Nic Gerpe’s performances have been described as “magnetic,” “prodigious” and “heroic.”

KIHEI — On Friday, Aug. 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the ProArts Playhouse in Kihei, Ebb & Flow Arts will present Los Angeles pianist Nic Gerpe in Pulitzer Prize-winning George Crumb’s “Makrokosmos, Volume 1” (1972), a landmark of 20th Century piano literature.

Gerpe calls his program “Makrokosmos50” (learn more at www.makrokosmos50.com).

Admission is free. Seating is limited, so it’s advisable to arrive early. There will be a pre-concert discussion at 6:30 p.m.

For further information, contact ProArts Playhouse (proartsmaui.com) at (808) 463-6550, or e-mail ebbandflowarts2013@gmail.com or call (808) 876-1854.

The theater is located at 1280 South Kihei Road.

L.A. Times Music Critic Mark Sweddes described his playing as “wonderfully illuminating… his tone is crystalline. His technique is dazzlingly fluid.”

“Makrokosmos, Volume 1” is a masterwork that not only utilizes the full dynamic and expressive range of the piano played from the keyboard. Crumb masterfully creates an entirely new coloristic and tonal palette by making use of extended, inside-the-piano techniques. In addition, the pianist must chant, shout, sing, whistle and moan like a ghost. There are 12 movements in this piece, which Crumb subtitles “Twelve Fantasy Pieces after the Zodiac.”

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the composition of “Makrokosmos, Volume I,” pianist/composer Gerpe commissioned 12 composers — Vera Ivanova, Fernanda Aoki Navarro, Gernot Wolfgang, Eric Guinivan, Alexander Elliott Miller, Viet Cuong, Julie Herndon, Gilda Lyons, Timothy Peterson, Juhi Bansal, Thomas Osborne and Gerpe himself — to each write a response to one movement of Crumb’s original masterwork. Gerpe will record and release both works as an album in 2022.

Gerpe will also perform this free concert on Sunday, Aug. 28, at 4 p.m. at Orvis Auditorium on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu.

This event is part of E&FA’s annual, multi-day, multi-site, international NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST FESTIVAL 2022. The festival is produced, in part, with support from Korean American Foundation Hawaii, AHS Foundation, John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music, Edward T. Cone Foundation, Amphion Foundation, BMI Foundation, The Kosasa Foundation, Vendetti Productions LLC, and private contributions. Website service is provided by Maui Web Designs.

Ebb & Flow Arts Inc. is a nonprofit presenter of modern music and multimedia events. The only such presenter in Hawaii, it was founded in 1999 by composer/pianist Robert Pollock.

It aims to build bridges between the arts and connect artistic expressions and cultures. E&FA creates a global sound board and mirror for music and art in Hawaii.