The School of Music at West Texas A&M University hosts the Piano Teacher’s Workshop on Feb. 28 and presents the Grace Hamilton Piano Festival on Feb. 29.
The Workshop will include a master class for pre-college and college piano students led by Dr. Andrew Brownell, professor of piano at UT Austin, and three sessions by Dr. Jeremy Dittus, a specialist of Dalcroze - a unique method of experiencing and learning music through movement, active listening, and singing.
To conclude the workshop and kick off the Grace Hamilton Piano Festival, Dr. Brownell will present a solo recital with music by Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Shostakovich. The schedule for workshops on Feb. 28 is listed below.
8:30-9 a.m. registration
9-11 a.m. Master Class with Dr. Brownell
11:30-1 p.m. Dalcroze Session One: Dalcroze Eurhythmics: Musicianship from the Inside Out with Dr. Dittus
2-2:30 p.m. Dalcroze Session Two: Dalcroze Strategies and Techniques with Dr. Dittus
3:45-4:45 p.m. Dalcroze Session Three: Movement Vocabulary for Musical Concepts with Dr. Dittus
7:30 p.m. Recital Performance by Dr. Andrew Brownell in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall *Admission to the recital is free for attendees, performers as well as WT students and faculty. Tickets are $10 each for the general public.
A native of Portland, Ore., Brownell placed second at the 2006 Leeds Competition, first at the 2005 J. N. Hummel Competition and second at the 2002 International J. S. Bach Competition in Leipzig. He has performed extensively as a soloist with orchestras such as the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Calgary Philharmonic. He is a professor of piano at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas.
An avid recitalist, Dittus has performed solo and chamber programs and presented Dalcroze masterclasses throughout the U.S., Europe, and South East Asia. He directs the Dalcroze School of the Rockies Dalcroze Academy teacher training center at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Dittus recently published “Embodying Music,” “Moving Sound” and five books that correspond to the Rhythmic-Sofége youth program in place at the Dalcroze School of the Rockies.
The Festival continues the next day with a pre-college student performance in which students compete to win a spot in the festival honor’s recital at 2 p.m. in the Fine Arts Complex Recital Hall. This year’s adjudicators are Drs. Andrew Brownell, Jeremy Dittus, and Dr. Hye-Gyung Ji of South Plains College.
For more information about the Festival or the Workshop, call the School of Music at 806-651-2840.
-West Texas A&M University
