Dec 16, 2025 7:30 pm

In this program, pianist Eric Clark (DMA ’26) explores the special format of the chamber concerto with the presentation of two important 20th century works from the Second Viennese School by Anton Webern and Alban Berg. In juxtaposition with these pieces, Clark has commissioned the creation of a new work by composer Christian Kriegeskotte, which will receive its world premiere. Kriegeskotte’s new piece, “Threnody: for Fritz” represents both a reaction to the instrumentation, language and aesthetics established by Webern and Berg in their time and offers a continuation of this format for the 21st century. Much of the inspiration for the work is drawn anecdotally from the incredible life story of its eponymous dedicatee, Mr. Fritz Löw. Born in Vienna in 1897, Löw was a combat veteran of both World Wars who became conductor of the Monte-Carlo Radio Symphony, music editor of the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, taught music journalism at Hunter College and was the composer’s maternal great-grandfather.

Pianist Eric Clark has performed to great acclaim throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Praising his debut performance of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka at the International Piano Series in Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston Today wrote: “Clark managed brilliant execution throughout, perfectly capturing Stravinsky’s ingeniously quirky structures and headlong rhythmic drive.” Of his appearance at the prestigious Concerts at One series at Trinity Wall Street Concerts, Lucid Culture wrote that “it’s not often that audiences get to hear the thoughtful side of Liszt: Kudos to Clark for delivering it with grace and, if anything, understatement.”

Eric has appeared as soloist with several orchestras, performing Saint-Saens’s Concerto No. 2 under the baton of maestro Sergei Babayan in Perugia, Italy at Music Fest Perugia; the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Queensboro Symphony Orchestra; Chopin Concerto No. 2 with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra; Mozart Concerto No. 24 and Bach Concerto No. 1 in D Minor with the Palisades Sinfonietta; the Haydn D Major Concerto with Sinfonia Perugina under Enrico Marconi; the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Space Coast Symphony on two consecutive evenings; and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic. As orchestral pianist, he performed in Gabriela Lena Frank’s Three Latin American Dances for
Orchestra in Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium under the baton of maestro Keith Lockhart. Other orchestral piano performances include Michael Tippett’s Concerto for Orchestra in Heinz Hall under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, and Hindemith’s Der Dämon in Severance Hall under
maestro Juan Pablo Izquierdo.

Eric regularly performs at prestigious venues throughout New York City and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, the Klavierhaus Concert Series, Piano Evenings with David Dubal, the Musicians Club of New York, Victor Borge Hall at Scandinavia House, the Roerich Museum, Trinity Wall
Street, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music. He was invited to compete in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013, and was the only American contestant selected to attend the First International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments in Warsaw,
Poland in 2018. His awards and accolades include second prize in the 2023 International Chopin Competition of Hartford and the 2019 Paderewski International Competition in Farmington, Connecticut. A passionate advocate of new music, Eric recorded Le Mat-XXII Arcana, a solo piano work by Christian Kriegeskotte, available for download on Spotify. The work is an ambitious cycle of twenty-two pieces, each based on one of the “major arcana” of the tarot. A keen performer of chamber music, Eric has also performed throughout the East Coast with violinist Artur Kaganovskiy; together, they recorded the three Brahms Violin Sonatas for Centaur Records. He also has diverse interests in Cuban music, jazz, improvisation, and historicalfortepiano performance.

Hailing from Bergen County, NJ, Eric received early musical instruction from Kai Pangune Kim, winning many  competitions in the tri-state area. He has formed a close musical association studying with Andrei Gavrilov in Zürich, Switzerland and Mikhail Voskresensky in New York.
Other teachers and mentors include Earl Wild, Ilana Vered, Byron Janis, Juana Zayas, Ann Schein, Michael Blum, Simon Mulligan, and Nina Lelchuk.

Eric earned a bachelor’s degree with university honors (equivalent of summa cum laude) and a full scholarship for his master’s degree in music from Carnegie Mellon University, where his primary teachers were Enrique Graf and Sergey Schepkin. He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Music Arts Degree at Manhattan School of music, where he studies with pianist William Wolfram.

He is also an accomplished visual artist, and his award-winning works have been displayed at art festivals throughout New Jersey.

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