Noteworthy Artists Visist this Fall
During November and December, Learning From Performers welcomes two music masters-one an internationally acclaimed pianist, the other an award-winning composer and veteran educator.
Irish pianist John O'Conor has been acclaimed for eloquent phrasing, impeccable technique, and mastery of the keyboard color, particularly in the Classical and early Romantic repertoires. He has performed extensively in Europe and North America, and has toured Japan and the countries of the former Soviet Union. A winner of both the Beethoven and Bosendorfer international piano competitions, O'Conor will conduct a master class for undergraduate pianists on Thursday, November 15, at 3 pm in the Kirkland House Junior Common Room, 60 Linnaeann Street. Co-sponsored by the Harvard Piano Society, this event is open to observers free of charge.
John O'Conor gained widespread attention in the United States in 1985 with the initial release of his complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas on the Telarc label. He has also recorded several Mozart piano concertos and the complete piano concertos of the Irish composer John Field, which followed earlier discs of that composer's sonatas and nocturnes. His discography also includes Schubert's "Trout" Quintet with members of the Cleveland Quartet, and a disc of piano favorites that includes works by Debussy, Mozart, Brahms, Chopin, Schumann, and Satie. O'Conor is deeply committed to the development of young pianists and is active in such ongoing projects as the GPA Dublin International Piano Competition, of which he is artistic director.
O'Conor will perform in concert with the Royal Irish Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, November 17, at 8 pm at the Tsai Performance Center of Boston University. For ticket reservations and information, call (617) 353-8724.
One of the foremost composers of contemporary American music, 2001-02 Kayden Visiting Artist Elliott Schwartz's compositions have been performed by such groups as the Indianapolis Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Virtuosi, and New York Chamber Soloists. Recordings of his music can be heard on the CRI, Capstone, Vienna Modern Masters, and GM labels. Schwartz has appeared as a visiting artist at many leading universities and conservatories in the U.S. and Europe, and will take part in a residency at Harvard under the auspices of Learning From Performers and the Harvard Wind Ensemble. On Monday, December 3, at 12 noon in Room ____ of the Music Building, he will participate in a "Composer's Colloquium" co-sponsored by Learning From Performers and the Harvard Society for New Music. Admission is free and open to the general public. Works by Schwartz will be performed by the Harvard Wind Ensemble in a concert on Saturday, December 1, at 8 pm in Lowell Hall. Tickets are $5 for the general public, $4 for Harvard students and seniors, and available at the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222.
Elliott Schwartz was born in New York City and studied composition with Otto Luening and Jack Beeson at Columbia University. He is the Robert K. Beckwith Professor of Music at Bowdoin College, where he has taught since 1964. From 1988 to 1992 he also held a half-time Professorship of Composition at the Ohio State University School of Music, and his visiting appointments have included, among others, Trinity College of Music, London (1967), the University of California/San Diego (Center for Music Experiment, 1978-79), and Cambridge University in Great Britain (1993). Honors and awards include a Dutch Gaudeamus Prize, two Rockefeller Foundation residencies at Bellagio, Italy, three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), an NEA Consortium commission, and a McKim Fund commission from the Library of Congress. His visit to Harvard is under the auspices of the "Share a Composer" program, which brings distinguished music artists to Greater Boston to participate in educational programs at various schools and cultural institutions. Participating schools include the Longy School of Music, the New England Conservatory, Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts, Wellesley College, and Cambridfe Rindge and Latin High School.
Upcoming guests for Learning From Performers include Ruth Page Visiting Artist Mary Cochran, former dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, January 7-11; Clifton Visiting Artist Teresa Marrin Nakra'92, a composer/conductor and artistic director of Immersion Music, dedicated to the invention, development, and promotion of new technologies for live performance in February; jazz singer/songwriter and improviser extraordinaire Bobby McFerrin, February 24-27; and interdisciplinary theater director Ping Chong, who will create and direct a new performance piece, Reason, in collaboration with Harvard undergraduate actors, writers, and designers. Reason will be performed at and co-sponsored by the Market Theater in Harvard Square, March 1-17.
The schedule of Learning From Performers events is subject to change,
with other artists to be confirmed soon. For more information, call the
Office for the Arts, 617-495-8676, or visit www.fas.harvard.edu/~ofa/programs/artists/lfp.
