A Festival Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of LisztA Festival Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Liszt
In September and October 2011, members of the Ithaca College School of Music piano faculty, IC piano performance majors, guest lecturers and esteemed alumni will all be participating in a festival celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great pianist and composer Franz Liszt. Titled “The Dualities of Liszt,” the festival will explore various “sides” of Liszt’s musical personality and the different aspects of his inestimable contributions to music.
The centerpiece weekend of the festival takes place October 7-9, beginning with an evening focusing on Liszt’s accomplishments as a virtuoso pianist and the compositions he wrote that highlighted this aspect of his musicianship. Titled “Liszt: Technician or Orator”, the first evening (Oct 7) will begin with performances at 6 PM of Liszt’s concert etudes by IC piano majors from the studio of Dr. Charis Dimaras. Professor Karl Lutchmayer, Professor at the Trinity College of Music, London, and faculty at the IC London Center, will present a lecture at 7 PM prefacing performances at 8:15 PM of Liszt’s formidable Transcendental Etudes by Charis Dimaras along with students and recent alumni.
The second night of the centerpiece weekend focuses on transcriptions by Liszt, presented with a lecture at 7 PM by Professor Lutchmayer – “Liszt: Vandal, Curator, or Thief?” The evening begins at 6 PM with performances of various transcriptions by students of Dr. Jennifer Hayghe and concludes at 8:15 PM with a solo faculty performance by Hayghe featuring Liszt’s seemingly impossible paraphrase of themes from Bellini’s opera Norma.
On October 9th, Professor Lutchmayer will teach a masterclass at 10 AM on music of Liszt to IC piano students, followed by a gala performance at 1 PM by recent IC alumni. At least 9 alumni in various stages of their professional career, and traveling from around the United States, will be returning for this performance (“Liszt: Saint or Sinner?”) featuring favorites such as the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 and the Spanish Rhapsody.
The final performance in the festival, on October 28th, features instrumental and vocal chamber music and focuses on Liszt’s connection to literary figures and movements of the 19th century. String faculty Elizabeth Simkin and Susan Waterbury, along with vocal faculty Brad Hougham and Deborah Montgomery-Cove, will perform in collaboration with faculty pianists Charis Dimaras and Jennifer Hayghe at 8:15 PM. The preceding lecture at 7 PM will explore Liszt and literature and his chamber music compositions.
All events will take place in the Hockett Family Recital Hall in the Ithaca College Whalen Center for Music. All events are also free and open to the public. For additional information, please contact Professor Jennifer Hayghe at jhayghe@ithaca.edu or Professor Charis Dimaras at cdimaras@ithaca.edu. The Ithaca College School of Music calendar can be found at https://www.ithaca.edu/music/events/calendar/.
Full Schedule of Events – Liszt Festival
Friday, October 7, 2011
LISZT: TECHNICIAN OR ORATOR?
6:00 PM Lecture by Professor Karl Lutchmayer, Trinity College of Music, London.
7:00 PM Charis Dimaras, students and alumni, perform selections from the Concert Etudes, the Paganini Etudes and the Transcendental Etudes by Liszt.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
LISZT: VANDAL, CURATOR OR THIEF?
6:00 PM Student performances of transcriptions by Liszt.
7:00 PM Lecture by Professor Karl Lutchmayer, Trinity College of Music, London.
8:15 PM Faculty Performance of transcriptions by Liszt including
Reminiscences of Bellini’s Norma by Jennifer Hayghe.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
LISZT: SAINT OR SINNER?
1:00 PM Gala Concert by Ithaca College Alumni Performers.
Performers include Mallory Bernstein, Kawai Chan,
Peter Cirka, Angela DiIorio, Joshua Horsch,
Shelby Sender, Allison Weissman and Sam Welsh.
Friday, October 28, 2011
LISZT AND LITERATURE
7:00 PM Lecture by Jeffrey Engel ‘69, Alumnus Lecturer
8:15 PM Performance of instrumental and vocal chamber
works by Liszt. Faculty performers include:
Charis Dimaras, Jennifer Hayghe, Brad Hougham,
Deborah Montgomery-Cove, Elizabeth Simkin and Susan Waterbury.
*Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should contact the School of Music at 607-274-3717.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20110907124111795