Susan Waterfall: Debussy Préludes Book II (two-part series)

Are you longing for world travel? Do you need a bit of Belle Époque Paris? Maybe you’re curious about musical modernism? Susan Waterfall is back, with Book Two of Debussy’s Préludes for Piano, which will provide you with all of the above. Armchair travel is a necessity during the pandemic. Historic and current performances along with fascinating art and photographs will bring to life Debussy’s final twelve preludes, written before the outbreak of World War One. Here’s another opportunity for lifelong learners to find out more about Debussy and deepen their appreciation of these gems of the piano repertoire.

After Susan’s recent presentations of Book One: “I’ve never heard Susan Waterfall before and was impressed with her knowledgeable and interesting talk. The photography was beautiful and really helped me see the music differently. Those visions certainly set the mood of the music and helped make more sense of the sounds I was hearing. On the whole, it was another bit of MMF magic to introduce me to and help me understand music, thoughts and ideas that I have missed in my ongoing musical experience.” —Sea Ranch, CA

Fridays, February 26 and March 5, 12:00-1:15 PM PST

Pianist and Associate Artistic Director Susan Waterfall has created many multi-media, narrated settings for chamber music for the Festival, ranging from Bartok’s Women (2003) to Tales of a Parisian Salon (2004) to They Left a Light, Masterpieces from Nazi Prison Camps (2009). In 2014, she designed and performed in the four-day Bach Fest, featuring lectures and concerts. With Mozart in Mendocino (2015), the Beethoven Tribute (2016), Understanding Schubert (2017), Chopin: Dreams and Memories of a Lost Homeland (2018), and Brahms (2019), Waterfall continued her in-depth exploration of the music, life, and cultural milieu of a major composer. This season her focus is on Debussy.