Talented, young Toronto pianist offers substantial free solo recital at opera house at noon today

Benjamin Smith, a young Toronto-based pianist and composer, offers up a substantial solo program today in the penultimate free lunchtime recital at the Canadian Opera Company's Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.

I've attached the programme below.

Here is Smith stylishly playing the tail end -- known as the "Harmonious Blacksmith" variations -- of Handel's Fifth Keyboard Suite, in E Major, at a recital in Banff. If you want to hear a sample of his pop composing sensibility, you can check out a piece here:

Also in the spirit of interesting piano playing, it's worth checking out Eric Shih, the winner of the latest Van Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. The 38-year-old Washington, D.C.-area gastroenterologist somehow managed to do his job, raise a family and be a piano-competition junkie. His final performance, of Brahms's Variations on a Theme of Handel, is very accomplished.

Check it out here, on the National Public Radio website.