Oct. 13, 2010

By Natasha Janes, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - The School of Music at Campbellsville University will be presenting a Bicentennial Tribute to Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann during the last week of October as a celebration of the200thanniversaryof these composers' birth. There will be two nights of performances, Oct. 26 and Oct. 28.

On Tuesday, Oct. 26, Sylvia Kersenbaum will present a guest piano recital at 8 p.m. in The Gheens Recital Hall in Gosser Fine Arts Center at 210 University Drive, Campbellsville.

On Thursday, Oct. 28, School of Music faculty and students of Campbellsville University will present a chamber music recital of music by Chopin and Schumann. This concert is also at 8 p.m. at The Gheens Recital Hall.

Born in 1810, Chopin lived to 1849 and Robert Schumann to 1856.

Kersenbaum will be performing the Arabesque and Carnival by Schumann and the Ballade No. 3, Sonata No. 2 and Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise by Chopin.

Kersenbaum holds degrees in performance, pedagogy and composition from the National Conservatory in Buenos Aires and Artists Diplomas from both the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Academia Chigiana, Siena.

She has appeared in recitals and as a soloist with orchestras throughout Europe, the Far East, and North and South America. Noted orchestras include the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Munchen Philharmoniker, Bayerische Staatskapelle, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the San Fransisco Symphony and the Louisville Orchestra and with conductors Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jean Martinon, Gunter Herbig, Leopold Hager, Garcia Navarro and Lawrence Leighton Smith.

Kersenbaum, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been a professor of piano at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green since 1976. In 1990 she was awarded Honorary Membership of the American Beethoven Society and the WKU Faculty Award for Research and Creativity. A scholarship in her honor was endowed by the WKU Delta Omicron Chapter and awarded to the first recipient in April 2005.

On Thursday, Oct. 28, School of Music faculty and students of Campbellsville University will present a chamber music recital of music by Chopin and Schumann.

Participants will include clarinetist Gwanhee Park (Korea), soprano Margareth Moreira (Brazil), pianist Eunhye Lee (Korea), obois tDong-Seok Yu (Korea), baritone Taeeun Moon (Korea), pianist Yuri Kim (Korea), violinist Saelim Jung (Korea), cellist, Saulo DeAlmeida (adjunct instructor from Brazil) and pianist Dr. Wesley Roberts, CU professor of music.

This program will also be presented at the 2010 Kentucky Music Teachers Association Conference on Monday, Oct. 25, in Louisville.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with over 3,000 students offering 63 undergraduate programs, 17 master's degrees and five postgraduate areas. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.