Wassermann Festival Returns for 2012 at Utah State University

Guest artists for the 2012 Wassermann Festival at Utah State have been announced by festival organizers and include Marc-Andre Hamelin, Kevin Kenner and Norman Krieger.

This year’s festival runs Thursday, Feb. 23, through Thursday, March 1, and includes master classes, guest artist presentations and public concerts. A special afternoon opening celebration concert is Friday, Feb. 24.

“The Wassermann Festival is among the premier activities in the piano program at Utah State University,” said the festival’s Director Dennis Hirst. “Our opening afternoon concert, a first for the festival, celebrates successes in the recently created Caine College of the Arts.”

The afternoon event begins at 1 p.m. at USU’s Performance Hall — site of all Wassermann Festival recitals — and is free and open to everyone. The program includes a mini-concert featuring students — past and present — who have studied at USU as well as an overview of music activities through the years at USU. Tickets are not necessary for the event and seating is general admission.

The festival also presents two evening concerts featuring guest artists. The opening solo recital features Marc-Andre Hamelin Friday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m. Hamelin has been acclaimed “a poet among virtuosos” by the “Sunday Times” (London), and he is the recipient of a lifetime achievement prized by the German Record Critic’s Association. Kevin Kenner, top prize winner of the 12th Chopin International Piano Competition, concludes the festival with a solo recital Thursday, March 1. Reserved seating concert tickets start at $18 for adults and $8 for students. Discounts are available for USU faculty and staff.

The Wassermann Festival is offered through the USU Department of Music and the Caine College of the Arts and is held every other year. It honors Irving Wassermann, a USU piano professor and former music department head, who established the Music West Festival in 1980 with a goal of providing quality educational opportunities for the area’s music students.

In recognition of professor Wassermann’s contributions to music education and the department, the Music West Festival was renamed the Wassermann Festival. Today, in addition to public concerts, the Wassermann Festival provides lectures, demonstrations, question and answer sessions and master classes with the world’s leading piano performers and pedagogues.

The Wassermann Festival is open to music lovers of all ages and backgrounds, Hirst said. A typical festival class is attended by pre-college music students, college music majors and non-majors, teachers of all ages and music aficionados.

“Our classes provide a unique opportunity for individuals to interact in an intimate setting with acclaimed performers and teachers,” Hirst said. “Sessions are inspiring, educational and entertaining.”

For class session registration information, contact Hirst at (435) 797-3257 or visit the festival website.

Tickets for the evening solo recitals are available through the Caine College of the Arts Box Office, room 139-B, Chase Fine Arts Center, (435) 797-8022, or through the college website.

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Writer: Patrick Williams, (435) 797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu

Contact: Dennis Hirst, USU Piano Program, (435) 797-3257, dennis.hirst@usu.edu