Pianist Orli Shaham returns to Milwaukee this weekend after a three year absence. But the piece she’ll perform Saturday and Sunday with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3, is the same one that brought her here in 2016. It’s a piece that was written at the end of Bartok’s life for his wife and it's romantic in a way that a lot of Bartok's work isn’t.
We reached out to Shaham to learn more about the concerto, and about the joys of making music in our electronic age. In addition to her regular concert schedule, Shaham does a lot of performances specifically for children and teens. And while the pull of modern technology is strong, she says the concert hall is one of the few places left where we can escape it.
"There is an understanding that we all turn off our phones, we’re not going to look at them," she explains. "It may take some people a little longer, other people less time, but eventually everybody gets sucked in."
