Dubbed a “Harpsichord Ninja” by the BBC, Mahan Esfahani returned to North America for debuts at the Aspen Music Festival with works by de Falla and Saariaho on August 1 and a Little Night Music recital for the Mostly Mozart Festival’s 50th anniversary on August 5. This was followed by a profile in The New York Times on his work bringing the harpsichord into modern times.
Esfahani has two CD releases this month: the Seattle Symphony’s third disc of the music of Henri Dutilleux featuring Mahan in Les Citations and Deutsche Grammophon’s release of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a work that will serve as the start to his 5-year exploration of the keyboard works of Bach at London’s Wigmore Hall beginning on December 21.
Mahan begins his three-year residency with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as Baroque Conversations Artist-in-Residence on October 6 and in November joins Les Violons du Roy for concerti of Bach and Górecki and a recital at the Isabel Bader Center for the Performing Arts in Kingston, ON.