World-class pianist gives Oxford masterclass
19 Jun 09
World-class pianist Dame Mitsuko Uchida will be giving a masterclass in Oxford’s Music Faculty next week on the eve of her receiving an honorary degree in the University’s annual Encaenia ceremony.
The aspiring music students who will be participating are Anyssa Neumann, MSt in Music (Performance) playing Beethoven, Sonata in A flat major Op.110; Ceri Owen, DPhil in Music playing Bach, French Suite No5 in G major; Barbara Richardson-Bryson, MSt in Music (Performance) playing Schumann, Kreisleriana Op.16 and Nathan Williamson, DPhil in Music playing Schubert, Impromptus in E flat and G flat.
The award of an Honorary D Mus to Dame Mitsuko Uchida continues Oxford's tradition across more than two centuries of recognising the cultural, intellectual and educational importance of the world's leading musicians, from Haydn in the late 1790s to Daniel Barenboim, Placido Domingo and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in the first decade of the 21st century.
It comes just a week after Dame Mitsuko was awarded a DBE for her services to classical music.
Professor Robert SaxtonMitsuko Uchida is not only one of the most significant pianists at work today, but is also rare as regards the sheer range of her repertoire.
Professor Robert Saxton, Fellow and Tutor in Music, said: 'Dame Mitsuko Uchida is not only one of the most significant pianists at work today, but is also rare as regards the sheer range of her repertoire, which extends from her universally acknowledged interpretations of Mozart's Piano Concertos to piano music by great contemporary composers such as Pierre Boulez, with whom she records and performs concerts regularly.
'In addition to her international performing career, she is a renowned teacher having, for example, led masterclasses at Dartington Summer School. The Faculty of Music is honoured that she has agreed to teach some of its most promising post-graduate pianists in a masterclass the day before she receives the Honorary DMus.'
The free masterclass, which is open to the public, will be held on Tuesday 23 June between 3pm and 6pm in the Holywell Music Room.