International Pianist Rachmanov to Give a Master Class to Saddleback Students

Posted by CotoBlogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – On Wednesday, October 2^nd at 7:30 p.m. in the McKinney Theatre, Dmitry Rachmanov will conduct a master class with advanced Saddleback piano students.

Born in Russia, Dmitry Rachmanov is an international concert pianist, master teacher, head of the keyboard program at California State University, Northridge, and a well-known music writer, and critic. Audiences will enjoy watching Saddleback College students perform following an intense master class from this great international artist. On Thursday, October 3rd at noon in the McKinney Theatre, Rachmanov will also perform a free concert as part of the Music Department’s monthly Concert Hour. The performance will be a rare all-Scriabin program dedicated to the composer’s upcoming 100th anniversary.  Russian mystic and composer Aleksandr Nikolayevich Scriabin (January 6, 1872 – April 27, 1915) created a kaleidoscopic series of ecstatic orchestral and piano works whose power and significance continue to resonate in the history of this century's music and artistic endeavors.

  

Scriabin was born into a Moscow diplomat's family, his mother dying within a short time of his birth. His education included piano lessons which soon confirmed an unusual talent; during his boyhood and adolescence he continued his musical studies privately with the composer Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev. At the age of 14 he wrote his first piano sonata, although it waited until 1892 for publication. An Etude in C Sharp minor dates from 1887. His lessons with Taneyev helped him gain entry to the Moscow Conservatoire in 1888, where he studied under Vasilii Safonov for piano and Anton Arensky for composition. In his first year at the Conservatoire he completed his ten Mazurkas, Op. 3 (1889), combining the pianistic language of Frédéric Chopin with his own essentially Russian darkness and fire.

Hailed as an "indisputable musician" by the Brussels' Le Soir and "suave and gifted pianist” by the New York Times, Rachmanov has been heard at venues such as New York's Carnegie Hall and the 92nd Street Y, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, London's Barbican and South Bank Centres, and the Beijing, Xinghai and Shenzhen Concert Halls in China. The pianist’s recent festival appearances include FAOT in Sonora, Mexico, Sulzbach-Rosenberg in Germany, Soesterberg in Holland, Upbeat Hvar in Croatia, Bard Music Festival, and International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York, and his tours have brought him to Mexico, Europe, Russia, Turkey and the Far East.

Tickets are $15 general; $12 seniors; $10 students; children FREE with paying adult; 2 for 1 for music teachers with MTAC/CAPMT ID. The ticket office is open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 4:00 p.m. or order your tickets online at any time at www.saddleback.edu/arts.

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit. Free parking is available in Lot 12.  Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the second left to Theatre Circle, turning right into Lot 12.

The Music Department has established a comprehensive program which is considered to be one of the finest in California: a complete lower-division curriculum for transferring music majors, numerous performance groups, private and group lessons, a full concert series with faculty and guest artists, and general music courses. The nationally-recognized faculty is dedicated to performance and to teaching in all areas such as vocal, instrumental, jazz, guitar, and piano.  Other music classes include harmony, musicianship, composition, history, and appreciation of western art music, rock, jazz and world.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers more than 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu.  For Fine Arts events, visitwww.saddleback.edu/arts.