Festival held for Chopin, Schumann

The Southern Miss School of Music held a festival this weekend celebrating the bicentennial anniversary of the two classical composers Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann.

The event was aimed toward the appreciation of the composers and those who study their works today.

The festival started on Friday with the world-famous pianist Ann Schein playing works from the Chopin and Schumann catalog.

“Ann Schein is a phenomenal pianist,” said Elizabeth Moak, piano faculty at Southern Miss.

“Saturday morning started with one of the top teachers for pre-college students, Marvin Blickenstaff, for a Chopin Preludes Workshop,” Moak added. 

Blickenstaff is a nationally known pre-college teacher who has traveled the world and won multiple awards including the 2009 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Achievement Award.        

Blickenstaff gave a pre-college master class in Marsh Auditorium, aimed towards youth piano players and designed to sharpen the skills of those performing at the final event. 

“Some of the kids playing at this event were like prodigies of a musical genius.  They played as if they were born to play the piano,” said JaCory Battle, a USM student who attended the performances.

Schein gave a collegiate master class right after the pre-college class, which was aimed toward the college-aged piano players.  Constructive criticism was offered to piano players.

The final event was The Pre-College and Collegiate Romantic Recital at the Marsh Auditorium. Elementary and College students from Mississippi and Alabama played at the final event. 

Sarrah Denteon, a USM student, followed the events throughout the festival. 

“This was a festival I enjoyed and it had a great turn out,” Denteon said.