Canadian pianist Janice Fehlauer will perform a guest solo recital at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus as part of the School of Music’s Cole Performing Arts Series.
“The Pianist as a Rock Star” features virtuosic composers for the piano and highlights the music of such greats as Franz Liszt, Enrique Granados and Alexina Louie.
“Often referred to as the greatest pianist that ever lived, Liszt was a legend in his time, the 19th century equivalent of a rock star,” Fehlauer said.
Liszt was considered the father of modern piano technique and also a prolific composer, according to Fehlauer.
“He forever raised the standards of what the piano is capable of,” she said. “The composers who followed him tended to borrow or appropriate his virtuosic style in various ways. Virtuosic Lisztian technique can be seen in the compositions of Granados (Spanish), Alexander Scriabin (Russian) and Louie (Canadian).”
Fehlauer began her musical training in her hometown in British Columbia, where she received the associate diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in both piano and violin. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia, a master’s degree from the University of North Texas, and a doctoral degree from the University of Houston. She was the gold medalist of the Wideman International Piano Competition and the winner of the University of North Texas Concerto Competition, and won second prize in the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition and the Hodges Competition for 20th-Century Music. Recent appearances as concerto soloist in the USA include performances with the North Florida Symphony, the Meridian Symphony, the Mississippi Symphony, the Lewisville Lake Symphony, and the UNT Symphony, and in Canada with the Fraser Valley Symphony and the Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra.
Her program at SFA will feature “Reminiscences de Norma” by Liszt, “Coloquio en la reja” and “El fandango de candil,” which are two pieces from the piano suite “Goyescas” by Granados, and “Scenes from a Jade Terrace,” by Louie.
“Louie is a Chinese-Canadian composer who tries to innovatively push the piano’s technical capabilities even past those developed by Liszt, using techniques such as playing on the strings inside the piano,” Fehlauer said. “‘Jade Terrace’ combines Eastern and Western musical styles, and is a wonderful example of how contemporary composers continue to push the boundaries of piano technique.”
Liszt’s transcription of the opera “Norma” by Bellini “shows off everything that Liszt loved: hummable melodies, the drama of Italian opera, and show-stopping piano technique with thundering octaves, “three-handed” technique (so called because a 19th century critic remarked that this passage was impossible to play without three hands), and huge leaps,” Fehlauer said.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.
