“The jaw-dropping highlight of the program, which repeats Friday at the Green Music Center and Saturday at the Presidio Theatre, was pianist Awadagin Pratt’s performance of Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds. Re-reading my notebook, I see that while Pratt commanded the piano keys, I scrawled things like “holy shit,” “D E L I C A T E ~then~ thundering,” and “this is what classical music needs in 2024.”

Opening with precise string pizzicatos and weaving piano arpeggios, Rounds soon transformed into a beautiful discordance that pushed and pulled over the course of 15 minutes. At times, Pratt threw his head back, eyes closed, letting the unusual combinations of notes hang in the air. And the solo cadenza? It was one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve heard come out of a grand piano in years.”