Guest Artist Brendan Kinsella, piano

Open Reading Session
Monday, March 10, 2008, 10:00 a.m.
Gantner Concert Hall
with UW-Eau Claire composition students

Lecture-Recital
Monday, March 10, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Gantner Concert Hall
“The Triumph of Love and Joy: Metaphysical Meaning in Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus”

Lecture
Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 10:00 a.m.
Phillips Recital Hall
"Trends in American Piano Music from 1970-Present"

Haas Fine Arts Center
UW-Eau Claire

All Events Free & Open to the Public

Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Academic Affairs Professional Development Program, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the Department of Music & Theatre Arts.

Pianist Brendan Kinsella has performed throughout the United States, China, and Japan as a genre recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist, appearing with conductors such as Xian Zhang, J.R. Cassidy, Mark Gibson, Gary Hill, and Robert Olson.  Mr. Kinsella began studying piano at age 11 and made his concerto debut at age 15 with the Kentucky Symphony.  In August of 2001, Mr. Kinsella performed throughout China with the Starling Chamber Orchestra and has since performed chamber music programs with members of the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the Kansas City Symphony.  As the winner of the 2005 Concerto-Aria competition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Mr. Kinsella performed the Brahms Second Piano Concerto with the Conservatory Orchestra and later, upon special invitation, appeared as the soloist in Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques with the Conservatory Wind Symphony.  Mr. Kinsella has appeared in solo and chamber music master-classes given by Peter Serkin, Christopher Elton, Tamas Ungar, the Takacs Quartet, Zvi Zeitlin, Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg, Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, and Anne-Akiko Meyers.  Recently, he was a fellow at the 2007 Music Academy of the West Festival in Santa Barbara, where he worked for eight weeks with Jerome Lowenthal, professor of piano at the Juilliard School.

As a performer of new and contemporary music, Mr. Kinsella has presented recitals featuring the works of Berio, Bersnick, Cage, Chen Yi, Corigliano, Crumb, Feldman, Messiaen, Rzewski, Ingrid Stözel, Vine, Zhou Xu, and numerous others.  In 2004, he performed selections from Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus at the Cincinnati Art Museum as part of a concert series celebrating of the paintings and music of French 20th-century artists.  Mr. Kinsella subsequently performed all-Messiaen recitals in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Kansas City.  One of Mr. Kinsella’s current performance projects is “Piano Theatre,” a series of recitals that features music that embraces film, text, and dramatic performance in juxtaposition upon solo piano music.  Mr. Kinsella has performed these programs at venues throughout the United States in collaboration with artists, graphic designers, and composers.  Critics have lauded such performances, remarking that “Kinsella’s performance was truly astonishing, as he missed nary a beat nor tripped over any words.  The sense of terror, misery, despair, disdain, and righteous anger was palpable…I’m glad to have heard it by such a passionate and gifted pianist who clearly believed in his mission.”

Mr. Kinsella was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and earned his Bachelor of Music (with honors) and Master of Music degrees from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music as a pupil of Frank Weinstock, with additional coaching from James Tocco and Kenneth Griffiths.  Currently, he is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, where he studies with Robert Weirich and is a graduate assistant to the piano pedagogy faculty.  At CCM, he was a three-time winner of the undergraduate scholarship competition, the first recipient of the Norma Sapp Piano Scholarship, and was the winner of the Concerto Competition in 1997.  Since moving to Kansas City, Mr. Kinsella won first prize in the 2005 Missouri MTNA Collegiate Young Artist Competition, and later received the “Honorable Mention” award at the West Central Division level. 

For More Information Contact: 
Dr. Nicholas Phillips
261 Haas Fine Arts Center
Music & Theatre Arts Department
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004

Phone: 715/836-5842
Email: phillins@uwec.edu