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* Sample Lecture/Recital Programs *

Reverse Transcription: Pauline Viardot's Vocal Arrangements of Chopin Mazurkas

A close friend of Chopin, mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot arranged several Chopin mazurkas for voice and piano. These arrangements provide wonderful insights into performance practice and improvisation in the nineteenth century. To show how Pauline Viardot changed Chopin’s notes, both the original piano solos and the transcriptions are shared.

Beethoven's Chamber Folksong Transcriptions: Music from the British Isles

Few scholars are aware of a treasure trove of wonderful chamber music transcriptions created by Ludwig van Beethoven - transcriptions of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh folksongs. Arranged for voice and piano with optional violin and cello parts, these charming works are wonderful works for professionals and amateurs alike. This lecture/recital shares these folksongs and explores Beethoven and Thomson’s uneasy professional relationship.

Folk and Folksongs Songs: A Visit to the Native Tribes of China

This lecture/recital program explores Chinese folksongs and folksong arrangements. With photographs and maps as visual aids, Ms. Peng and Dr. Olson take their audience on a “tour” of China.

A Journey Through Schumann’s Fraulieb und –Leben, Op. 42

This lecture/recital explores Schumann's beautiful song-cycle Fraulieb und -Leben - the story of a young maid from her first moment of true love through motherhood and becoming a widowed. This program examines the personal, social and musical aspects surrounding this work and its composition.

Got Gottschalk? The Life and Music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk

This lecture/recital explores the life of one of the most colorful personalities in the mid-nineteenth-century American concert experience. A true "showman," Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s life was one long concert tour. The composer’s unique showmanship and fusion of popular, folk and classical styles are shared in the course of the presentation. Discussion includes an exploration of the true personality hidden behind the public image that was portrayed by this absolute "showman."

Songs Without Singers: A Look at Franz Liszt’s Transcriptions of Schubert Lieder

A master of transcription, nearly half of Liszt's compositions were arrangements of other works. Many of Liszt's most beloved solo piano pieces, including the famous Liebestraum, are arrangements of his own songs.

Piano Music for the Left Hand Alone

Few pianists realize the extent of the one-hand repertoire – nearly a thousand solo works have been written for the left hand, many concerti and much chamber music. This lecture/recital surveys the left-hand literature and discusses lives of the composers and performers who created and inspired its creation.

Teaching in the Online Age (lecture/demonstration)

The information age has created wonderful new technologies that been applied to education. The Internet is perhaps the greatest of these technologies and provides unique opportunities for educators. This presentation demonstrates the unique advantages and disadvantages of the Internet and its application in the area of course delivery and classroom enhancement.

Other topics in progress:

Operas in One Act: 'The Indispensable' in the Opera Scenes Workshop

Into the Woods: Robert Schumann's Waldszenen, Op. 82