October 29, 2002
MASTER CLASS AND RECITAL FEATURE "ENERGETIC" INTERNATIONAL PERFORMER
LA CROSSE, Wis.—The Viterbo University Music Department will host pianist Father Robert Koopmann, O.S.B., for a master class on Friday, Nov. 15 at 12:10 p.m., and a recital on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.
Koopmann, a professor of music at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota since 1975, teaches piano and courses in the history and aesthetics of music. Critics praise his "vitality," "powerful energetic style," "fine musicianship," and his "masterpieces of shading and color." His most recent solo performances were in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Tanzania; Minneapolis; and Collegeville, Minn., and in the states of Arizona, California, and Iowa. He has performed around the U.S., in Europe, the Bahamas, and Africa. Fr. Koopmann is director of music and organist at St. John’s Abbey and a faculty resident in the student dormitories at St. John’s University. He has directed international study programs for students and adults in South Africa, Austria, The Baltic Countries, and The Low Countries.
Fr. Koopman’s doctorate in piano performance is from The University of Iowa, with further studies in New York and London. He has won a number of competitions, and has performed with such orchestras as The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Bach Chamber Orchestra, The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and The St. Cloud Civic Orchestra.
The master class will feature piano students of Timothy Schorr, Viterbo assistant professor of music. The program will include works by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Debussy and Mozart, and piano rags by Joseph Lamb and Zez Confrey.
Both the master class and recital are free and open to the public. For more information, call Schorr at 796-3769 or email tbschorr@viterbo.edu.