The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) will present pianist Pedja Mužijević in a themed recital titled Homage to Mixtapes on Friday, February 6, 2026, as part of its Marshall Weinberg Classical Music Season, adding another high-profile event to the Upper East Side institution’s 2025/26 programme.
The performance will take place at 7:30pm in Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center, located at 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128. Tickets start at $45 for in-person attendance and $25 for livestream access.
The programme is framed as a contemporary reflection on the cultural shift brought about by home recording technology, with Mužijević drawing a direct parallel between cassette-era curation and today’s playlist culture. The recital is designed to unfold like a sequence of tracks, moving between classical repertoire and modern works in a format that highlights contrast, pacing, and personal choice.
Mužijević describes the concept in his own words: “In the 1970s, cassette players revolutionized how we experienced music at home. For the first time, we could record, curate, and create our own playlists. Maybe some Mozart, a Dolly Parton song and Steve Reich. No algorithms, no rational explanations, just our personal choices. We called them mixtapes. This is an homage to that time. The program is divided into three chapters that could fit on a 60-minute cassette. From the theatrical flair of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach and Joseph Haydn to the playful, tipsy waltz of György Ligeti and passionate romanticism of Amy Beach, each piece invites the audience into a new world. Homage to Mixtapes is a celebration of the art of listening, joy of discovery, and a nod to the creative freedom of mixtapes.”
The concert’s structure follows that mixtape-inspired framing, divided into three “tracks” that move across periods and compositional styles. Track 1 centres on C.P.E. Bach’s Sonata in G Major, Wq. 55/6, presented in three movements — Allegretto moderato, Adante, and Allegro di molto — interwoven with György Ligeti’s Tempo di valse (poco Vivace – “à l’orgue de Barbarie”), from Musica ricercata, and Valentin Silvestrov’s Serenade and Waltz of the Moment, from Four Pieces, Op. 305.
Track 2 shifts towards late 19th- and 20th-century repertoire, opening with Amy Beach’s Ballad, Op. 6. It continues with Morton Feldman’s Intermission I and Intermission II, surrounding Gregory Spears’ Monday Afternoon, from Seven Days (NY premiere). The set concludes with Philip Glass’ Etude No. 9, from Book 1, reinforcing the programme’s focus on rhythmic clarity and contemporary piano writing.
Track 3 returns to classical foundations through Franz Joseph Haydn’s Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI/52, moving through Allegro, Adagio, and Presto. This section also incorporates 20th-century colour and texture via George Crumb’s Pastorale (from the Kingdom of Atlantis, ca. 10,000 B.C., from Makrokosmos, Volume I) and Henry Cowell’s Aeolian Harp, offering a sequence that contrasts traditional sonata form with more experimental sound worlds.
Beyond the programme itself, the event highlights 92NY’s ongoing strategy of presenting artist-led curation alongside core classical repertoire, an approach that reflects broader trends across the cultural sector as venues compete for attention in a crowded live-events market. By pairing familiar composers with contemporary voices, the institution positions the recital as both accessible and exploratory for audiences attending in person or online.
Mužijević’s career has been shaped by such programming choices and collaborations. He has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orkest in The Hague, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Shinsei Nihon Orchestra in Tokyo. His recital venues include Alice Tully Hall, 92NY and The Frick Collection in New York; and major cultural institutions in Washington, D.C., Toulouse, and Tokyo. His Carnegie Hall concerto debut with the Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and Robert Spano was recorded live and released on the Oberlin Music label.
His interdisciplinary work includes touring with Mikhail Baryshnikov across multiple continents and participating in staged projects such as Trisha Brown’s production of Schubert’s Winterreise with Simon Keenlyside at venues including Lincoln Center, London’s Barbican, La Monnaie in Brussels, and Opera National de Paris. In 2018, he conceived and premiered Framing Time, a staged presentation of Feldman’s Triadic Memories at Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival.
In the 2025/26 season, Mužijević will bring Homage to Mixtapes to UNLTD Powered by Verbier Festival, 92NY, and the Southeastern Piano Festival in Columbia, South Carolina, alongside concerto performances featuring Chopin and Beethoven with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and String Orchestra of the Rockies.
He currently serves as artistic advisor for Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana and artistic administrator at Baryshnikov Arts in New York, while continuing to lead workshops internationally focused on concert presentation and programming.
