series, Adamant Music School recitals, and masterclasses at Bard College. Noah is also exploring the possibilities of outdoor music with his Piano on the Porch concerts, performing adjacent to a polling place, and upcoming collaborations with STOP TxDOT I-45, a group devoted to preserving community, climate, and green space in the face of an ill-advised freeway expansion.

Evidently no stranger to sprawling projects, Noah received a grant to direct and perform in the Virginia premiere of Schnittke/Kandinsky’s Der gelbe Klang, a pathbreaking theatrical work for contemporary ensemble and dancers. Noah was a radio host and interviewer for weekly classical broadcasts, and he also heads the Project Committee at the Adamant Music School and works for tonebase, inc.

Noah has studied intensively with Moscow Conservatory artists Vadym Kholodenko, Sergei Glavatskih, and Pavel Nersessian, and his senior thesis is the first English-language exploration of Vera Gornostaeva’s transformational approach to the art of teaching. Noah graduated magna cum laude from Rice University with Distinction in Research and Creative Works and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Shenandoah University in the studio of John O’Conor.