Join us on Saturday, May 22 at 3:00 pm for a joint performance by pianists Derek Hartman and Alexa Stier. The first half of the concert features solo performances by each artist of works by Beethoven, Brahms, and Béla Bartók. In the second half, the duo will perform works for piano four-hands by Mozart and Samuel Barber.
After the concert, Derek and Alexa will travel to New Haven to receive their Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees from the Yale School of Music. The couple married in 2025 and currently reside in Nashville.
Program
| Composer | Work | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique” | 1798 |
| Johannes Brahms | 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 76 | 1878 |
| Béla Bartók | Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71 | |
| Intermission | ||
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Sonata for piano four-hands in C major, K. 521 | 1787 |
| Samuel Barber | Souvenirs, Op. 28 | 1952 |
About the Artists
Derek Hartman
An American pianist and educator, Derek Hartman was the top prize winner at the 17th International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. He currently serves as Lecturer of Piano at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. Derek was awarded top prizes in the Music Teachers’ National Association Young Artist Piano Competition, the PianoArts North American Competition, and the Thaviu-Isaak Endowed Piano Competition.
Derek’s performance engagements have taken him to such diverse venues as the Kravis Center of the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the Ruïnekerk in Bergen, The Netherlands. Derek is also an avid chamber musician, a harpsichordist and continuo player, and a music theory and analysis aficionado.
Derek completed his undergraduate studies in piano performance and music theory at Northwestern University in 2019, studying with James Giles. In 2021, he received his Masters of Music degree from the Yale School of Music under the direction of Boris Slutsky and was awarded the Elizabeth Parisot Prize in recognition of his contributions to the Yale community. Derek is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Yale. In his free time, Derek enjoys watching Minnesota sports and playing jazz.
Alexa Stier
A Hungarian pianist hailing from Romania, Alexa Stier has performed extensively across Europe and the Americas. She is a top prizewinner of the Olivier Messiaen International Piano Competition and the Virtuoso e Belcanto Concerto Competition, and a laureate of the Orléans International Piano Competition and the George Enescu International Piano Competition.
Alexa’s most notable appearances include solo recitals and chamber music collaborations at Lincoln Center (New York City), Merkin Hall (New York City), the Liszt Cultural Institute (New York City), Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts (Chicago), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (U.K.), Palazzo Pfanner (Lucca, Italy), and at the Zaldumbide Rosales Foundation (Quito, Ecuador). She appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (UK), the New Britain Symphony Orchestra (USA), and the Transylvania State Orchestra (Romania).
Uniting her passion towards chamber music, contemporary music, and education, Alexa founded the ContemporArt Chamber Music Festival and non-profit organization. As artistic director, Alexa facilitates yearly week-long series of free chamber music concerts and music education to her hometown community and local music students. In 2026, Alexa joined Trio Gaia, a piano trio recently awarded the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant.
Alexa holds diplomas from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Yale School of Music, where she is currently a doctoral candidate studying with Boris Berman and Wei-Yi Yang. Alexa currently serves as as adjunct faculty at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music in Nashville.
About the Concert
The performance begins at 3:00 pm. If you like, come an hour earlier for our pre-concert discussion (afternoon concerts only). After the performance, you’ll have an opportunity to meet the artist(s) and learn about their backgrounds and career plans.
The address of the venue is 103 North Road, Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879. Driving time from Providence, Newport, Westerly, and southeastern Connecticut is under an hour, and Amtrak’s Kingston Station is only five miles away.
The suggested contribution for this concert is $40 per person, collected at the door. We accept cash, personal checks, and cards. Checks should be payable to “Core Memory Music”. All contributions go directly to our performing artists. To make your contribution in advance, click here.
Children under 18 are welcome to join us free of charge.
If you’d like to attend this concert, send us an email with the full name of each person in your party and we’ll confirm your reservation. If you can’t attend the concert, we invite you to listen to the audio livestream (no reservation required).