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Brimming with popular classics from piano
literature, this virtuosic program features two concertos
considered to be important masterworks for the piano and,
represent their composers at the height of creative powers.
The selection by Lutoslawski has been a mainstay of the duo-piano
repertoire since its inception. It is a set of variations
on a theme from Paganini's violin caprices. This same popular
theme has shown up in dozens of other works, including a concerted
work for piano and orchestra by Rachmaninoff, an enormous,
2-volume set of variations for solo piano by Brahms, an etude
by Liszt and a set of variations by the living composer Robert
Muczynski.
Opening the program Watson will perform the solo line on
the Beethoven, with Martinchuck on the orchestral reduction.
For the duo, Martinchuk will perform the piano 1 part and
Watson, piano 2. Closing the program with the Tchaikovsky,
Martinchuck offers the solo piano part, with Watson joining
on an orchestral reduction.
As a solo pianist, Rob Watson is known for an imaginative
and eclectic repertory of music. He has performed in, and
created festivals and recitals devoted to individual composers
such as J. S. Bach, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Schubert. He
has performed in the Haydn Saal at the Esterhazy Palace (Eisenstadt,
Austria), Kings College (London, England) and the University
of Florence (Italy). As a collaborative pianist, Watson has
performed duo piano recitals with Mary Mark Zeyen, and with
instrumentalists throughout the U. S. He holds a Doctor of
Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University
of Arizona where he was a student of Ozan Marsh. He has held
faculty positions at Simpson College, Northwestern State University
of Louisiana, and currently is associate professor of music
and keyboard area coordinator at CSUF.
Serge Nikolay Martinchuk began his piano studies at age
7. His school studies immersed him in piano, solfege, music
theory and ear training. Upon his graduation, with honors,
he moved to the United States and has since studied piano
with Vitally Margulis and Walter Ponce. Winner of the Pasadena
Piano Competition, he has also captured a prize in the Los
Angeles Liszt Competition, and participated in master classes
with Lev Vlasenko, Leon Fleisher and Jerome Lowenthal. He
received his Master of Music degree in piano performance from
UCLA, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance
under the guidance of Paul Berkowitz at UCSB. Martinchuk has
taught piano at Master's College in Santa Clarita, California,
and Westmont College in Santa Barbara, and held a teaching
assistantship at UCSB. In 2001 he joined the faculty at Cal
State Fullerton. He has recently played with the West Coast
Symphony, which was aired on classical radio station 93.7
KDB.
Proceeds from the concert will enhance the Keyboard Area
Scholarship fund. |
