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Pianist Pedja Muzijevic Finds Challenge, Rewards in the Music of Mozart

Pedja Muzijevic.
pedjamuzijevic.com

At home performing the sonatas of both Joseph Haydn and John Cage, Pedja Muzijevic is a versatile musician. Pedja’s skills as a pianist and harpsichordist make him an important part of the Spoleto Festival USA Bank of America Chamber Music Series at Dock Street Theatre, which features works from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century over the course of eleven programs.

This year, Pedja is taking his talents beyond the Dock Street’s stage to the Charleston Gaillard Center, where he’s performing a piano concerto by his favorite composer for the genre: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

“It’s very lively. It’s vibrant, full of characters and gestures,” Pedja says of the concerto, Mozart’s fifteenth in B-flat Major. “But when I started learning it, I realized it was also very difficult.”

According to Pedja, Mozart’s piano compositions are seldom considered challenging relative to other works in the instrument’s repertoire. But under the surface, not all of them are so easy.

“One doesn’t think of Mozart concertos as some sort of virtuosic difficulty. They have other demands. But this one is really very tricky.”

Pedja will perform the concerto alongside the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra under conductor Steven Sloane on Saturday, June 9th, at the Charleston Gaillard Center. The evening’s concert also includes a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan.”

In this interview that aired Thursday, June 7th, SCPR’s Bradley Fuller speaks with Pedja about his upcoming performance, love for Mozart, and plans for the festival when not at the keyboard.

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Originally from Greenwood, SC, Bradley Fuller has maintained a deep interest in classical music since the age of six. With piano lessons throughout grade school and involvement in marching and concert bands on the saxophone, Bradley further developed musical abilities as well as an appreciation for the importance of arts education.