Performances celebrate bicentennial of Chopin, Schumann, Liszt

A festival that celebrates the 200th anniversary of the births of three prominent 19th century piano composers – Frederick Chopin (1810-1849), Robert Schumann (1810-1856) and Franz Liszt (1811-1886) – will be presented by the SUNY Fredonia School of Music with public performances by guest pianists on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 6 and 7, at Rosch Recital Hall.

Both performance are free and open to the public.

A solo piano recital featuring Gregory Martin, Matthew Gianforte, Brendan Kinsella and Robert Auler will be included in a program, to be presented Saturday, 8 p.m., that includes Schumann’s “Waldszenen, Op. 28;” Chopin’s “Fantasie in F Minor, Op. 49;” and Liszt’s transcription of Richard Wagner’s “Overture to Tannhauser.”

Martin, whose playing has been acclaimed for its imagination, fire and lyricism, is completing his doctorate in Piano Performance at Indiana University. He serves on the faculty of Western Illinois University and is also an active composer.

Gianforte, who has an active career as a soloist and collaborator, earned master’s and doctoral degrees in Music at Indiana University and recently completed post-graduate work at Oxford University. He presently serves on the faculties of DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and Indiana University-Bloomington, where he is coordinator of secondary piano.

Kinsella, hailed as a sensitive musician with an ear for color, has appeared throughout the United States and abroad as a genre recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist and is also an enthusiastic performer of new music. He has a master’s degree in Music from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and is currently a candidate for a doctorate of Music Arts at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Auler, an award-winning American concert pianist who maintains a national and international performance career, has won numerous competitions and has been invited to perform in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Venezuela, Austria and the United States. He was a featured artist on the MTNA Convention’s Rising Star Series in New York and is in his seventh year as piano professor at SUNY Oswego.

Sunday’s performance, also a recital at 8 p.m., will be feature Dr. Steven Spooner and Dr. Karen Shaw and will include Schumann’s “Kreisleriana” and Chopin’s monumental set of etudes, Op. 25.

Shaw, an active performer and teacher, has conducted master classes throughout the United States, Europe and the Far East and has been recognized as a specialist in romantic literature following a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall. She serves as director of the Silvermine Artists Series in Norwalk, Conn.

Spooner has been acclaimed for offering a complete package: polished technique, musical intelligence, innate sensitivity and a personality that reaches across the keyboard.
He has released several solo and chamber recordings, studied at Paris Conservatory, Moscow and Tbilisi Conservatories in the former Soviet Union, and at Indiana University, Bloomington. Currently, he serves on the piano faculty at the University of Kansas, the National Board of the American Liszt Society and is a Steinway Artist.