Co-curator of major Beethoven exhibits
Beethoven in Love. Co-curated with Patricia Stroh. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. May-December 2016.
Beethoven’s Politics, Politic’s Beethoven. Co-curated with Patricia Stroh. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. February-May 2015.
The Late Great Beethoven. Co-curated with Patricia Stroh. Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, California. February 14-May 1, 2014.
Singing Beethoven. Co-curated with Patricia Stroh. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. 2012.
Beethoven’s Vienna. Co-curated with Patricia Stroh. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library (January 26-May 29, 2013). A first-of-its-kind exhibit to explore Beethoven’s world and life in Vienna.
https://beethovens-vienna.sjsu.edu/
America’s Beethoven. Co-curated with Patricia Stroh. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library (October 1-December 21, 2011). In collaboration with the publication of Beethoven scholar Michael Broyles’ monograph Beethoven’s America. Online version:
https://americanbeethovensociety.org/
americas-beethoven
25 Treasures for 25 Years. Co-curated with Patricia Stroh. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. An exhibit that highlights 25 years of collecting. 2010. Online version:
https://americanbeethovensociety.org/25-treasures-for-25-years
With the Charles M. Schulz Museum, Jane O’Cain, co-curator: Schulz’s Beethoven, Schroeder’s Muse. Major exhibit at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, Santa Rosa, California (August 16, 2008-January 26, 2009), and at the Dr. Martin Luther King Library (May 1-August 1, 2009). Redesigned as a web exhibit:
http://absadmin.users.sonic.net/schulz/
pages/page1.html
AMS/Library of Congress Lecture Series (Music Division)
“What the Autograph Can Tell Us: Beethoven Sonata in E Major, Opus 109.” With Shin Hwang and Malcolm Bilson. September 10, 2011
“Summary: One of the treasures of the Library’s collection of composers’ autographs is the manuscript of Ludwig van Beethoven’s late E major piano sonata. William Meredith presents a fascinating event with a distinguished collaborator, Malcolm Bilson, as partner. The talk and performance focuses on elements of the creative process visible in Beethoven’s manuscript score, and some interesting details it can reveal about what Beethoven does not want the composer to do.”
On-stage dialogues with performers
Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. MTT and SFS Symposium—Beethoven: Before and After. May 4, 2013. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco.
Kevin Puts, composer, Peabody Conservatory of Music. Preceding the San Jose Chamber Music Society’s concert with the Miró String Quartet performing Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major, K. 499, “Hoffmeister”; Puts’ quartet (“Credo”); and Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Opus 59, no. 1. Saturday, October 13, 2007. San José. Dialogue with Mr. Puts about his compositional approach to Mozartian and Beethovenian aesthetics.
Christopher O’Riley, pianist. For the Detroit Symphony’s festival “CONFLICT + CREATION: Eight Days in June.” June 24, 2007. Detroit, Michigan. Lecture-demonstration on three Beethoven piano sonatas with Mr. O’Riley.
Selected pre-concert lectures
Two days of pre-concert lectures for Beethoven Portrait: 32 Sonatas for Piano arranged by Mari Kodama and Kent Negano. Performances of the complete cycle by 18 performers. Miner Auditorium, San Francisco, October 9-10, 2021. https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/
productions/beethoven-portrait-32-sonatas/
Two pre-concert lectures for the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus performance of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Michael Tilson Thomas. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco. May 10-11, 2013.
Two pre-concert lectures for the Escher String Quartet’s first two concerts in a string quartet cycle sponsored by the San José Chamber Music Society. Petit Trianon, San José. February 22 and 23, 2013.
“Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto as a Cyclic Orpheus Work.” Pre-concert lecture for a performance of the Fourth Concerto and Fourth Symphony by Emanuel Ax, Nicholas McKegan, and Philharmonia Baroque. Atherton, San Francisco, and Berkeley. November 8-11, 2012.
“Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata: Traditions of Depictions of Moonlight in the Classical Era.” Pre-concert lecture for a recital by Angela Hewitt sponsored by the American Beethoven Society and the Beethoven Center. Concert Hall, SJSU, San José. February 26, 2009.
“Biography and Aesthetics of Beethoven’s Second Symphony.” Pre-concert lecture for a performance of the Napa Valley Symphony with James Galway. Yountville, California. February 11, 2007.
“Recapturing Early 19th-Century Ways of Hearing.” Pre-concert lecture for a performance of the Spokane Symphony of Beethoven’s Eroica and Fifth Symphonies, in collaboration with Gonzaga University. Spokane, Washington. October 14, 2005.
“Bizarr Beethoven: Reactions to His Music from His Contemporaries.” Pre-concert talk for the Phoenix Symphony Beethoven festival. Phoenix, Arizona. January 17 and 18, 2002.
“Pathos and Triumph: Beethoven in C Minor.” Pre-concert lecture for an all-Beethoven concert of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joseph Silverstein at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College, New York. February 27, 1998.
Musicological consultant/interviews for documentary movies, radio programs, and websites
San Francisco Symphony and PBS: Keeping Score: Beethoven’s Eroica. Air date: April 1, 2011.
Rhombus Media, Toronto, Canada: “Beethoven’s Hair.” Rhombus Media. A documentary on the book by Russell Martin (2004).
A&E: “Biography” of Beethoven (November 30, 1998). Have been interviewed for the documentary (New York, March 1998) and the Center has been assisting in aspects of the production.
BBC: “Great Composers” series biography of Beethoven produced by Jill Marshall, September 1995-October 1997. Initially broadcast December 20, 1997. Helped revise and oversaw development and historical accuracy of narrative read by Kenneth Branagh for the 55-minute documentary biography.