Guest Artists Matthew Gianforte, Gregory Martin, Kazuha Nakahara

Guest Artist Recital by Matthew Gianforte, Gregory Martin, Kazuha Nakahara
Sunday, October 21, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
Gantner Concert Hall

Master Class
Monday, October 22, 2007, 10-12 p.m.
Phillips Recital Hall
- working with UWEC piano students

Lecture
Monday, October 22, 2007, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Phillips Recital Hall
"The Piano Music of Edvard Grieg"

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.

Matthew Gianforte A native of Chicago, pianist Matthew Gianforte received the Bachelor of Music degree at The Catholic University of America, where he studied with Marilyn Neeley. He continued his studies with Karen Shaw at Indiana University, where he earned the Master of Music degree, and where he currently is completing the Doctor of Music degree in Piano Performance. Mr. Gianforte has served as both an Associate Instructor in Piano and as the Coordinator of Piano Accompanying at Indiana University, and currently serves on the faculty of the IU Young Pianists Program, IU Piano Academy, and the DePauw University School of Music. A top prize winner in the 2004 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale competition, he has appeared across the United States as both a soloist and collaborator.

Gregory Martin Pianist Gregory Martin's playing has been called "filled with imagination, fire, and lyricism...a virtuoso performance" and praised for its "mature and subtle understanding, all the while handling formidable technical difficulties with ease and fluency." He has performed throughout the United States and England as
both a soloist and chamber musician and placed in various competitions. After studies with Marcella Branagan at the preparatory department of the Eastman School of Music, Martin attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with William Black and earned his BM, graduating Valedictorian. He received an MM from Indiana University, where he is currently a doctoral candidate; primary teachers at IU have included Edmund Battersby, Leonard Hokanson, and Karen Shaw. He served as Associate Instructor of piano at Indiana University for five years, as well as the School of Music's accompanying coordinator. In 2001, he organized Indiana University's celebration of Gerald Finzi's centenary, which presented a series of recitals on the music of Finzi and his friends and brought the composer's son to lecture. Collaboration with Håkan Hagegård on a staged version of Dominick Argento's song cycle The Andrée Expedition lead to an invitation from the composer to perform at the Schubert Club of St. Paul, which commissioned the work. Martin's essay on generic translation in Vaughan Williams's cantata Hodie was published by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, and articles on Finzi, Grieg, and Vaughan Williams are forthcoming. While doing post-graduate research at the University of Oxford on the intersection of language, music, and national identity, Martin presented on the Grieg Ballade during centenary festivities this year at the composer's home in Bergen, Norway, which was immediately hailed as the "most important work on Grieg in years," and led to recital engagements and lectures in Scotland, Germany, and Norway. He has been awarded grants from the Finzi Trust and the Grieg Society. A regular performer, he has upcoming engagements in both Europe and the United States as a soloist and chamber musician. He is also active as a composer.

Kazuha Nakahara Japanese pianist Kazuha Nakahara has won top prizes in numerous competitions, including second prize at the Cleveland Philharmonic Concerto Competition in Cleveland, Ohio, first place at the Buckeye Piano Competition in Columbus, Ohio, first place at Lake Erie Piano Competition in Lake Erie, Ohio, first place at Indiana University’s Concerto Competition. Ms. Nakahara has given solo performances at several Artist Series such as "Kendal" at Hanover, Hanover, New Hampshire, Brookline Library Music Series, Brookline, Massachusetts, Central Ohio Young Artist Concert Series and Worthington Recital Series for Young Artists in Columbus, Ohio. She gave a debut recital in Kashima Bunka-Kaikan in Japan in 1997, and she frequently gives solo and chamber recitals in Japan throughout a year. Ms. Nakahara also served as an Artist in Residence at the several nursing homes, such as Hale House, Boston, and Takahashi Hospital, Kishiwada, Japan.  Ms. Nakahara is scheduled to perform her solo recitals in several concert series in New York and Ohio during 2008-9 season.

Ms. Nakahara has made her professional orchestra debut with the Fort Worth Symphony in July, 1999, under the baton of Takao Kanayama, (the Assistant Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra), after winning TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute's concerto competition.  She has also won Indiana University’s Concerto competition in 2001, performing Mozart Concerto K. 482 with the IU Chamber Orchestra under maestro Uriel Segal. 

Kazuha is also very active as a chamber musician.  The Nakahara/Fong/Whittington Piano Trio group has performed in New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall three times as a winning group of the Conservatory's Chamber Music Gala Competition. They have been also invited to perform in the Brookline Public Library Music Series, Brookline, MA, and in the Spring Concert Series of the Japanese Association of Greater Boston as guest artists. The trio has also performed at Boston College and the United Methodist Church in Lexington, MA. Her London-based 'Amaryllis Trio' was the finalist in the Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Competition, 2001. Ms. Nakahara was selected as 'Best Chamber Music Pianist Award' at the same competition, and awarded in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

Ms. Nakahara is currently completing Doctorate degree in Piano at Indiana University, under Professor Jean-Louis Haguenauer.  She is a recipient of the University’s prestigious Chancellor’s Fellowship.  She has earned her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance with "Distinguished Achievement in Performance" and Master of Music with both "Distinguished Achievement in Performance" and "Academic Honor" from New England Conservatory. She also has obtained Performance Diploma from Royal Academy of Music, London. Her principal teachers include; Jean-Louis Haguenauer, Christopher Elton, Veronica Jochum, and Verena Dambrans. She has performed in masterclasses of Murray Perahia, Leon Fleisher, Stephen Kovacevich, Angela Hewitt, John O'Conor, Ann Schein, Veda Kaplinsky and Rebecca Pennys.

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