UI Hosts National Piano Month 'Extravaganza' Sept. 23-25

(I-Newswire) September 10, 2005 - The three-day celebration will include several performances and other events that are open to the public, free of charge:

-- 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, UI School of Music piano faculty members Uriel Tsachor, Rene Lecuona, Ksenia Nosikova and Alan Huckleberry, among others, in performances of pieces for one, two, three, four and eight pianos;

-- 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, a recital by guest artist Richard Glazier celebrating the lives and music of George and Ira Gershwin;

-- 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, a piano master class featuring the UI piano faculty and area high school students; and

-- 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, a recital by area piano students.

A selection of Steinway, Boston and Essex pianos will be available for viewing and purchasing throughout the event in the Clapp Recital Hall lobby, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The first "Piano Extravaganza" collaboration among the UI, West Music and Steinway occurred during the summer of 2003, and was in celebration of the Steinway company's 150th anniversary. On that occasion, UI piano faculty member Rene Lecuona commented, "Steinway pianos are known for the beauty, warmth and sustaining power of their sounds. Pianos in general represent a crowning achievement of mechanical ingenuity and Steinway pianos in particular are the most refined example of this captivating instrument."

Known for his piano performances of American popular songs, Glazier is most closely associated with music of George and Ira Gershwin. According to Michael Feinstein, "Richard Glazier has Gershwin in his soul." And Clavier Magazine wrote, "Gershwin's piano music has found an exquisite voice in Richard Glazier.'

Glazier studied as a classical pianist, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance from Indiana University School and a doctorate from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He made formal classical debuts in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Rome, and won several major international piano competitions including the Pro Musicis Award and National Federation of Music Clubs Grand Prize.

In 1996, in celebration of the George and Ira Gershwin centennial, he began performing a one-man, multimedia concert program entitled "Gershwin -- Remembrance and Discovery." He later added "The Music of Joplin and Gershwin" and "A Salute to the Hollywood Musical" to he repertoire. For the 2004-05 season Glazier has performed "Hooray for Love -- The Music of Harold Arlen" in celebration of Arlen's Centennial.

He has performed throughout the country, joining performances of music from the golden age of American popular song with commentary about the composers of the era. Weaving stories, film clips and piano performances, his programs are both entertaining and educational.

Glazier is a Steinway artist.

For more information on the Piano Extravaganza, contact Kirk Davis at West Music, at 319-351-2000/1-800-373-2000, or kdavis@westmusic.com. More information on Steinway pianos can be found on the company's web page, at .

The School of Music is part of the Division of Performing Arts in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

For information on UI arts events, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/artsiowa on the World Wide Web. You may visit the UI School of Music web site at http://www.uiowa.edu/~music/. To receive UI arts news by e-mail, contact ur-acr@uiowa.edu.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa Arts Center Relations, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 351, Iowa City, IA 52242-2500.

MEDIA CONTACT: Peter Alexander, 319-384-0072, peter-alexander@uiowa.edu.

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