Eric has earned a reputation for exciting and innovative programming. Sample concerts include:
Eric has earned a reputation for exciting and innovative programming. Sample concerts include:
'The Slaughter of the Times': English Piano Music and the First World War
Drawing on extensive research, this innovative lecture-recital introduces gems of the English repertoire within the historical and social context of the First World War. Through his engaging spoken commentary, Eric explores the intersection of music with the other arts and with historical events, making a compelling argument for the relevancy of music to our understanding of history and ourselves.
Cyril Scott: Britain’s War March
Lord Berners: Trois Petites Marches Funebrés
William Baines: Seven Preludes
Frank Bridge: Lament
Arnold Bax: Piano Sonata No. 2
~Duration: 90 minutes
Here and Now
This programme celebrates the voices of contemporary composers with music from four different countries, making this concert an international buffet of styles. Encompassing serialism, electronics, neo-romanticism, jazz-classical fusion, and extended techniques, these selections highlight the incredible diversity of the music of our time.
Thea Musgrave: Monologue (1970)
Jacob Ter Veldhuis: The Body of Your Dreams (for 'piano and boombox') (2003)
John Joubert: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 71 (1977)
Frederic Rzewski: De Profundis (for 'speaking pianist') (1992)
~Duration: 80 minutes
All-American
A small sampling of music by North and South American composers. Beginning with one of Eric’s award-winning compositions, this program showcases the diversity of American musical culture – Neoclassicism, Latin, Pastoralism, and Jazz all make an appearance. The closing selection, Copland’s Piano Sonata, is one of the most powerful expressions of the American spirit in twentieth century music.
Eric McElroy: The Perilous Realm
Samuel Barber: Ballade, Op. 46
Charles Ives: The Celestial Railroad
Aaron Copland: Piano Sonata
~Duration: 75 minutes
‘The Waste Shores of the Sea’: The Piano Music of John Ireland
This recital presents the unique range of John Ireland's psychological spectrum which extended from the serenity of Chelsea Reach, inspired by "the flickering gas-lamps reflected in the dark waters of the Thames,” to the disturbed melancholy of Ballade of London Nights. Each piece is introduced with biographical and aesthetic commentary on this highly enigmatic composer.
John Ireland: Rhapsody
John Ireland: London Pieces
John Ireland: Ballade of London Nights
John Ireland: Sarnia
~Duration: 60 minutes
Two Visions of America: George Gershwin and Aaron Copland
The parallels between Gershwin's and Copland's early careers are uncanny. Born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents of Russian-Jewish descent, they even studied with the same composition teacher. As composers, each was driven by the quest for an American musical identity. Nevertheless, they were at times highly critical of each other's work. While both Gershwin and Copland began by exploring the jazz idiom, they ultimately created two hugely contrasting bodies of repertoire. In this lecture-recital, Eric examines the music of these musical giants in terms of their contribution to the American experience.
George Gershwin: Three Preludes
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Solo Piano Version)
Aaron Copland: Four Piano Blues
Aaron Copland: Piano Sonata
~Duration: 90 minutes
‘A Time There Was’
There is something for everyone in this concert, and yet the pieces are bound together by a shared sense of loss. They were born out of the destruction of old ways, old worlds, and old loves.
W.A. Mozart: Rondo in A minor, K. 511
Franz Liszt: Funerailles
Charles Ives: 'The Alcotts'
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
~Duration: 60 minutes
Drawing on extensive research, this innovative lecture-recital introduces gems of the English repertoire within the historical and social context of the First World War. Through his engaging spoken commentary, Eric explores the intersection of music with the other arts and with historical events, making a compelling argument for the relevancy of music to our understanding of history and ourselves.
Cyril Scott: Britain’s War March
Lord Berners: Trois Petites Marches Funebrés
William Baines: Seven Preludes
Frank Bridge: Lament
Arnold Bax: Piano Sonata No. 2
~Duration: 90 minutes
Here and Now
This programme celebrates the voices of contemporary composers with music from four different countries, making this concert an international buffet of styles. Encompassing serialism, electronics, neo-romanticism, jazz-classical fusion, and extended techniques, these selections highlight the incredible diversity of the music of our time.
Thea Musgrave: Monologue (1970)
Jacob Ter Veldhuis: The Body of Your Dreams (for 'piano and boombox') (2003)
John Joubert: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 71 (1977)
Frederic Rzewski: De Profundis (for 'speaking pianist') (1992)
~Duration: 80 minutes
All-American
A small sampling of music by North and South American composers. Beginning with one of Eric’s award-winning compositions, this program showcases the diversity of American musical culture – Neoclassicism, Latin, Pastoralism, and Jazz all make an appearance. The closing selection, Copland’s Piano Sonata, is one of the most powerful expressions of the American spirit in twentieth century music.
Eric McElroy: The Perilous Realm
Samuel Barber: Ballade, Op. 46
Charles Ives: The Celestial Railroad
Aaron Copland: Piano Sonata
~Duration: 75 minutes
‘The Waste Shores of the Sea’: The Piano Music of John Ireland
This recital presents the unique range of John Ireland's psychological spectrum which extended from the serenity of Chelsea Reach, inspired by "the flickering gas-lamps reflected in the dark waters of the Thames,” to the disturbed melancholy of Ballade of London Nights. Each piece is introduced with biographical and aesthetic commentary on this highly enigmatic composer.
John Ireland: Rhapsody
John Ireland: London Pieces
John Ireland: Ballade of London Nights
John Ireland: Sarnia
~Duration: 60 minutes
Two Visions of America: George Gershwin and Aaron Copland
The parallels between Gershwin's and Copland's early careers are uncanny. Born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents of Russian-Jewish descent, they even studied with the same composition teacher. As composers, each was driven by the quest for an American musical identity. Nevertheless, they were at times highly critical of each other's work. While both Gershwin and Copland began by exploring the jazz idiom, they ultimately created two hugely contrasting bodies of repertoire. In this lecture-recital, Eric examines the music of these musical giants in terms of their contribution to the American experience.
George Gershwin: Three Preludes
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Solo Piano Version)
Aaron Copland: Four Piano Blues
Aaron Copland: Piano Sonata
~Duration: 90 minutes
‘A Time There Was’
There is something for everyone in this concert, and yet the pieces are bound together by a shared sense of loss. They were born out of the destruction of old ways, old worlds, and old loves.
W.A. Mozart: Rondo in A minor, K. 511
Franz Liszt: Funerailles
Charles Ives: 'The Alcotts'
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
~Duration: 60 minutes