Prolific composers Beethoven and Mozart wrote many of their works for the fortepiano, a predecessor of the modern piano, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Music lovers in modern-day Knoxville can enjoy beautiful sounds from this centuries-old instrument during a concert and workshop at UT on September 26 and 27.
University of Missouri Piano Professor Janice Wenger and Violin Professor Julie Rosenfeld will perform four early Mozart violin and piano sonatas on a historic reproduction fortepiano. The 8:00 p.m. concert will be on Friday, September 26, in the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall of the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center. It is free and open to the public.
Wenger will host a free fortepiano workshop, “Haydn and Clementi Sonatinas: Defining the Classical Sound,” from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, September 27, in the Haslam Music Center. Students and teachers of piano and organ and community members interested in the instruments are invited to attend. Participants will have the opportunity to try their hand at the fortepiano at the end of the session.
The UT School of Music is hosting both events.
The fortepiano that will be used for the concert and workshop is an exact reproduction of the instrument made by Anton Walter about 1802 and weighs 175 pounds. It was made in 2006 by Paul McNulty, a renowned American builder working in the Czech Republic, and belongs to the University of Missouri.
To learn more about the UT School of Music and its events, visit the website.
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CONTACT:
Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)
Fay Adams (865-974-3719, fadams@utk.edu)