THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
2026 Annual Competitive Festival
Guest Artist Recital
Thursday, February 26, 2026
7:30 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
English Suite in G minor, BWV 808
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude (1685–1750)
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavotte and Musette
Gigue
Valses nobles et sentimentales
Maurice Ravel
Modéré – très franc (1875–1937)
Assez lent – avec une expression intense
Modéré
Assez animé
Presque lent – dans un sentiment intime
Vif
Moins vif
Épilogue: lent
Bagatelles, Op. 6
INTERMISSION
Béla Bartók
IV. Grave (Hungarian Folk Song) (1881–1945)
V. Vivo (Slovak Folk Song)
VII. Allegretto molto capriccioso
IX. Allegretto grazioso
X. Allegro
XI. Allegretto molto rubato
XIV. Waltz (“My Dancing Sweetheart”)
Carnival Jest from Vienna, Op. 26
Robert Schumann
Allegro (1810–1856)
Romanze
Scherzino
Intermezzo
Finale
Pianist Christopher Guzman enjoys an international performing career, known for his versatility in styles ranging from the Baroque era to the avant-garde. Since winning top prizes in international competitions such as the Walter M. Naumburg Competition (USA), the Seoul International Music Competition (S. Korea), and the Isang Yun Competition (S. Korea), Guzman has performed across Europe, North and South America, and Asia. His victory at the Concours International de Piano d’Orléans in Orléans, France, led to extensive tours and masterclasses throughout France.
Guzman has appeared in major international venues such as Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Buenos Aires’s CCK, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, and London’s Wigmore Hall. As a chamber musician, he collaborates regularly with members of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and soloists. He is also a sought-after orchestral pianist, and as such has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. Guzman joined Chicago’s Grant Park Symphony Orchestra as a keyboardist in 2024.
While Guzman has earned several international accolades for performing the traditional Western canon, many of his performances showcase music written after 1900. His performances have included world premieres by Donald Martino, Nico Muhly, and Paul Schoenfield. The New York Times hailed his performance of Christopher Theofanidis’s Statues as “coiled” and “explosive.” His CD of German and Austrian music from the past one hundred years, Vienne et après, is available on the Tessitures label. His CD of Paul Reale’s compositions, Chopin’s Ghosts, on the Naxos label, was included in Fanfare magazine’s Top Five releases of 2018. Other world premiere recordings include solo works by Peter Ablinger and Jörg Widmann.
Born in Texas, Christopher Guzman began studying piano at age nine and violoncello two years later. He later studied at the University of Texas at Austin, the New England Conservatory, and The Juilliard School. In addition to performing, he is also a Professor of Piano at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. He previously taught at Penn State University and has taught masterclasses throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit christopherguzmanpiano.com.