FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 31, 2008

Contact: K.E. Schwab  

724.738.2199

 karl.schwab@sru.edu

SRU pianist brings ‘Carnival’ flavor to campus Nov. 16      

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Nanette Kaplan Solomon, Slippery Rock University professor of music, will present a “Carnival” of solo piano works at 4 p.m. Nov. 16. The free concert will feature 19th- and 20th-century works inspired by carnivals, masked balls and other colorful events. 

The program in Swope Music Hall will offer “Carnival das Criancas” by Heitor Villa-Lobos, “Carnaval, op. 9” by Robert Schumann, “Masques” by Claude Debussy, “Arlequine” and “Air de Pierrette” by Cecile Chaminade, and “Carnival Music” (1971) by George Rochberg.  
             The Villa-Lobos piece is an evocation of the activities of various performers at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, while the Chaminade and Debussy works are musical interpretations of the stock characters of the Italian Carnevale, Solomon said.

“Schumann’s large-scale ‘Carnaval’ – a landmark in piano repertory – is perhaps the best-known composition in this genre; its 21, short movements present a kaleidoscope of real and imaginary characters at a masquerade, all unified by short musical motives with autobiographical significance for the composer,” Solomon said. “Rochberg’s ‘Carnival Music’ is an example of the composer’s multi-gestural music, where the drama and tension derive from the juxtaposition of opposite musical styles,” she said.

Solomon recently performed this work at the national conference of the College Music Society in Atlanta.

Solomon performs frequently as soloist and chamber musician. She has presented lecture-recitals at the College Music Society national meetings in San Diego, Savannah, Cleveland, San Juan, Denver, Kansas City, Miami and Quebec City, and has performed at the international conferences in Berlin, Vienna, Kyoto, Limerick, Costa Rica, Madrid and Bangkok.

Her involvement with the works of women composers has led to invitations to perform at several feminist theory and music conferences, the American Music/American Women symposium in Boulder, Colo., the Athena Festival in Murray. Ky., as well as at six International Festivals of Women Composers meeting at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has been a soloist with orchestras in Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, as well as featured artist with the Butler, Youngstown, Ohio, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras.  

She has also performed at the Phillips Collection and the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., Wigmore Hall in London, the Lincoln Center Library in New York City, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She is a founding member of the Slippery Rock Piano Trio, as well as the Kaplan Duo, with her sister, Iris Kaplan. A former board member for performance of the College Music Society, she also served on the editorial board of the American Music Teacher. She recently completed a term as board member of the IAWM and is currently president of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association. Her three compact discs – “Piano Music of Nikolai Lopatnikoff” (Laurel), “Character Sketches” and “Sunbursts” (Leonarda) have received critical acclaim.
                  Solomon received her early training as a scholarship student at the Juilliard School. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, her master of music degree from the Yale School of Music and her doctorate degree from Boston University.

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.