Image: David Cassidy, pianist
On Saturday, September 12 the SANTA BARBARA MUSIC CLUB will present the first program in its popular series of concerts of beautiful Classical music at Faulkner Gallery in the downtown Public Library.
One of the highlights of Santa Barbara Music Club’s concerts is the opportunity for audiences to hear great music from a variety of historical periods, with a diversity of musical forms, performed by excellent artists. This opening concert features internationally renowned pianist Robert Cassidy in a program highlighting beloved masterworks as well as new and exciting compositions.
Program Details
(b. 1946)
(1862-1918)
- Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest
- La danse de Puck
- Général Lavine — eccentric
- Feux d’artifice
(b. 1951)
- Adagio molto rubato
- Grave, quasi recitativo
- Andante con moto, molto rubato
- Adagio molto
(1685-1750)
Transcr. Ferruccio Busoni
(1866-1924)
Notes on the Program
by Betty Oberacker
The concert opens with Elegy Variations, Op. 97, by the prolific American composer David Noon, currently Professor Emeritus at the Manhattan School of Music. The work juxtaposes somber and introspective musings with mercurial emotional outbursts, providing an intense and ultimately peaceful musical tribute to a departed colleague.
Four Préludes by Claude Debussy follow, two from Book I: Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest (What the West Wind Has Seen), and La danse de Puck (The Dance of Puck); and two from Book II: Général Lavine – eccentric, and Feux d’artifice (Fireworks). Noteworthy in both books of Préludes is that the titles are not printed as a header above the first page, but as a footer on the last page, almost as an afterthought, possibly suggesting that the title is inspired by the music and not the other way around.
The next presentation is Four Elegies for Piano: In Memoriam Renée Longy (1897-1979) by Joel Feigin, UCSB Professor of Composition. Dr. Cassidy describes the work thusly: “… written in memory of Renée Longy, Feigin’s ear-training teacher at Juilliard. Expertly using the full range of the piano, Feigin bends your ear with tonality (or lack thereof), register, and a moving blend of chaotic gusts and then profoundly simple lines that tantalize your emotions.”
Concluding the program will be the Chaconne from the Partita II in D minor for Violin, BWV 1004 of Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by the virtuoso pianist-composer Ferruccio Busoni. Bach was inspired to compose this Chaconne upon returning from a journey and learning of his wife’s passing; overcome with grief, he poured his emotions into this monumental tribute, which he appended to his already completed Second Partita. Busoni, in tribute to Bach’s eloquence, created the tour de force which has challenged and inspired pianists since its inception.
The Performer
Pianist Robert Cassidy has performed in solo and collaborative recitals and with orchestra throughout the United States and Canada, and has received critical acclaim for his performances and recordings of both solo piano repertoire and chamber music. He received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Solomon Mikowsky, Constance Keene, and Marc Silverman, and subsequently studied with Menahem Pressler at Indiana University. He holds a Doctor of Arts Degree in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying/Piano Performance from Ball State University, where he studied with Robert Palmer.
Dr. Cassidy has appeared in such venues as New York City’s Merkin and Weill Halls, the Lyceum in Alexandria (VA), Santa Barbara City College (CA), and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. He has also been presented on radio stations WFMT in Chicago (Dame Myra Hess Series), WCLV and WCPN in Cleveland, and WNYC in New York (Around New York). A strong advocate of contemporary music, Dr. Cassidy has premiered works by the American composers David Noon and Keith Fitch. He is the pianist in the Cleveland-based Almeda Trio and regularly performs chamber music with members of The Cleveland Orchestra.
He has served on the keyboard faculties at Cleveland State University and The Cleveland Music Settlement, and is also a former faculty member of New York University, the University of Indianapolis, the 92nd Street Y School of Music (New York), Marian College (Indiana), Queens College Preparatory Division (New York), and Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI), among others.
An active and highly sought-after teacher and chamber music coach, Dr. Cassidy is in demand for master classes, workshops and lectures, private teaching, and adjudication. He has maintained a private studio at The Music Academy of the West since August, 2014.
