About

Musique Royale announces Ian Tomaz performing at Cecilia’s Retreat on Saturday March 28 2026.

The first half of the program will include preludes and fugues from the first book of J.S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, completing the cycle that Ian Tomaz began as 2024-2025 Pianist-in-Residence at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance. Designed as an educational tool to help students learn how to compose, the Well Tempered Clavier contains preludes and fugues in all twenty four keys, including some of Bach’s most revolutionary and forward thinking pieces. Never meant for public performance, the work’s intimate nature makes it perfect for the house concert setting.

The second half of the program is composed of water music by Franz Liszt and Maurice Ravel, including Jeux D’Eau, Une Barque Sur L’Ocean and Au Bord D’une Source. Inspired by the capabilities and range of the modern concert grand, Ravel and Liszt both composed numerous pieces meant to evoke fountains, lakes and oceans.

The picturesque oceanside views of the South Shore make these pieces as meaningful today as when they were composed.

About The Artists

Ian Tomaz has performed as a solo and collaborative pianist across North America and Europe. As Artist in Residence at the Fondation des Etats Unis in Paris from 2022-2024, he performed at Musee Petit Palais, The American Cathedral in Paris, Maison du Japon, Mussee JJ Henner, College Franco Britannique and Salle Cortot, and as well as in Saline Royale and Villa Eilenroc in Antibes. While in Paris, he pursued research funded by the the Centre Nadia et Lili Boulanger (CNLB), Societe des Amis de Poulenc, Societe des Professeurs Français et Francophones d’Amerique (SPFFA) and Fondation des Etats Unis, studying the work of Francis Poulenc and Nadia Boulanger.

In the 2024-2025 season, as Pianist in Residence at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, he performed the first book of J.S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier in numerous concerts and lectures around Nova Scotia.

Committed to engaging new audiences, Ian Tomaz’s lectures combine high level music performance with humor and clear, comprehensible explanations of musical concepts, guiding audiences towards a deeper relationship to what they hear.

This spring, in addition to concerts with Symphony Nova Scotia’s principal cellist Rachel Desoer, Tomaz will teach the course “Rachmaninoff and Ravel” for the Seniors’ College Association of Nova Scotia spring session, ending with a solo recital in May 2026.