Part lecture, part dialog and part classical-music performance (both solo and two-piano), this presentation explores the dimensions of musical meaning on a variety of levels.  The presenters bring parallel and interlocking backgrounds to their shared inquiry: one as a professional performer with philosophical interests, the other as a professional academic philosopher who is also an active classical musician.

Topics will include: the interplay between verbal and non-verbal narrative, the intersubjectivity of meaning generated through musical artistry and audience-performer dynamics, notions of authenticity in both music making and philosophy, the relationship between language systems and the “ineffable.”  The discussion will invoke themes from the work of, among others, Langer, Buber, Dewey, and Wittgenstein.

Piano works by Mozart and Rachmaninoff will be performed on concert Steinways.