Music Department to Host Pueblo Keyboard Arts Festival Nov. 4-6
Release Date: November 03, 2021
PUEBLO— The Colorado State University Pueblo department of music will host the Pueblo Keyboard Arts Festival Thursday, Nov. 4 through Saturday, Nov. 6, with six events taking place at Hoag Recital Hall.
The festival will start Thursday at 10 a.m. when guest artist, Dror Biran will host a masterclass for piano students. An Israeli pianist, Biran serves as an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati. He has won top prize at the M.K Čiurlionis International Piano Competition. Biran has played concerts in China, South Korea and South Africa among others.
At 6 p.m. Nov. 4, CSU Pueblo students will perform in a recital at Hoag Hall. This event will feature students showcasing what they have learned in the fall semester.
The festival continues Friday, Nov. 5, when Biran and CSU Pueblo Professor of Music Zahari Metchkov host two masterclasses. Both high school and middle school students are invited to participate in this masterclass that will take place in two sessions in both Hoag Recital Hall and Hoag room 205. One session will start at 6 p.m., while another session will begin at 8 p.m.
“Our 11th edition of the Pueblo Keyboard Arts Festival promises to be as exciting as ever!” said Metchkov. “Community piano teachers and CSU Pueblo piano students are the essential ingredients that make this concert a great success year after year.
“This year the CSU Pueblo Piano Ensemble takes a bold direction collaborating in multimedia live performances in partnership with faculty and students from the department of art, exploring our new relationship under the School of Creativity and Practice,” said Metchkov.
On Saturday, Nov. 6, there will be a Young Artist Competition held in Hoag Hall from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. These competitions will be held for junior soloists, senior soloists and piano ensembles. The winner of the piano ensemble division will participate in the Piano Monster Concert that night at 7 p.m. Concluding the festival, the Piano Monster Concert features multiple grand pianos performing simultaneously.
“The crown jewel of the three-day festival is the Piano Monster Concert,” said Metchkov. “This unbridled celebration of the piano brings together onstage keyboard enthusiasts from university professors to young pianists taking their first steps performing on a large stage.”
“Through the trans-pandemic period, the loss of music-making for an appreciative audience has been at the forefront of concerns for musicians,” said Chair of the Music Department and Professor of Music Education, Mark Hudson. “Through events such as the Pueblo Keyboard Arts Festival, the department of music and music faculty of CSU Pueblo are striving to make fulfilling and joyful performance opportunities available to young musicians in the region and bring live music to the public once again.”
All six of these events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact CSU Pueblo Professor of Music Zahari Metchkov at zahari.metchkov@csupueblo.edu.
