By Victoria Rackliff, intern

It cannot be expressed lightly, the scope of experience that classical pianist Andreas Klein possesses. Recognized throughout the world for his talent, he has played at extraordinary venues from New York’s Carnegie Hall and Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center to London’s Wigmore Hall and Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall.

On Monday, Nov. 30 in Averett University’s Pritchett Auditorium, Danville will join the distinguished list of places where Klein has performed. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Tickets are $5 at the door. The program will include compositions from Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, and Liszt.

“I play pieces that I like,” Klein said. A graduate of the Juilliard School with a doctoral of musical arts from Rice University, Klein said he doesn’t have a favorite composition. In the past, he played a lot of Chopin (his doctoral dissertation was on the Chopin Etudes). The danger, he said, is that the music becomes a routine. “Music has to sound fresh, as if you are playing it for the first time.”

Klein, who is from Germany, discovered music growing up from hearing and observing his family play. Consequently, he also explored and identified what sounded great to him on the piano as a hobby.

“This was a time when it was a custom for people to play instruments,” Klein said. Although there were no professional musicians in his family, “They had fun playing music themselves.”

Eventually, when he started taking lessons, he was taught to play classical pieces. According to Klein, when children are introduced to classical music (without the preconceived notions of adults), they are not biased in thinking they must behave a certain way.

According to Klein, the topic of enjoying classical music is sensitive nowadays because people assume that you must be highly educated to appreciate it. As a result of this limited responsiveness to classical music the institution of the recital or a similar type of presentation is only possible on the university level.

“Classical music should not have the image of being only for the elite,” he said. “It should and can be for everyone.”