Multiple Grammy-nominated pianist Nadia Shpachenko, a professor in the music department, will present work from her upcoming CD at a special pre-release concert.
The concert, set for Wednesday, April 4, comes just as Shpachenko has received a rave review in the prestigious Fanfare Magazine’s “Not to be missed” section for her forthcoming “Quotations and Homages” CD. Reference Recordings will release the CD on Friday, April 6.
“…a superb and superbly recorded program of pieces as fresh as they are ready to pay respect to the traditions that led to their creation. …There is not one cliché or superficial piece on offer here. The tonally inflected profundity of Peter Yates’s “Epitaphs and Youngsters,” which he calls a mélodrame for solo piano, finds Shpachenko in pianist and speaker’s roles, quoting pearls of wisdom and sardonic quips from Glenn Gould and W. C. Fields. …Shpachenko’s playing is everything it needs to be and more… Eras seem not to exist for her, and neither does musical dogma, allowing her the freedom to speak the music’s multifarious dialects. Capturing all of it is a first-rate recording.” wrote reviewer Marc Medwin.
The recital will feature works from Shpachenko’s album, showcasing newly-written homages for piano, voice, electronics, as well as multimedia, by composers Adam Borecki, Daniel Felsenfeld, Tom Flaherty, Vera Ivanova, Missy Mazzoli, Nick Norton, Isaac Schankler and Peter Yates.
Both Yates and Schankler are also Cal Poly Pomona music professors. Shpachenko plans to perform “Epitaphs and Youngsters,” a piece Yates, a composer/guitarist and multimedia artist, wrote, and “Future Feelings,” newly composed by Schankler for piano and electronics. Each of their compositions were written specifically for Shpachenko.
Shpachenko, an enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music, has given world and national premieres of more than 60 works by a variety of composers. Her album “Woman at the New Piano: American Music of 2013” was nominated for Grammys in the Best Classical Compendium, Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance (with Genevive Feiwen Lee) and Producer of the Year, Classical categories. Her new album features premieres of solo and collaborative works from six pianists.
The 2017 Provost’s Award winner for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities also plans to release an album in 2019 titled “The Poetry of Places.”
The CD pre-release concert will be at 8 p.m. in the Music Recital Hall. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for students and may be purchased online at csupomona.tix.com or at the Dr. Andrew G. Chong Box Office weekdays from noon to 1 p.m. and one hour prior to concert time. Shpachenko’s new “Quotations and Homages” CD will be available to purchase at the recital and can be signed by the artist.