Minnesota pianist Stephen Carlson picked a good time to accept an invite to perform in Tucson.
On Sunday, March 6, Carlson, a Minnesota guy, will play a free concert with Dove of Peace Lutheran Church a part of its community concert series.
He will likely bask in our spring-like weather — sunny and 60, with a slight chance of breezy conditions.
In Bemidji, Minnesota, where he teaches piano at Bemidji State University, the forecast Sunday calls for a high of 24 and cloudy.
Carlson will heat things up even more when he performs a program of works by Beethoven, Haydn, Debussy and Brahms on Dove’s recently acquired Steinway B piano. Admission to the concert is free, but donations will be accepted to benefit Gospel Rescue Mission.
Carlson’s program opens with Beethoven’s 32 Variations in C-minor of an original eight-bar main theme that Beethoven twisted and turned 32 different ways.
Carlson also will perform Haydn’s Sonata in C minor; Debussy’s Preludes, Book 2; and Brahms’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel.
Sunday’s concert will be Carlson’s fifth performance with Dove of Peace, whose concert series benefits local non-profit organizations.
Carlson, who recently released a solo album of works by Beethoven, Haydn, Bartók, Debussy and Liszt, is a longtime friend of Dove of Peace Music Director Eric Holtan. The pair attended college together in Holtan’s native Minnesota before ending up in the same grad school at the University of Iowa. Holtan earned his doctoral degree from the University of Arizona.
Sunday’s concert begins at 2 p.m. at the church, 665 W. Roller Coaster Road. It also will be live-streamed through the church’s website, doveofpeacetucson.org
