Piano Fellows I
Vail Interfaith Chapel 2025 Bravo! Vail Piano Fellow Evren OzelArtist Insights
This program begins by exploring sonatas in unconventional ways. Scarlatti’s sonatas, while structured, predate the Classical tradition solidified by composers like Haydn, Mozart, and early Beethoven.
In contrast, Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 109 feels like an evolution—whether consciously or not—toward a more narrative approach, transforming the sonata into something deeply expressive and storytelling in nature. Schumann’s Carnaval takes narrative to another scale: a collection of vivid miniatures celebrating his inner world, the voices in his mind, the people around him, and his lifelong relationship with music. Filled with struggle and triumph, it ends with the Davidsbündler (“League of David,” an imagined music society created by Schumann) marching against the Philistines—a victorious stand for artistic freedom. —Evren Ozel
This event is free but requires a ticket reservation.
Featured Artist
Evren Ozel
Evren Ozel
Piano
American pianist Evren Ozel has established himself as a musician of “refined restraint” (Third Coast Review), combining fluent virtuosity with probing, thoughtful interpretations. Having performed extensively in the United States and abroad, Evren is the recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and is currently represented by Concert Artists Guild as an Ambassador Prize Winner of their 2021 Victor Elmaleh Competition.
Since his debut with the Minnesota Orchestra at age 11, Ozel has been a featured soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and The Orchestra Now at Bard College, with conductors Jahja Ling, Courtney Lewis, and Leon Botstein. In March of 2025, his first album of Mozart Concertos with the ORF Radio Symphony of Vienna and conductor Howard Griffiths will be released on Alpha Classics.
Ozel’s 2024-25 season highlights include solo recitals for La Jolla Music Society, Capital Region Classical, and Cal Performances. Previously, he has performed recitals for Harvard Musical Association, Schubert Club, Chopin Society of Minnesota, and The Gilmore. Carrying a vast and varied recital repertoire, his 2023-24 season included a program ranging from Bach and Rameau to Ligeti, as well as a program of Beethoven’s last three Piano Sonatas.
An esteemed chamber musician, Ozel performs alongside artists like David Finckel and Wu Han, Stella Chen, Zlatomir Fung, Paul Huang, and Peter Wiley. He spent four summers at the Marlboro Festival and is currently a 2024-27 Bowers Program Artist for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His 2024-25 season includes a tour with Musicians from Marlboro, as well as CMS concerts at Alice Tully Hall.
Ozel resides in Boston, where he is currently a candidate in New England Conservatory’s prestigious and highly exclusive Artist Diploma program, under the tutelage of Wha Kyung Byun. Other important mentors include Jonathan Biss, Imogen Cooper, Richard Goode, Andras Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida.
Program Highlights
Evren Ozel, piano
(Bravo! Vail 2025 Piano Fellow)
SCARLATTI
Sonata in G major, K. 427
Sonata in C minor, K. 11
Sonata in C major, K. 159
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
SCHUMANN Carnaval, Op. 9
All artists, programs, and pricing subject to change.
