2025-2026 season
All are invited to attend and no advance ticket purchase is necessary. Concerts are at 7 pm at St. Luke’s Church. There is a suggested donation of $20 for adults and students are FREE. Check out the list of Concerts we have scheduled below.
December 7th: Words & Music choral ensemble for the third year in a row marking Advent (wordsmusic.org)
January 25th: Ars Gratia Populi vocal ensemble
April 26th: Carl Questad, piano
May 3rd: A Concert Celebration featuring pianist Brian Ganz
A Concert Celebration featuring pianist Brian Ganz: May 3, 2026
In celebration of St. Luke’s new Bösendorfer 225 piano, CASL welcomes internationally acclaimed pianist Brian Ganz to the stage for a concert celebration, featuring an evening of piano masterpieces by Chopin and Beethoven.
Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. A top prizewinner of the Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition and laureate of the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition with 3rd Prize, Mr. Ganz has appeared as soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, Europe and Asia including the St. Louis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, the City of London Sinfonia, L'Orchestre Lamoureux, L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in Russia, and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed with notable conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Mstislav Rostropovich, Piotr Gajewski, and Yoel Levi. He has performed in some of the world’s major concert halls including the Beaux-Arts in Brussels, De Doelen in Rotterdam, L'Arena Theater in Verona, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
The Washington Post has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.” For many years Mr. Ganz has made it his mission to join vivid music making with warmth and intimacy onstage to produce a new kind of listening experience, in which great works come to life with authentic emotional power. As La Libre Belgiquestated, "We don't have the words to speak of this fabulous musician who lives music with a generous urgency and brings his public into a state of intense joy."
In January of 2011 Mr. Ganz began a monumental, multi-year project in partnership with the National Philharmonic to perform the complete works of Frédéric Chopin at the Music Center at Strathmore; concerts that have been widely hailed and performed before regularly sold-out audiences. His February 2025 recital marked the 14th concert of the series. Recent concerts include Mozart’s A Major concerto with the Annapolis Sympony, Gershwin with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, his debut at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University and a return to San Miguel Grande Pro Musica in Mexico. Other recent highlights included Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Alba Music Festival in Italy and with the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, and Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto with the Billings Symphony. In September 2019 he made his theatrical debut at the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries in Whistler, Debussy and the Lecture that Changed Art, an imagined dialogue between artist James Whistler and a musician, played by Ganz. The theater piece explored connections between Debussy’s music and the artist’s 10 O’Clock Lecture, and included excerpts from the lecture, dialogue written by Ganz and live performances of works by Debussy and others.
Mr. Ganz made his recording debut on the Gailly label in Belgium. His recordings of Chopin and Dutilleux have been released on the Accord label in Paris. In 2001 he began a project to record the complete works of Frederic Chopin for Maestoso Records. Mr. Ganz is artist-in-residence at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and for 21 years was on the faculty at the Peabody Conservatory. He is the Artist-Editor of the Schirmer Performance Edition of Chopin’s Preludes.
Since this is a special event in celebration of St. Luke’s successful piano fundraising campaign, there will be reserved seating for donors and St. Luke’s members. Non-church members are welcome to attend and sit in the non-reserved seating areas.
May 3 Program: An Evening of Beethoven and Chopin
Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1 Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Allegro
Scherzo: Allegretto vivace
Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso
Presto con fuoco
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 Fryderyk Chopin
INTERMISSION
Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata") Ludwig van Beethoven
Allegro assai
Andante con moto
Allegro ma non troppo. Presto
Berceuse, Op. 57 Fryderyk Chopin
Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 ("Heroic") Fryderyk Chopin