The Pianist

saxophone cries ahead of their time – and ahead of poor Tommy Flanagan. Countless musicians have found inspiration in John Coltrane’s career and his second wife, Alice Coltrane (1937-2007), is no exception. Accomplished musician in her own right as a pianist, organist, and harpist, she made a successful career for herself prior to and following her marriage to John Coltrane, particularly after as a recording artist and continuer of experimental jazz. Before his influence, Alice Coltrane…

of piece with its random espressivo in the piece. I was fond of the pianist talents as she displayed all the details of this piece by emphasizing but yet disguising the G flat because at first I thought I heard something else possibly even another instrument at first glance.…

Frederic Chopin was a Romantic period composer and pianist from Poland. A musical prodigy, he composed his first Polonaise when he was seven years old. In 1830, Chopin left Warsaw due to the Polish November Uprising which inspired him to compose music with nationalistic elements. The following year, he traveled to Paris, which became his home for the rest of his life and met fellow contemporaries such as Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn. This meeting gave him a chance to showcase his talents…

Opera Rising Stars Concert series on Sunday, February 28, 2016 in Wright Auditorium. The stars consisted of Janai Brugger a soprano, Sarah Mesko a mezzo-soprano, Sean Panikkar a tenor, Trevor Scheunemann a baritone, and lastly Brent Funderburk the pianist. These performers are apart of the S. Rudolph Alexander performing arts series. The audience consisted of a wide range of people; from college students to the elderly citizens of Greenville, NC. First, I would like to start off with one of the…

Seen in five films titled Crash, Pleasantville, Cry Freedom, The Pianist and American History X, there are a handful of noticeable themes portrayed in each. Anthropologically, sociologically and psychologically, these films and their themes of discrimination, conformity and alienation as well as self actualization and realization interconnect among one another. Discrimination is the unjust treatment towards categories of people based on prejudices. In all five movies this was revealed, some…

record of national and international concert appearances, and by her exceptional teaching of piano and chamber music. Dr. Jiang’s CV details her diverse career as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist (a term replacing “accompanist” to describe the role the pianist plays in a instrumental or vocal recital performance). I am impressed not only by the high status venues that have sponsored her performances, such as New York’s Lincoln Center,…

Biography Scot Joplin was an African-American pianist and a composer who was born in between 1867/68 and died on the 1st of April 1917. Scot Joplin was born into a musical family of railway laborers in Texas. He was greatly helped by his teachers to develop and understand his knowledge of music in his early years. In his young age, the composer grew up in Texarkana where he was involved in the formation of a vocal quartet and also taught guitar and mandolin (Berlin, 1996). In the late 1880’s,…

Crash, Cry Freedom, The Pianist and Pleasantville all display different social issues, such as discrimination, conformity and charismatic leaders. Discrimination is prejudicial thoughts acted out towards anyone, usually based on his or her race and ethnicity. Anthropologists can look towards structuralism and the complex rules that determine what are good and bad, in order to know how discrimination can be spreading in a society. The films Pleasantville and The Pianist both showcase different…

Although his life ended very early, Sonny Clark was still able to make his mark on the musical community. Sonny is known for his musical works as a hard bop, jazz pianist. But like many musicians, Clark may not have had such an impact on the musical world if not for the inspiration of the musicians before him. Sonny was inspired by several musicians, and therefore, spent much of his short life jumping from state to state gathering as much knowledge and experience as he could. Sonny Clark was…

industry and were able to play, compose, and perform in musical contests and orchestras. One of my favorite women composers, who fought against this belief, is Clara Wieck Schumann. This woman is an incredible person. Though Clara was more of a concert pianist, she left behind many works composed by herself, some of which included the help of other composers. Clara Wieck Schumann was born on September 13, 1819, AD. She was born in Leipzig, Germany to Friedrich Wieck, her father, and Marianne…