UH was graced with genius Michael Bukhman’s musicianship when he played a guest recital in the Dudley Recital Hall on Wednesday evening.
Bukhman was the first to graduate with honors in Piano Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His acheivments are many — he won the Arthur Dann Piano Competition at Oberlin in 2003, and came in first place in the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Program in performing arts.
He recently won first prize at the 36th annual Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings as well.
Bukhman has performed in three symphonies, and has performed in the Moores Opera House at the University.
He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Juilliard School of Music.
Bukhman’s performance on Wednesday was certainly a crowd-pleaser.
His well-structured yet unexpected wave of joyful bursts and slow, sorrowful melodies captivated the audience with every crest and trough. His music created a four demensional effect as it formed a vision in the mind and an emotional atmosphere.
He moved with energy and his passion was visible to audience members. It’s clear that his performance is driven by his passion for the piano and music alike.
“You can’t really describe it in words,” Bukhman said. “You’re just up there by yourself and you want to be inspired by yourself. Sometimes it happens remarkably — there are all kinds of different emotions.”
He played each song with just as much enthusiasm and passion as the previous one.
The last piece was mostly smooth with a heightned emotion that ended with a bang. Even so, at the end of each amazing perfomance the audience exploded in applause.
As a successful pianist, Bukhman understands the importance of bearing his soul through his work.
“Music is supposed to evoke emotions,” Bukhman said. “It’s supposed to evoke something that is higher than the mundane way of life. Not all of it is supposed to make you happy — some is supposed to crush your heart.”
He will be performing in Vancouver in the coming months and is preparing for a competition in May that will take place in Israel.
Bukhman said that in the long run, he hopes to keep tickling the ivories — whether that means performing solo, by chamber or with singers.
