Guest pianist Lysinger to perform at SFA, give presentation for piano teachers

Catharine Lysinger

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present a performance of celebrated pianist Catharine Lysinger at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus as part of the Cole Performing Arts Series.

Lysinger, who is an active soloist, chamber musician, adjudicator and lecturer, will present "From Passion to Noble Sentiment," which will feature Ludwig van Beethoven's stormy Sonata in F Minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata," and Maurice Ravel's string of waltzes, "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales."

The program's character of noble sentiment is rounded out by formally structured pieces by Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti and Frédéric Chopin's through-composed Barcarolle, Op. 60, which builds on the image of the peaceful, rocking motion of a boat on the water, explained Andrew Parr, professor of piano at SFA.

"The program's passionate theme returns with the concluding work, Sergei Prokofiev's Sonata No. 3, which at times reaches almost violent heights within a one-movement form," he said.

Lysinger is senior lecturer in piano pedagogy and piano at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts, where she is also the artistic director of the Piano Preparatory Department. She is a prize winner in national and international piano competitions and has performed with the Filarmónica de Jalisco (Guadalajara, Mexico), the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, The Houston Civic Symphony, the Clear Lake Orchestra and other noted ensembles.

"Dr. Lysinger's reputation as a successful teacher of many prize-winning piano students has led her to present at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago in 2013 and to be invited to be guest faculty at the Vienna International Piano Academy in the same year," Parr said. "She was recently chosen as the Pre-collegiate Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas by the Texas Music Teachers Association."

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The following day, on Oct. 4, Lysinger will give a presentation for area piano teachers from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the SFA Music Recital Hall. Parr said all area piano teachers are invited to attend "Teaching Young Pianists to Perform Classical Music with Confidence: Planning, Preparation and Persistence Required!" The workshop is sponsored by the Nacogdoches Music Teachers Association. Admission is free for association members. However, a non-member registration fee of $15 for adults and $5 for students will be taken at the door.