Ithaca College

School of Music Dean Karl Paulnack will be in residence this week as an International Scholar at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, one of Taiwan's elite higher education institutions.

An accomplished pianist, educator, and advocate of the arts, Paulnack will work with students and faculty at NTNU’s College of Music across several days of lessons, lectures, and discussions.

“I’m really looking forward to my first-ever trip to Taipei,” Paulnack said. “It is a new part of the world for me and an entirely new culture. I’m excited to spend time with and learn from students and faculty who come from a different set of musical traditions.”

His first day in residence will focus on master classes and individual lessons for singer/pianist duos in French Melodies, German Lieder, and American art song. Day two will focus on instrumental sonatas with piano and day three will feature master classes in piano chamber music (trio through quintet), as well as a faculty/student question/answer period.

Paulnack noted that he’s especially looking forward to the opportunity to teach the French Melodies repertoire and the aspects of fetes galantes and commedia dell’arte embodied in that genre.

“I think teaching that particular material through a translator in a non-Western culture may be challenging for me," he added. “I know I will return enriched by the experience, as we inevitably are when we engage other cultures and traditions.”