America/Beautiful

Northampton, MA — Smith College Department of Music presents America/Beautiful, commissioned works for piano that reimagine “America the Beautiful,” featuring pianists Min Kwon and Jiayan Sun, on Friday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Sweeney Concert Hall, Sage Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

What does “America the Beautiful” sound like reimagined by 76 different American composers? Pianist Min Kwon commissioned 76 newly composed piano variations on the beloved song to explore that question in her project America/Beautiful. International Piano Magazine hailed the project as “a monumental statement, both about contemporary America and contemporary music, that will surely establish itself as one of the major musical works of this century.”

America/Beautiful features composers ranging in age from 20 to 93 from 33 cultures and countries of origin, exploring American themes of diversity and unity expressed in the original song. The project premiered on July 4, 2021, in a series of four livestreamed concerts on YouTube that included interviews with some of the composers.

“As an immigrant, America has so many different meanings to me. These past few years have left us so deeply divided, and I have often asked myself what kind of a country I will be leaving to my two daughters—whose birthdays happen to fall on Presidents’ Day and the Fourth of July,” says Kwon. “Ultimately this project is about embracing our diversity, and remembering that by understanding, appreciating, and celebrating our differences, we become stronger both as individuals and as a country.”

In celebration of America’s 250th, Min Kwon will share the stage with pianist Jiayan Sun to present a curated selection of works from the project. Moving through celebration, doubt, grief, humor, and hope, the program invites audiences to hear a familiar song in many different, thought- and heart-provoking ways. Featured composers include Bruce Adolph, Samuel Adler, Avner Dorman, Reena Esmail, John Harbison, Lei Liang, David Serkin Ludwig, John Musto, Shulamit Ran, Huang Ruo, David Sanford, Robert Sirota, Liliya Ugay, among others.

Min Kwon is a Korean-born American concert pianist, educator, and Steinway Artist who has performed across all 50 U.S. states and over 60 countries. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, she made her North American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 16 and made her Lincoln Center debut in 1992. She is Professor of Piano and Head of Piano at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts and was named the University’s 2026–27 Rutgers-New Brunswick Laureate. Kwon is also the founder of the Center for Musical Excellence, a nonprofit mentoring young musicians, and spearheaded the acclaimed America/Beautiful project.

Jiayan Sun, a Steinway Artist and a prize winner in the Leeds, Cleveland, Dublin, and Toronto International Piano Competitions, has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the Chinese and RTÉ (Ireland) National Symphony Orchestras, the Fort Worth and Toledo Symphony Orchestras, among others. His solo album, Busoni and His Muses, released on Bridge Records in commemoration of Busoni’s centennial of death, garnered critical acclaim in Gramophone and International Piano. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he is Associate Professor of Music and the Associate Chair for Performance Activities at Smith College.