CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Opportunities for “listening to Liszt” will be many and varied next month at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as the School of Music plays host to the 2004 conference of the American Liszt Society March 4-6.
The society, which includes among its members performers, scholars and music appreciators, was founded in 1964 “to promote scholarship and general understanding of the full creative and historical significance of Franz Liszt on the education and development of both the composition and performance of music throughout the Western World.”
Each year, the group presents an annual festival and conference at a different location – often on a university campus. This year’s conference and festival, which includes lectures, recitals and concerts, is a celebration of the society’s 40th anniversary. Many of the events are free and open to the public.
“The University of Illinois School of Music is proud to sponsor the 2004 annual conference,” said Edward Rath, associate director of the school and festival coordinator. “Featured on this year’s program will be a variety of world-renowned performers and scholars whose presentations will range from lecture-demonstrations on specific repertoire and various aspects of Liszt’s creative genius to duo-piano, chamber music and solo recitals.”
The conference’s opening address will be presented by William Kinderman, a professor of musicology in the School of Music at Illinois, at 10:30 a.m. in the recital hall of Smith Memorial Hall, 805 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana. Kinderman’s talk is titled “The Diabolical and the Sacred in Liszt: From the “Totentanz” to “The Bells of Strassburg Cathedral.”
Kinderman has arranged for the manuscript of the “Totentanz” and some of Liszt’s other piano works to be available for viewing in the university’s Music Library, 2136 Music Building, 1114 W. Nevada St., Urbana.
Also participating in the conference, as presenters or performers, are School of Music faculty members Timothy Ehlen, William Heiles and Sherban Lupu.
“Of special interest will be two concerts including all of the works written or arranged by Liszt for piano and orchestra,” Rath said. Those concerts, at 7:30 p.m. on March 4 and 6 in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, will feature Sinfonia da Camera, conducted by Illinois music professor Ian Hobson. Joining Sinfonia during each performance will be four different world-class piano soloists.
“These are big names in the piano world,” said Rath, who noted that the pianists and presenters are all donating their time and talent to the festival.
The Liszt Society‘s decision to hold the event at Illinois was due to Hobson’s connection with the society and the reputation of the school. “Ian has a strong working relationship with the organization and its board,” Rath said. “He proposed the idea, and the president of the society visited here and decided Champaign-Urbana would be a good place for the conference.”
A complete festival schedule detailing events, dates, times, locations and registration information, is available on the Web.
