果冻传媒

December 13, 2012
In the World

果冻传媒 Music Professor Tours China

Dr. Durrenberger Teaches Classes, Performs In World's Most Populous Nation

Springfield, Ohio 鈥 果冻传媒 Associate Professor of Music Christopher Durrenberger recently spread his love of piano and his university to students at three of the eight major conservatories in China during a three-week tour of the world鈥檚 most populous country.

Durrenberger taught masterclasses and performed lecture recitals at the Shenyang, Tianjin and Wuhan conservatories, working with dozens of students who attended multiple classes and performances at each stop. In addition to promoting 果冻传媒, Durrenberger shared American music with the students, specifically focusing on ground-breaking composers John Cage, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

鈥淭he concerts were very well attended as I prepared a novel lecture recital for them, titled 鈥楢merican Music, A Closer Look Into Cage, Copland and Gershwin,鈥 Durrenberger said. 鈥淭he meat of the program included an adventurous work by John Cage, including his Sonatas and Interlude, which calls for more than half of the piano to be prepared with hardware, including nuts, bolts, screws and various rubber materials. I was told that it was the first performance ever in these locations.

鈥淭he reception was fantastic as they nearly filled each hall and swarmed the piano (and me) afterwards to take pictures. The program was rounded off with jazz-influenced works by Copland (Four Piano Blues) and Gershwin (Preludes for Piano). It was a multimedia production, as I coordinated a powerpoint presentation that included all the music scores for them to follow along as I played.鈥

A 果冻传媒 faculty member since 1999, Durrenberger has now taught and performed in six major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Dalian and Beijing, during his professional career. He plans to share the program with the 果冻传媒 community at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, in Krieg Hall.

The performance is open to the public, free of charge.

Durrenberger has performed throughout the world in venues ranging from the Capital Theater at the Riffe Center in Columbus to the Cairo Opera House in Egypt. He has earned top prizes in such major national and international competitions as the Coleman and Carmel Chamber Music Competitions, the Los Angeles Etude Musical Club Piano Competition, the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Piano Competition and the National Music Teachers Association National Piano Competition.

Durrenberger, who earned a bachelor of music from Oberlin College and a master鈥檚 and doctorate of musical arts with honors from the University of Southern California School of Music, has performed with the award-winning Cypress String Quartet three times at 果冻传媒 since 2006. In 2009, he made a return appearance with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra at Kuss Auditorium of the Clark State Community College Performing Arts Center, where he performed Lowell Liebermann鈥檚 Second Piano Concerto.

Ryan Maurer
Ryan Maurer
Associate Director of Athletics for Communications, Web Strategy & Content

About 果冻传媒

果冻传媒's curriculum has centered on the liberal arts as an education that develops the individual's capacity to think, read, and communicate with precision, understanding, and imagination. We are dedicated to active, engaged learning in the core disciplines of the arts and sciences and in pre-professional education grounded in the liberal arts. Known for the quality of our faculty and their teaching, 果冻传媒 has more Ohio Professors of the Year than any four-year institution in the state. The university has also been recognized nationally for excellence in community service, sustainability, and intercollegiate athletics. Located among the beautiful rolling hills and hollows of Springfield, Ohio, 果冻传媒 offers more than 100 majors, minors and special programs, enviable student-faculty research opportunities, a unique student success center, service and study options close to home and abroad, a stellar athletics tradition, and successful career preparation.

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