Booking for Performances and More

Dr. Otten is available for the following activities:

RECITALS

  • Mixed programs of diverse eras
  • Specialty programs
    Sample topics:

    • African American Repertoire: Leslie Adams,
 Margaret Bonds, Nathaniel Dett, William Grant 
 Still
    • Impressionist Repertoire: Debussy Préludes; Ravel Gaspard de la nuit
    • Late Beethoven Sonatas: Opp. 109, 110, 111
    • Music of Liszt: Sonata in B Minor; Années de 
 pèlerinage
    • Music of Chopin: Ballades
    • Russian Repertoire: Rachmaninoff/Prokofiev/
 Scriabin
    • Music of North and South America
    • Music of the USA

All recital programs include verbal commentary discussing the repertoire performed. The above topics can also be presented as lecture-recitals (with more verbal discussion) or as workshops.

Lecture-Recitals

Sample topics:

  • Gems of the African American Repertoire
  • The Preludes of Claude Debussy
  • Charles Ives Concord Sonata
  • Leslie Adams Piano Etudes
  • The Aspect of the Spiritual/Divine in Piano Repertoire
  • Schumann Davidsbündlertänze
  • Frances White Maurice Remembered: Co-Creating a Piece with a Composer and Friend

WORKSHOPS

See teaching page for sample topics

MASTERCLASSES

See teaching page for more information

INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION

See teaching page for more information

Residencies

Can include some or all of the above-listed activities. Length is negotiable:

  • 1-2 days
  • 3-5 days
  • 1 week
  • Multiple weeks

Contact Dr. Otten at thomas@otten.studio to book performances, masterclasses, lessons, residencies.

Otten took on a perfect 18th-century grace for Bach and Haydn. Everything was there — sur la pointe, so to speak.

— San Francisco Chronicle

Reviews

If technique alone could assure success in the world of the piano recitalist, Thomas Otten would be home-free.  It doesn’t, but happily, he seems to have all of the other requisites of the career soloist – an innate sense of good taste, a sheer joy in performing, and a profound understanding of what he is about.

— Arkansas Gazette

Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 109 was miraculous to hear, as played on this occasion. Few world-renowned masters, live or on records, have revealed its inner beauty as splendidly as Otten managed in Hill Hall. Again and again this performance suggested Bach’s handling of lines and structure – it often brought to this listener’s mind the Goldberg Variations, and when the chorale returned in the final pages, it was a transcendent experience.

— Classical Voice of North Carolina

Otten’s quiver of virtuoso technique seemed bottomless. The most hushed pp passages seemed to float magically while there was no want of power in the loudest passages. His broad palette of tonal color was perfect for Debussy, guided by a marvelous sense of style and depth of musicianship.  This was a wonderful concert to satisfy the appetite of every Francophile.

— Classical Voice of North Carolina

Otten played Mozart’s D Minor Concerto with utmost authority. Each of the piano solos was like a jewel in a crown. Otten’s phrasing was luxurious, with buoyant rhythmic precision; and his embellishments, like freshly ironed lace, were articulate and clean. It was a superb performance.

— Classical Voice of North Carolina