How to build a bridge between the New World and the Old World, in our case between New York and Vienna? The best way to do it is through music, in the way Antonín Dvořák did it in his Ninth Symphony „From the New World“!

Katie Mahan, the successful and charismatic pianist from New York, found her current home in Vienna and now manages to combine two cultures and two centuries in her performance. Katie got famous due to her interpretation of George Gershwin's music. His Rhapsody in blue, deliberately written as a link between Broadway and the classical music, has become a kind of a Katie's trademark! Since Katie Mahan lives in Europe, she has taken French and German music of different epochs into her repertoire. Today it is Beethoven – obviously!

Beethoven's piano sonata no. 23, later named Appassionata, has become a synonym for passion in music. The piece was composed by Beethoven while having worked on his Third Symphony "Eroica" and his opera "Leonore" – thus Appassionata was clearly influenced by both works. For a long time the composer considered Appassionata to be his best piano composition.

George Gershwin  
Rhapsody in Blue for piano and jazz orchestra (1924), transcription for piano solo

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.23 in F minor, op. 57 (1804)
I. Allegro assai
II. Andante con moto
III. Presto