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Robin Sutherland

Interview Date: January 29 and February 29, 2016
Conservatory Affiliation: Piano Alum ‘75
Interviewer: Tessa Updike, Archivist

The American pianist, Robin Sutherland, studied with Rosina Lhevinne at the Juilliard School and with Paul Hersh at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. While still an undergraduate, he was appointed principal pianist of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (SFS) by Seiji Ozawa. The recipient of numerous awards, Sutherland was selected at 17 to be sole participant from the USA at the International Bach Festival, held at Lincoln Center. He was a finalist in the International Bach Competition in Washington DC and has performed all of J.S. Bach's keyboard works.

An avid chamber musician, Robin Sutherland is co-director of the Telluride Players and a regular performer at the Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine. Many composers have dedicated works to him, and among the world premieres in which he has participated was that of John Adams's Grand Pianola Music, with members of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

A frequent soloist with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Robin Sutherland has been featured in Leonard Bernstein's Age of Anxiety with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting, in San Francisco and on tour, and last May he was featured in Martin's Petite Symphonie concertante. In 1996, his recording of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) was released on the d'Note label.

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Topics

Greeley, Colorado
Rita Hutcherson
Rosalyn Tureck
Rosina Lhevinne
Juilliard
Hawai’i
San Francisco Conservatory
The house in Mill Valley
Conservatory friends and colleagues
Debbie Reynolds
Joining the San Francisco Symphony
Touring with the Symphony
Performance style and repertoire
Collaborations with composers
Collaborations with conductors
Recordings
Reflections

Audio

Rita Hutcherson

Childhood recordings

Rock 'n Roll & jellybeans

Rosie on the moon

Paul Hersh

SF Symphony

Oral history interviews are a method of collecting historical information from a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events. These interviews are primary materials, and by nature reflect the personal opinion of the narrators. As with any primary resource, these interviews are not to be viewed as the final and definitive source for any subject.

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