As part of the 10th Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition, guest artist and juror Dr. Alex McDonald presents Water Music, a solo piano recital featuring works inspired by rivers, lakes, fountains and the sea.

The program explores water’s power to inspire composers through a collection of masterworks by Franz Schubert and Franz Liszt. Highlights include Schubert’s Impromptu in A-flat Major, D. 899, No. 4, the Schubert/Liszt transcription of The Miller and the Brook, Liszt’s In the Rhein, the Beautiful River and Ballade No. 2.

Following intermission, the recital continues with selections from Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage, including By the Lake of Wallenstadt, Beside a Spring, Gondoliera and The Fountains at the Villa d’Este. The program concludes with The Funeral Gondola II and St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves, showcasing Liszt’s unmatched ability to evoke the beauty, motion and mystery of water through music.