Aristo Sham

Aristo Sham is a pianist who appears with orchestras and in recital programs internationally. In this appearance he performs a solo recital of Chopin's four Impromptus and Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata for the Billings Symphony Orchestra & Chorale audience, offering a program built around lyrical piano writing and one of the most recognizable sonatas in the repertoire.

This program pairs two composers known for turning the piano into a singing instrument. Chopin's four Impromptus are short, flowing pieces built around a continuous melodic line that seems to improvise itself, with a middle section in each that shifts mood before the opening idea returns. Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14, nicknamed "Moonlight," opens with a slow, hushed movement of rolling triplet chords under a simple melody, before moving through a brief, dance-like middle movement into a final movement of rapid, turbulent arpeggios. Listeners can expect a program that moves from intimate, conversational playing in the Chopin toward the dramatic contrasts of the Beethoven, with attention to how a single melodic line can carry through changing textures.