Converse to host South Carolina Music Teachers Association Conference
Converse College will host the 49th annual conference of the South Carolina Music Teachers Association Conference Nov. 5-7, 2009. Two featured concerts during the conference are open to the public.
On Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8:00 p.m., Petrie School of Music faculty and students will be featured in a showcase recital in Daniel Recital Hall. Admission is free. Pianist Robert Weirich will perform on Friday evening, Nov. 6, 2009 at 8:00 p.m., also in Daniel Recital Hall. Admission for the general public is $10.
Weirich has held the Jack Strandberg Missouri Endowed Chair at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory since 1998. His consistent excellence in the area of performance and teaching has earned him a highly respected name in the world of pianists. He has performed in musical centers throughout the United States, and has presented master classes at some of the top conservatories and music schools in the nation. His playing has been described by the New York Times as “brilliant, probing and austerely beautiful.”
Weirich will open with Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations. This work is a modern piece that has been described as a “spare, concentrated, intense work,” containing plenty of wit for the clever listener. Next on the program is Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs. Ravel is a master in the art of creating detailed atmosphere by using instruments both conventionally and unconventionally. In this work the piano delicately and exquisitely creates vivid, detailed, and rich scenes for the listener.
Following a brief intermission, Weirich will perform Robert Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. 9. Through this series of short pieces representing masked figures at a Carnaval, Schumann gives musical expression to himself, his friends and colleagues, and characters from improvised Italian comedy. This work is blatant evidence of Schumann’s mischievous and playful side. Schumann included many secret puzzles in the music, such as a name spelled out in a repeated motive, as well as sketches of himself and his friends. It was added entertainment for his friends to decipher the codes while listening to the music. Carnaval will end the evening on an imaginative and delightful note.
Weirich will open with Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations. This work is a modern piece that has been described as a “spare, concentrated, intense work,” containing plenty of wit for the clever listener. Next on the program is Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs. Ravel is a master in the art of creating detailed atmosphere by using instruments both conventionally and unconventionally. In this work the piano delicately and exquisitely creates vivid, detailed, and rich scenes for the listener.
Following a brief intermission, Weirich will perform Robert Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. 9. Through this series of short pieces representing masked figures at a Carnaval, Schumann gives musical expression to himself, his friends and colleagues, and characters from improvised Italian comedy. This work is blatant evidence of Schumann’s mischievous and playful side. Schumann included many secret puzzles in the music, such as a name spelled out in a repeated motive, as well as sketches of himself and his friends. It was added entertainment for his friends to decipher the codes while listening to the music. Carnaval will end the evening on an imaginative and delightful note.