SEEKER The Piano Music of Piet Swerts

Belgian (Flemish) composer, pianist and conductor Piet Swerts (b. Tongeren, November 14, 1960) has been a household name among classical music lovers all over the world ever since his violin concerto Zodiac obtained the first prize at the 1993 International Queen Elisabeth Music Competition. He has written over 250 works in all genres, many of which are performed regularly and/or have been recorded on CD. Seeker, the title of this CD, refers directly to Swerts’s composition Seeker of Truth, but also, in a wider sense, to the composer’s never-ending quest for a personal musical idiom. Swerts is an experienced pianist, which his thorough knowledge of musical styles from the past clearly shows. Russell Hirshfield commissioned two of the works on this CD, Histoire Perdue and Valses Enigmatiques. These colorful pieces constitute an original, stimulating and valuable contribution to contemporary piano music.