In a pre-performance lecture, “Hot off the Keyboard,” University of Southern Maine’s Dr. Laura Kargul dives deep into Montero’s repertoire to explore the ways some of the greatest classical composers were renowned for their improvisational skills at the keyboard. Works such as the Bach toccatas, Mozart variations, Chopin nocturnes and Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies often sound as though they were forged in the fire of a solo late-night jam session, perhaps under the influence of wine–or worse. When a pianist performs such works as if they were “transcribed improvisations,” listeners can experience the music as if it is being composed in the moment. Dr. Kargul, a pianist and Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of Southern Maine as well as a soloist and recording artist throughout Europe and the USA, will discuss and demonstrate how a pianist can make a work composed long ago sound.
About Dr. Laura Kargul:
Dr. Laura Kargul, pianist and Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of Southern Maine, has appeared as a soloist throughout Europe and the USA, performing to critical acclaim in venues such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Diligentia Theater in The Hague, the Schleswig-Holstein and Nordhessen music festivals in Germany, the Liszt-Haus in Weimar and the Lesvos Arts Festival in Greece. She has recorded for PBS national radio and television in the USA, and also for radio in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Grammy award winner Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering recorded and produced her solo CD of virtuoso transcriptions, Liszt and Ravel: Transcriptions for Piano. Dr. Kargul received a DMA from the University of Michigan under Leon Fleisher and Theodore Lettvin, and she also served as an assistant to conductor Gustav Meier.
The pre-performance lecture takes place at Hannford Hall at USM’s Portland Campus.
For more information about Offstage activities, please call 207.773.3150 or email offstage@portlandovations.org.
