Jonathan Biss is a world-renowned pianist who shares his deep musical curiosity with classical music lovers in the concert hall and beyond. Over the course of two decades on the concert stage he has forged relationships with the New York Philharmonic; the Philadelphia, Cleveland, and London’s Philharmonia orchestras; the Boston, Chicago, and Swedish Radio symphony orchestras; and the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Budapest Festival, and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras, among many others. In addition to performing a full schedule of concerts, he has spent eleven summers at the Marlboro Music Festival and written extensively about his relationships with the composers of the works he performs. A member of the faculty of his alma mater the Curtis Institute of Music since 2010, Biss led the first massive open online course (MOOC) offered by a classical music conservatory, Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, which has reached more than 150,000 people in 185 countries. Part 3 was released in January 2018. Lectures will continue until he covers all of the 32 sonatas. About the program: Jonathan Biss has been on a long journey to record Beethoven’s piano sonatas, a project he plans to finish in 2020. The piano sonatas are as indispensable to the understanding of Beethoven as the symphonies and string quartets. No other group of his works is so path-breaking and varied. When Jonathan returns to Kansas City this season, he will perform sonatas that span the composer’s life, each marking a transformation of Beethoven’s style.