Simone Dinnerstein performs The Eye Is the First Circle, a project conceived and directed by Simone Dinnerstein, in collaboration with projection designer Laurie Olinder and lighting designer Davison Scandrett. This performance is the second of three scheduled appearances by the world-renowned pianist as part of the Gogue Center’s 2023–24 Orchestra & Chamber Music Series. Called “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity” by The Washington Post, American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has a distinctive musical voice. She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. In recent years, Dinnerstein has created projects that express her broad musical interests. She has recorded with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, collaborated with choreographer Pam Tanowitz to create New Work for Goldberg Variations, and has worked with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet. Most recently, she created her own string ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs from the keyboard.