Concert pianist Sachiko Kato will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations on Sunday, December 20, at 3 p.m. The hour-long performance will take place in Capistrano Hall at Sacramento State. Concerts are free to members of the Crocker Art Museum, $12 for nonmembers and $5 for students and seniors. Free parking is available in Parking Structure I, which is adjacent to the Hall.

The Goldberg Variations, composed in 1742, is one of Bach’s masterpieces, but it is not often performed in concert due to the complexity and length of the work. Kato will open the concert with a work by contemporary Japanese composer Somei Satoh titled Hashi (Bridges) II.

A native of Osaka, Japan, Kato grew up in Los Angeles where she gained recognition as a promising artist and started performing with the Brentwood Symphony Orchestra at age 15. She received a Bachelor of Music from California State University, Northridge, and was offered a scholarship to study at the Juilliard School, where she received a Master of Music degree. Her teachers included renowned pianists Russell Sherman, Jerome Lowenthal and Herbert Stessin.

Kato has performed extensively throughout the United States and Japan. She has recently been heard at the Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall and Performing Arts Library, World Financial Center, Steinway Hall and Klavierhaus Hall in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is also a founder of "Weaving Japanese Sounds – Music of Modern Japan" which presents the works of various Japanese contemporary composers to American audiences in friendly settings. Her debut album, Sachiko Kato: Live at the Phoenix Hall, was released in 2008 and features piano works of Japanese and American contemporary composers.

The Crocker’s Classical Concert series will go on hiatus following the December concert. The series will resume after the Museum opens its expanded facility to the public on October 10, 2010.

Crocker Classical Concerts are supported in part by Capital Public Radio. For more information, call (916) 808-7000 or visit crockerartmuseum.org/classical.

The Crocker Art Museum was established in 1885 and continues as the leading art institution for the California Capital Region and Central Valley. The Museum offers a diverse spectrum of special exhibitions, events and programs to augment its collections of California, European and Asian artworks. The Crocker is located at 216 O Street in Downtown Sacramento. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday; Thursday until 9 p.m. Admission is free on Sundays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. For more information on exhibits and events call (916) 808-7000 or visit crockerartmuseum.org.