Pianist Alexander Paley, whose performances have been lauded by the Washington Post as “superlative,” “stunning,” and “flawless,” returns to Richmond in September for three free concerts at First English Lutheran Church.

The Paley Music Festival, now in its twelfth season, has become a fall ritual for the region’s classical music fans. The 2009 Festival runs Fri. and Sat., Sept. 25 and 26, at 8 p.m., and Sun., Sept. 27, at 3:30 p.m.

Paley, introduced to Richmond as a recitalist in the Mary Anne Rennolds Chamber Concerts series, is a Moldavian-born and Russian-trained pianist who lives in New York and performs in North America and Europe. He recently recorded Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Sergei Prokofiev’s Cinderella and Romeo and Juliette Suites for Blüthner Records.

Paley’s 2004 recording of music by Jean-Louis Agoubet was awarded a Victoires de la Musique prize, a French classical Grammy. His 2009-2010 concert calendar includes a performance with the Montreal Symphony and chamber music recitals in France and the United States.

The 2009 Paley Music Festival features two guest pianists, Ivo Kaltchev and Jose Ramos Santana.

Kaltchev, an Associate Professor at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., is a respected recitalist and teacher, whose current season includes concerts and master classes from China to the Czech Republic.

Ramos Santana, a Juilliard graduate and native of Puerto Rico, is a leading exponent of Spanish music, whose 2005 recording of Roberto Sierra’s Glosas marked a world premiere.

Other 2009 Paley Music Festival performers include Pei-wen Chen (piano), Charles West (clarinet), Kathy Judd (violin), and Clyde Thomas Shaw (cello). Paley, a noted interpreter of Russian music, chose music “From the Heart of Mother Russia” for the 2009 Paley Music Festival; the program explores cross-cultural currents between European and Russian music.

The Festival opens Fri., Sept. 25, at 8 p.m., with pianists Paley and Chen performing works by Carl Czerny and Sergei Rachmaninoff. On Sat., Sept. 26, at 8 p.m., pianists Kaltchev and Ramos Santana play dances by Moritz Moszkowski, Antonin Dvořák, Edvard Grieg, and Johannes Brahms. The program also includes pieces by Anton Arensky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Paul Hindemith, and Felix Mendelssohn.

The 2009 Festival closes with a Sunday afternoon concert Sept. 27, at 3:30 p.m. The program will feature trios by Johannes Brahms and Frédéric Chopin. It ends with a rarely heard suite for piano four hands by Nikolai Rimksy-Korsakov, from his opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, played by Paley and Chen.

Detailed information on program and performers can be found at www.paleyfestival.info.

The Paley Music Festival is one of Richmond’s best bargains. Classical music novices and aficionados can enjoy great music for a great price — free!

For more information, call (804) 355-9185 or click here.

— The information above was provided by the First English Lutheran Church, in Richmond’s Fan District, at Monument and Lombardy.