CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A “key” annual event on the University of Illinois campus will take place this summer June 28 through July 2.
The Summer Piano Institute, now in its third year, attracts students from the university community and from throughout the state. Also integral to the institute is a series of nightly recitals, performed primarily by piano faculty from the U. of I. School of Music. The institute concludes with a gala concert featuring this year’s enrolled students.
U. of I. piano professor William Heiles will play works by Schumann and Ravel on June 28.
“The institute was originated in 2007 by Swanlund Professor of Piano Ian Hobson, who is well known to local concert audiences as an excellent pianist and conductor of Sinfonia da Camera,” said Edward Rath, associate director of the music school at Illinois.
This year’s featured performers:
• June 28, U. of I. piano professor William Heiles, who will play works by Schumann and Ravel.
• June 29, Rochelle Sennet, the newest member of the Illinois piano faculty and a winner of the Krannert Debut Artist Award. She will perform pieces by Liszt and John Corigliano.
• June 30, returning guest pianist Timothy Ehlen, who specializes in music of the classical and early romantic eras in Vienna. He will perform compositions by Beethoven and Schubert.
• July 1, institute founder Hobson will perform Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” along with selections by Chopin.
• July 2, gala performance highlighting the talent of institute participants.
All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana. Tickets – $15 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $5 for young people – are available through the center’s ticket office or online at www.krannertcenter.com.
Rath said a reduced price is available for piano-music enthusiasts wishing to purchase tickets for the entire series: “Five concerts for the price of four!”
