Pianist Jonathan Biss is no stranger to the greater Akron area. He appeared several years ago (a feat for someone so young) for the Cleveland Orchestra, and has appeared a few times for Tuesday Musical Association, as recently as 2010. Biss is returning as the guest of Tuesday Musical, a Knight Arts grantee, on Tuesday, January 20 – this time as the Margaret Baxtresser Annual Piano Concert Artist.

The concert will be held at E. J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall on The University of Akron, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Anyone who may remember Ms. Baxtresser and her own considerable, internationally recognized abilities on the piano will surely appreciate that there is a concert in her honor, and that someone of the caliber of Mr. Biss will be the performer for it.

Programs by artists can always change, but as of this article, the lineup will include, in the first act, Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 1 in F minor,” Arnold Schoenberg’s “Sechs kleine Klavierstucke,” and Robert Schumann’s ‘Waldszenen,” followed after an intermission by Alban Berg’s “Sonata,” and Beethoven again with his “Sonata No. 28 in A major.”

Jonathan Biss, pianist. Photo by Benjamin Ealovega

American pianist Jonathan Biss, organizers tells us, is widely regarded for his artistry, musical intelligence and deeply felt interpretations, winning international recognition for his orchestral, recital and chamber music performances and for his award-winning recordings. As this programmatic lineup shows, he can perform a diverse repertoire, ranging from classic composers such as Beethoven, through Romantic composers like Schumann, through to more modern composers like Schoenberg and Berg, and on to even more contemporary pieces.

Beethoven’s “Sonata 28” is considered representative of the composer’s late period, when he was full master of the form and abandoned himself to more introspective and intricate musical interests. His 17- to 20-minute piece “Sonata No. 1” is, in its opening, supposedly a nod to Mozart, until what some critics call “Beethovenisms” begin awkwardly to creep in.

Schoenberg’s “Sechs kleine Klavierstucke” is, as the translation of the German says, “six little piano pieces,” in which the famed composer was deliberately at work on short, expressive yet utterly distinct works in an atonal style. The parts do not carry individual names for this solo piano work, but rather are known by their tempo markings (like delicate and light, slow, very slow, and the like).

The last work, Schumann’s “Waldszenen” (or woods’ scenes), is a solo piano work in nine short pieces. All have names, and deliberately so. Apparently the composer commented that, though titles were somewhat out of fashion, he was giving his work its due. Some of the distinct titles are things like “Hunters on the Lookout,” “Friendly Landscape,” and “Hunting Song.” They become knowable as one listens to them.

A student of Schoenberg, Berg’s piano sonata is considered one of the most formidable first compositions ever done. He apparently followed his mentor’s music dictum that a composition should derive from a basic idea – variation – from which distinct but highly integral musical ideas would emerge. The opening quatrain governs the musical success of this work.

To learn more about the works in preparation for the concert, Tuesday Musical will be providing a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the performance. Guy Victor Bordo, direction of orchestral studies at The University of Akron, will make the presentation.

Tuesday Musical will present pianist Jonathan Biss in recital at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20 in E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 198 Hill St., Akron; 330-972-7570; www.tuesdaymusical.org. Tickets are $25-$45.