Two upcoming performances hosted by the Taylor Performing Artist Series will bring a touch of world culture to the cornfields this semester.
Every year the Performing Artist Series brings performers to campus to provide quality musical performances that enrich students' perspective of the arts. The 2012 season will finish up with two classical performances.
The American Piano Trio will perform Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Butz-Carruth Recital Hall. Admission is free. The trio is a faculty ensemble-in-residence at Ball State University, consisting of Robert Palmer at the piano, Anna Vayman on violin and Peter Opie on cello.
Palmer, Vayman and Opie have performed separately and individually around the world. Palmer in particular has held a distinguished career; after a well-received Carnegie Hall debut in 1979, he embarked on a performing career that brought his fluid and powerful piano skills to concert halls around the globe, according to the Ball State website. Along with being broadcast on National Public Radio and television, Palmer has been an active member of the American Piano Trio. Together the group has performed widely around the U.S. and internationally in Korea, Russia, England, Thailand and more.
The trio will perform a variety of music, ranging from Spanish to Czech, which coincides with the trio's experience of exploring music in a global setting. Two of the performers are international themselves: Anna Vayman is Russian and Peter Opie is British.
Taylor Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Piano Studies Leon Harshenin will also be featured by The Performing Artists Series this semester. His annual faculty piano recital will take place on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in the recital hall. Harshenin said his performance will be a dedication to the Bösendorfer grand piano used in the recital hall, which was overhauled last fall thanks to a donation from the original donor's wife.
"The piano is renowned for its beautiful tone and extra octave of keys at the lower end," Harshenin said. He said over the years moist air from air conditioning and dry air from winter heating wrecked the soundboard, causing the piano to lose its tone projection capabilities. These problems caused it to fall into disuse among students and performers.
But "the Bose," as Harshenin calls it, is back in working order. "We wanted to showcase the piano at my recital this year (to) thank the donor," he said.
Harshenin's performance repertoire will highlight the range of the instrument. He said the piano can move between the dramatic contrasts of Beethoven and the percussive folk tunes of Bartók in a flash. The slow movement of the Bartók Sonata will utilize some of the extra low keys on the Bose, Harshenin said.
Harshenin hopes his recital will give people a chance to appreciate the unique piano. "I hope people will hear all the sonic possibilities of this great instrument, and that the donor will hear the 'musical fruits' of her kind gift," he said.
Harshenin's hopes align with the purpose of the Performing Artist Series: to give students a new appreciation of the arts and to provide a different perspective on the musical forms that exist. The American Piano Trio and Leon Harshenin promise to do just that in their upcoming performances.
