The W&L Concert Guild Series opens its season with a performance by guest pianist Nicola Melville on Friday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. in Wilson Concert Hall.
A winner of numerous awards, the New Zealand pianist has collaborated with members of the Kronos and JACK quartets as well as members of the Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota, and Saint Paul Chamber orchestras.
For her W&L performance, Melville will present a program that features a blend of influences from the Romantic, Impressionist, ragtime and contemporary musical styles. She described her ragtime selections as “a celebration of the genre, both from the era and its revival in the 1970s,” and noted how a Chopin Mazurka in the program relates to another Fantasy-Mazurka by the modern composer William Albright. “The Fantasy-Mazurka is yet another way that the composer delved into past musical genres and brought them into his own music,” Melville explained.
She will also share a set of evocative pieces by the Impressionist composer Claude Debussy titled “Images.” She will conclude the evening with a campy, satirical work that combines an infomercial track with virtuosic piano-writing, by the renowned Dutch composer known by the pseudonym Jacob TV.
Melville is the Dye Family Professor of Music at Carleton College and chair of the piano program at the Chautauqua Music Festival. In addition, she tours as pianist with the contemporary music group Zeitgeist, with whom she performs nearly 40 concerts a year.
She will also lead a public master class to students of the W&L piano program on Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. The class is also open to the public and takes place in Wilson Concert Hall.
Tickets for the concert are required. Tickets prices are $22 for general public, $17 for seniors, $15 for W&L faculty and staff, and students free with ID. Online ticket sales are available at https://my.wlu. edu/lenfest-center/concert-guild-nicola- melville-piano.
Patrons can contact the box office by calling (540) 458-8000 or emailing [email protected].
