Jason Hardink
ADJUNCTSAdjunct
Music
Email: jhardink@westminsteru.edu
About
A fearless interpreter of large-scale piano works both modern and historical, Jason
Hardink’s recent repertoire includes the complete Michael Hersch The Vanishing Pavilions,
Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus, the Liszt Transcendental Etudes
paired with the Boulez Notations, and Wolfgang Rihm’s numbered Klavierstücke, all
of which he performs from memory.
His recent debut at Weill Recital Hall was lauded for its audacious programming and
pianism demonstrating both “abandon and remarkable clarity” (Anthony Tommasini, New
York Times). Recent and upcoming performances include his debut at the Cabrillo Festival
of Contemporary Music as soloist in the North American premiere of Gerald Barry’s
Piano Concerto with conductor Cristian Macelaru, the premiere of a new solo piano
work by Jason Eckardt at National Sawdust celebrating the centenary of Ives’ Concord
Sonata, a performance of Michael Hersch’s The Vanishing Pavilions at Wien Modern,
the complete Liszt Transcendental Etudes performed on an 1852 Bösendorfer at Music
in Context in Houston, and Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux étoiles… with the Utah Symphony
and Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble.
Much sought after as a chamber musician, Mr. Hardink has collaborated in recital with
violinists Augustin Hadelich, Nicola Benedetti, and Phillip Setzer. His performances
with Augustin Hadelich of Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major (opus
30, No. 3) the Stravinsky Divertimento were recently featured on Performance Today.
He has appeared on chamber music series all over the U.S., including Music in Context,
fEARnoMUSIC, Music on the Hill, Aperio Music of the Americas, Montana Chamber Music
Society, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. Hardink has performed solo works of
Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms on period instruments, and
he has toured Norway with violinist Tor Johan Bøen performing the Grieg Sonatas for
Violin and Piano on an 1853 Blüthner. He has performed concerti with conductors Donald
Runnicles, Carlos Kalmar, and Brett Mitchell and regularly appears at the Grand Teton
Music Festival every summer.
Mr. Hardink has commissioned a number of piano works, including Thomas Osborne’s And
the Waves Sing Because They Are Moving, Bruce Quaglia’s Passagio Scuro, and Inés Thiebaut’s
concerto for piano and small ensemble, Hiraeth. Upcoming commission projects include
new solo works by Jason Eckardt, Steven Roens, Inés Thiebaut, and Anthony Green.
Recording projects include a recent performance of Saint-Saens’ Le carnaval des animaux
with the Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer, and pianist Kimi Kawashima, to be released
as a live recording on the Hyperion label. Upcoming recordings releases include Jason
Eckardt’s pulse-echo with the JACK Quartet.
Mr. Hardink has appeared as guest recitalist and adjudicator for both the Gina Bachauer
International Piano Competition and the Oberlin International Piano Competition. He
has served as guest artist for the University of Utah Summer Chamber Music Workshop
and the Idaho State University Summer Piano Institute. A native of Rhode Island and
a graduate of both Oberlin Conservatory and the Shepherd School of Music, his former
teachers include Robert Boberg and Sanford Margolis. Hardink holds a DMA from Rice
University, where he studied with Brian Connelly; his Doctoral thesis “Messiaen and
Plainchant” explores the varying levels of influence that Gregorian chant exerted
on the music of Olivier Messiaen.
Mr. Hardink resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he holds the position of Principal
Keyboard with the Utah Symphony and serves on the piano faculty of Westminster College.
He is married to pianist Kimi Kawashima, and they are parents of twin boys, Luc and
Derek.
