Richard Goode

Tag: Richard Goode

Unexpected Gift Nets Lawrence Conservatory a New Steinway Grand Piano

The Lawrence Conservatory keyboard department recently received a welcome surprise: a sizeable and unexpected gift earmarked for the purchase of a new Steinway D Concert Grand Piano. The gift came courtesy of the generosity of 1958 Lawrence graduate Kim Hiett Jordan.

Steinway Piano_newsblog
Members of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music keyboard department — Michael Mizrahi, Anthony Padilla and Catherine Kautsky — show off their new Steinway D Concert Grand Piano.

Choosing a concert-quality piano, though, isn’t as simple as ordering the right model number from the Steinway catalog. Three members of the conservatory’s keyboard department —  faculty members Catherine Kautsky, Michael Mizrahi and Anthony Padilla — all traveled to New York City to do some hands-on work selecting just the right instrument. The trio was accompanied by a representative from Appleton’s Heid Music, an authorized Steinway dealer. Leaving nothing to chance, the piano faculty recruited additional expertise from renowned concert pianist Richard Goode, who has performed several times as a guest artist at Lawrence.

“We eventually narrowed it down to two beautiful instruments after playing two roomfuls of Steinway D’s,” explained Kautsky, current chair of the department. “We were privileged to have both Richard Goode and his technician along with us to help us make the choice. In the end, the decision was completely unanimous. The instrument we chose is wonderfully flexible and has a beautiful, warm sound that is large enough to fill the largest of halls.

“One tries to find a piano that both feels good under the hands and sounds wonderful to the listener,” Kautsky added. “We think we’ve succeeded extraordinarily well on both counts.”

The magnificent new instrument has taken up residency in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. It will be available to be played by students, faculty and a roster of distinguished visiting artists and enjoyed by audience members for years to come.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Piano Maestro Richard Goode Returns to Lawrence University Memorial Chapel Oct. 21

The musical mastery of pianist Richard Goode returns to the Lawrence Memorial Chapel Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m in a Lawrence University Artists Series concert. Goode’s appearance marks his third performance at Lawrence and first since 2002.

Tickets, at $22-20 for adults, $19-17 for seniors and $17-15 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton or by calling 920-832-6749.

Richard Goode

Acknowledged as one of today’s master musicians for the tremendous emotional power, depth and sensitivity of his music, the New York City native is renowned for his interpretations of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart and Schubert. Goode, 68, probes the inner reaches of the works he performs, infusing every measure with the utmost expressivity. His musicianship combines boldness of the mind with depth of the heart.

“This is some of the most stunningly beautiful piano playing in the world today,” said Professor of Music Catherine Kausky, who teaches piano in the Lawrence conservatory, of Goode. “Impeccable sound, control and a sort of caring about every note that one rarely encounters. This is completely honest and committed music-making at its best.”

According to the New York Times, “It is virtually impossible to walk away from one of Mr. Goode’s recitals without the sense of having gained some new insight, subtly or otherwise, into the works he played or about pianism itself.”

His discography includes more than two dozen recordings, including Mozart’s solo works and concerti with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as well as solo and chamber works of Brahms, Chopin, Schubert and Schumann, among others. He was the first American-born pianist to record the complete Beethoven Sonatas, which earned him a Grammy Award nomination.

Goode has appeared with many of the world’s greatest orchestras — Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre de Paris and the Vienna Symphony among then — and has been heard throughout Germany in sold-out concerts with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

He was presented the first Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance in 2006, an award that honor pianists who have achieved the highest levels of national and international recognition and earned a Grammy Award in 1982 for Best Chamber Music Performance with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.

Following his Friday evening concert, Goode is generously conducting a master class at 10 a.m. and a lecture-recital at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Both events will be held in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

Lawrence University Unveils “Stunning” 2011-2012 Performing Artist and Jazz Series Lineup

Eleven time Grammy® winning jazz pianist and composer Lyle Mays returns to Wisconsin in November in one of eight thrilling Lawrence University Performing Artist and Jazz Series concerts lined up for the 2011-2012 season.

Recognized around the world as a master of the keyboard, Mays has toured with Woody Herman’s Young Thundering Herd, performed with jazz and pop icons Ricky Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell and Bobby McFerrin, and established a 35-year musical collaboration as an integral member of the Pat Metheny Group.

Lyle Mays

A native of Wausaukee, Mays takes the Lawrence Memorial Chapel stage Nov. 5, 2011, with the Lawrence Faculty Jazz Trio, the Lawrence Studio Orchestra and the Lawrence Jazz Ensemble as part of Jazz Celebration Weekend.

“We’ve put together a stunning lineup of musical performances with something for everyone,” said Brian Pertl, dean of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music. “If you’ve never been to Lawrence for a concert, the performers in this series will blow you away.”

The series kicks off Oct. 14, with the Turtle Island Quartet, winners of the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album, “A Love Supreme.” Turtle Island fuses a classical string quartet aesthetic with contemporary American musical styles, redefining the state of the art. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma called Turtle Island “a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.”

On Oct. 24, renowned pianist Richard Goode brings his tremendous emotional power, depth and expressiveness to the Lawrence campus. Goode’s music making has inspired critics around the world to utter such praise as “you’d swear the composer himself was at the keyboard, expressing musical thoughts that had just come into his head.”

Joining Mays for Jazz Celebration Weekend Nov. 4-5 is the Tierney Sutton Band, which celebrated its third consecutive Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Jazz Album for 2009’s “Desire.” The album was described as a “conceptual masterpiece” by the Chicago Sun Times and critics call the Tierney Sutton Band’s music enduring, conveying “a sense of spiritual meditation… and a pure jazz spirit.”

The artist and jazz series continues Feb. 17, 2012 with the Jeremy Pelt Quintet. One of the most talked about jazz trumpeters of the past decade, Pelt and his band mates “swing hard, and they swagger in their arrangements,” said reviewer Jeff Krow. “Pelt is at the peak of his powers with the power and range of Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard in their seminal years.”

So Percussion creates music not easy to define, exploring all the extremes of emotion and musical possibility. The quartet, performing March 10, 2012 at Lawrence, has been called an “experimental powerhouse” by the Village Voice, “astonishing and entrancing” by Billboard Magazine and “brilliant” by the New York Times. Edgy (at least in the sense that little other music sounds like this) and ancient (in that people have been hitting objects for eons), they are among today’s most exciting composers and their own original music has quickly helped them forge a unique and diverse career.

Chanticleer

Hailed as “the world’s reigning male chorus,” by The New Yorker magazine, Chanticleer performs at Lawrence Memorial Chapel April 13, 2012. Chanticleer is known as “an orchestra of voices” for the seamless blend of its 12 male voices ranging from countertenor to bass and its original interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to new music.

The Performing Artist and Jazz Series closes May 11, 2012, with a performance by the extraordinary Panamanian pianist and composer Danilo Perez.  His distinctive blend of Pan-American jazz has attracted critical acclaim and his abundant talents and enthusiasm make his concerts memorable and inspiring. Perez will perform with the Lawrence Faculty Jazz Trio.

Subscriptions for the series are on sale now and subscribers may choose from the artist, jazz, or “favorite 4” concert packages, with discounts available to senior citizens and students. Single-concert tickets go on sale Sept. 15, 2011. Contact the Lawrence University Box Office at 920-832-6749 or visit http://www.lawrence.edu/news/performingartsseries for more information.