Thanks for coming by!
First off, I wanted to say that you are doing a huge service organizing and presenting concerts. And you’re probably not doing it for the money. Heck, perhaps you’re even volunteering.
I know you’re looking for a experienced professional who performs at a high level. Someone who can thrill and delight your audiences so they will keep coming back for more of your concerts.
But maybe you’re also looking for something a little different, something a little outside your run of the mill piano concert featuring works everyone has heard so many times before.
As a presenter of concerts featuring local performers, you’re in a position to be more adventurous than larger arts groups worrying about their donors. You can help audiences understand that there’s a lot more to classical music than the same old Bach Beethoven and Brahms.
My Approach
I have been performing professionally for over 35 years throughout California and the U.S., including in Carnegie Hall in 2014. You can read the full details in my bio below.
I love advocating for lesser known composers especially women composers. For the 2024-25 season, I am programming works by Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. I’ve been combining them with works by their contemporary, Chopin.
As a soloist I spend a lot of alone time with the music. So when it comes time to perform, I enjoy speaking from the stage to help the audience connect with me and the music more deeply.
I give background about the historical context of the music. I also let the audience in on my own experience with the pieces: why I chose them, and what are the joys and challenges of each work. Sometimes I also give a little thumbnail explanation of the form (nocturne, fugue) to help less experienced listeners connect with the style and message of each piece.
The upside of variety
Listeners have repeatedly told me that hearing lesser-known composers, especially women, is very inspiring to them. Hearing this music can help listeners expand their idea of who can create art, and create a sense of new vistas and possibilities.
For you, the presenter, it can make your audience more receptive to a broader range of programming in the future. It also attracts attendees who might be less interested in the standard concert repertoire. As one person said to me “You can hear Chopin anywhere, but I had to come tonight to hear the other two composers.”
I love creating more appreciation for classical music, since it is my life’s passion, so I’ve been delighted to hear that my words before each piece massively increases the audience’s understanding and enjoyment of the music.
Appreciation from the Audience
My original thoughts about your concert were that you played with beauty, strength, understanding and an incredible technique. I’ve thought more deeply about what moved me at your concert, and still resonates. And that is your love and respect for the piano, the repertoire, and all of our predecessors. That’s inspiring, and really feeds people. I really enjoyed the history and stories about the repertoire and the composers, and shining a light on some of the musical ideas.You are a Class A pianist.
Your playing was gorgeous. And it gave me strength to cope with what looks like Parkinson’s at the moment. I was transported by your playing. It was truly a gift to my soul.
The concert was amazing. I really liked the mix and the complexity of the pieces. The rapid notes were thrilling; the dark brooding sections took me to deep places. The sheer physicality of playing the piano came home to me in a new way. It was Wow!
I shared in the opportunity of a lifetime to hear pianist Rebecca Bogart’s transcendently superb concert tonight. we heard pieces by Fannie Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Schumann, and Frédéric Chopin played with consummate artistry, a rare balance of virtuosity and exquisite expressivity.
Find out more
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Bio
Rebecca bogart has built an impressive career during the past three decades. She performed in Carnegie Hall as First Prize winner of the 2013 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, and has received many other honors including top prizes in the Pacific International Piano Competition and the Ibla International Competition in Ragusa, Sicily. She has played for audiences in Italy, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Florida, and as a soloist at California-based venues such as Old First Church and Gualala Arts Association.
Ms. Bogart has been invited to do recitals and master classes at Harvard University and Northeastern University among others.
Her solo CD was hailed as “zany and infectious…technique to burn…. more enjoyable than the barnstorming of the recent Van Cliburn finalists” by the California Music Teacher.
Sample 90 Recital Program
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
Notturno H. 337 1838
Song for the Piano Opus 8 No. 3 H. 461 1846
Allegretto in B Flat Major H. 294 1836
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Prelude and Fugue in G Minor Opus 16 No. 1 1845
Notturno Opus 6 No. 2 1835
Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann Opus 20 1853
Romanze No. 3 in G minor Opus 21 No. 3 1853
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
Nocturnes Opus 15 (1830-1833)
No. 1 in F Major
No. 2 in F Sharp Major
Nocturnes Opus 27 (1835-1836)
No. 1 in C Sharp Minor
No. 2 in D Flat Major
Scherzo in E Major Opus 54 (1842)
Sample 45 - 50 minute programs
1. Music We’ve Missed: Works by Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
Notturno H. 337 1838
Song for the Piano Opus 8 No. 3 H. 461 1846
Allegretto in B Flat Major H. 294 1836
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Prelude and Fugue in G Minor Opus 16 No. 11845
Notturno Opus 6 No. 2 1835
Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann Opus 20 1853
Romanze No. 3 in G minor Opus 21 No. 3 1853
2. The Music of the Night: Piano Nocturnes
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
Notturno H. 337 1838
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Notturno Opus 6 No. 2 1835
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
Lento con Gran Espressione
Nocturnes Opus 15 (1830-1833)
No. 1 in F Major
No. 2 in F Sharp Major
Nocturnes Opus 27 (1835-1836)
No. 1 in C Sharp Minor
No. 2 in D Flat Major
Nocturnes Opus 37 (1839)
No. 1 in G Minor
No. 2 in G Major
3. Chopin, the Poet of the Piano
Impromptu No. 1 in A Flat Major (1837)
Nocturnes Opus 15 (1830-1833)
No. 1 in F Major
No. 2 in F Sharp Major
Nocturnes Opus 27 (1835-1836)
No. 1 in C Sharp Minor
No. 2 in D Flat Major
Scherzo in E Major Opus 54 (1842)