Pianist Spencer Myer Opens 2009 Wassermann Festival at USU

The gold medalist from the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition is the opening performer at the 2009 Wassermann Festival at Utah State University. The festival is organized and presented by USU’s Department of Music in the Caine School of the Arts in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

Spencer Myer, the 2008 winner of the New Orleans International, takes the stage Tuesday, March 3, at the USU Performance Hall (approximately 1090 E. 675 North, Logan). His solo recital begins at 7:30 p.m., with selections by Handel, Schubert, Albeniz and Liszt.

 

Tickets for all solo recitals at the festival are available through the Caine School of the Arts Box Office, (435) 797-8022, or online. Reserved seating (per concert) is $15, and student tickets are $7.50.

 

Myer is taking time in his busy schedule to appear at USU and support the festival, and through his appearance, Wassermann audience members have the chance to hear a potential Van Cliburn competition participant. Myer was featured in a Feb. 19 broadcast on Performance Today, heard locally on Utah Public Radio. He was included in the two-hour program as he performed in a qualifying round for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, a competition compared to the Olympics by Performance Today.

 

Myer opens the four-recital series at the 2009 Wassermann Festival. Director R. Dennis Hirst secured pledges of support from Myer and his fellow performers, all renowned concert pianists, to perform this spring in benefit of USU’s Wassermann Festival and in support of the 2010 festival. This is a return appearance by Myer to the festival.

 

“Spencer has just won the gold medal at the New Orleans competition,” Hirst said. “Remarkably, he has been a laureate — one of the top prize winners — in four additional top world competitions. This is an unbelievable accomplishment.”

 

Hirst said competition is a grueling process and each competition has its specific requirements. Myer’s success is a mark of his enormously diverse musical skills, Hirst said.

 

Myer is winner of the 2006 Christel DeHann Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association, where he also captured special prizes in the competition’s Chamber Music and Lieder Accompanying categories. He is a laureate of the 2007 Williams Kapell, 2005 Cleveland, 2005 Busoni (also winner of the Audience Prize) and 2004 Montreal International Piano competitions.

 

“Spencer’s playing is particularly personal — when you hear him, you have the feeling he is playing directly to you,” Hirst said. “You can’t help but feel you are engaged in a conversation as he plays his musical thoughts.”

 

Myer’s recital program includes Suite No. 2 in F major by Handel and Four Impromptus, Op. 90 by Schubert. Following intermission, he returns for Iberia Book I by Albeniz and concludes with Venezia e Napoli by Liszt.

 

Information on the Wassermann Festival is available at the Web site (www.usu.edu/wassermann).