American Tempest

Passionate spoken words and lyrical prose match with beats flooding in on a wave of emotion.

Born Stephen Bishop in California (1940), the American pianist studied under Lev Schorr and Myra Hess before embarking on an international career in the early 1960s, giving a memorable concert at London's Wigmore Hall. A gifted musician, he accumulated successes on tour as well as on record where his performances for the Philips label received standing ovations, including the complete Mozart piano concertos, at the turn of the 1970s. His extensive repertoire led him to approach the contemporary field, including Michael Tippett's Piano Concerto which he created between those of Richard Rodney Bennett and John Tavener. Married to Martha Argerich, this son of Yugoslav emigrants adds to his name that of his mother, Kovacevich, before using only name of Croatian origin. Stephen Kovacevich then devoted himself to conducting. He founded the Australian Chamber Orchestra (1985-1990) and then conducted the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

Every Civil War buff has heard of the Battle of Chantilly, the bloody 1862 engagement fought in a driving rainstorm only twenty miles from Washington that claimed the lives of two of the Union's most promising generals. Yet few have known the full story of courage and human drama because no one has ever produced a lively and historically accurate account of the battle-until now.