Associate music professor Nadia Shpachenko performed complex pieces in her piano recital "Composers Inspiring Composers" Wednesday in the Music Recital Hall, leaving the audience in awe.
Shpachenko was inspired to perform the recital after being asked to premiere a set of pieces by Ukrainian composer Yury Ishchenko, titled "Four Mazurkas and a Touch of Chopin."
"Ishchenko's Mazurkas are delightful miniatures, inspired by specific Chopin Mazurkas, parts of which are quoted verbatim in each piece," said Shpachenko in a press release. "As I was planning my new solo program, it dawned on me: why not perform a complete program of works inspired by other composers?"
The Music Recital Hall was filled nearly to capacity with students and members of the community awaiting Shpachenko's performance. Shpachenko selected six different pieces, all written by different composers, for the evening performance.
"The show was amazing; 'Variations on a theme' by Schumann was quite powerful," said Louis Vasquez, a senior music performance student. "There is so much emotion, and she plays with so much emotion she really brings the pieces to life."
One of the pieces Shpachenko chose to play, "A.R. (Homage to Ravel)," was written by composer Iannis Xenakis. Xenakis writes some of his music in a way that makes it nearly impossible to play, said Shpachenko.
"This is one of his few pieces that is physically playable," said Shpachenko. "It is outrageously difficult to play. Last year I did a piece by Xenakis which was very difficult, and at that time I heard about this piece and decided I want to conquer Xenakis."
The difficulty of the piece and the precision with which Shpachenko played was easily apparent to the audience. Those in attendance looked shocked after Shpachenko successfully completed the piece.
"Nadia is a fantastic pianist, and for her to bring this kind of a concert to us, showing off 'Composers Inspiring Composers' is very exciting." said Iris Levine, the chair of the music department. "The concert was an absolute gift to the audience."
Shpachenko also played pieces by Johannes Brahms, Frederic Rzewski, Franz Liszt and Maurice Ravel. Each composer wrote his respective pieces by drawing inspiration from the work of another well-known composer.
Shpachenko has a great deal of experience performing on stage. She has performed many times in solo and chamber music concerts in North America and Europe. Along with the Music Recital Hall, Shpachenko has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Shpachenko played the piece at Cal Poly as a trial run to make sure her next performance goes smooth. She was invited to play the same program at the Los Angles County Museum of Art for its "Sundays Live" series on March 2.
"When I was invited to play this program at LACMA I wanted to make a program that was interesting and unique," said Shpachenko.
Shpachenko's idea for "Composers Inspiring Composers" was indeed very original and the audience certainly seemed to appreciate it.
"The entire program shows the metamorphoses of art through time, and it is very good that the program is set up to express that," said Brandon Ecks, a music education and English literature student.
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