Ithaca College

Forty year veteran of the School of Music music history faculty Edward Swenson will be honored with a brief retirement recital and reception on Thursday, April 22 at 4pm in the Hockett Family Recital Hall.  Besides teaching, Swenson is an avid restorer of historic pianos;  his latest project, a Graf fortepiano, will be debuted in the recital by world renowned fortepianist Malcolm Bilson from Cornell.  A reception will follow in the adjoining Friends Green Room.

Swenson had this to say about the Graf fortepiano:  "It was made circa 1825, during Beethoven's lifetime. Graf built the last piano that Beethoven owned and he also provided instruments for Chopin, Liszt, Schubert, Clara and Robert Schumann and many other traveling virtuosi when they performed in Vienna.  The Graf piano has a wood frame, leather hammers and dampers and four pedals that provide various sound mutations.  I'm sure Malcolm Bilson will illustrate the instrument's unique features.  When I bought the piano in Stockholm three years ago, it had languished unused since the 1950s.  Its voice has not been heard for over sixty years."

More about Swenson's life and career.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should contact the School of Music at 607-274-3169 (voice), the Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance at 607-274-3909 (voice), or 607-274-1767 (TDD) as much in advance of the event as possible.