Simone Dinnerstein

( Lisa-Marie Mazzucco )

Pianist

Simone Dinnerstein is a pianist from Brooklyn whose Bach recordings have been bestsellers and who will finally appear in these parts with an all-Bach recital at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa on June 18.

The 39-year-old has built her career unconventionally. She dropped out of Juilliard to bum around Europe. Settled back in Brooklyn with a young child, she became obsessed with Bach's "Goldberg" Variations. In 2007, she self-produced a recording of it with borrowed money, and, once it was picked up by a commercial label, Teldec, it became a sensation. Her playing is free and full of allure.

She now has a more conventional career, including a contract with Sony Classics, which is releasing a new Bach disc in January, and a busy concert life, but she can still sometimes be found haunting small out-of-the-way venues in which she began, and creating music programs for schoolchildren in Brooklyn.

-- Mark Swed