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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2003
CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119
PIANISTS TO PERFORM BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATAS AT DRAKE
Dr. Kenneth Drake,
an expert on Beethoven's piano sonatas, will join three other pianists in
performing
at Drake University on Saturday, Sept. 6, as part
of a new Beethoven Sonata Series sponsored by Drake University and Central
College.
The other pianists featured will be Chiu-Ling Lin, professor of piano and
chair of the music department at Drake University; Sylvia Wang of Northwestern
University;
and John Owings of Texas Christian University. The performance will start
at 2 p.m. on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 25th Street
and
University Avenue. The works to be performed are Sonata in A-flat major,
Op. 110 (1821), Sonata in E minor, Op. 90 (1814), Sonata in F-sharp major,
Op.
78 (1809), Easy Sonata in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1 (1795/98) and Easy Sonata
in G Major, Op. 49 No. 2 (1795-6).
Drake, who taught music at Drake University in the 1970s, will perform three
sonatas on an 1816 Broadwood piano - a model used by Beethoven. Drake was an
early advocate of performing music of the classic period on early pianos, doing
recitals on English Broadwoods and a copy of an Anon Walter fortepiano for
colleges and universities, the Cambridge Early Music Society, the Midwest
Historic Keyboard
Society and the Michigan Mozartfest.
In addition to his performance on Sept. 6, Drake will give a lecture demonstration
at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. Both the performance
and lecture demonstration are free and open to the public.
Drake is professor emeritus in the School of Music of the University of Illinois,
having taught previously at Evansville (Indiana) college (now the University
of Evansville). During the academic year, he conducts monthly coaching sessions
with students at Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University. This past
semester, he has taught piano literature at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Illinois, Drake
is the author of two books, "The Beethoven Sonatas as He Played and Taught
Them" and "The Beethoven Sonatas and the Creative Experience."
For more information about the Beethoven Sonata Series, call the Drake University
music department at (515) 271-3975.