Performers in the annual Grand Piano Extravaganza practice for Friday's event.
		Annual Grand Piano Extravaganza Returns Friday, May 26, 8 P.M. in Warner Concert Hall to Raise Money for Piano Scholarships and Special Projects Story by Claire Chaise Photographs by Linda Shockley
		MAY 25, 2000--How often do Oberlin audiences have the chance to see professorial types blow whistles and play musical chairs on the stage of Warner Concert Hall? The correct answer is once a year, when the piano faculty, together with alumni, Conservatory piano major seniors, and special guests join forces to produce the annual Grand Piano Extravaganza, slated for Friday, May 26, 8 P.M., in Warner Concert Hall. Tickets are $14, and are available through the College Alumni Office (775-8692). This year's eclectic show will offer piano chamber music from Rachmaninov to Joplin. M.C.-ed by David Love, associate vice president/ director of research development and sponsored programs, the Grand Piano Extravaganza combines serious music-making with off-the-wall circus acts, all in the name of fund-raising for Oberlin piano department scholarships and special projects. "I think by being a "fun-raiser" as well as a "fund-raiser," the Grand Piano Extravaganza lets the community enjoy having a part in supporting the serious mission of Oberlin Conservatory," remarks Andrew Hisey, associate professor of piano pedagogy. "It's basically a variety show," explains Spencer Myer, a senior piano major from North Ridgeville, OH. "It's a grand and sort of hilarious event complete with different styles, different acts, a variety of types of performers and arrangements." That variety show begins on a serious, traditional note, progressively picking up in pace from there. Philip Highfill, professor of accompanying, describes the program in this way: "We usually start with a piece for one hand, and gradually build to duos, then trios and so on. We even started with a piece for no hands one year! Our traditional opening piece--Alexander Scriabin's Nocturne for the Left Hand --is played alternately by Peter Takács or Sedmara Rutstein." Rutstein will take the stage this year. Robert Shannon, professor of piano, and Haewon Song, assistant professor of piano, a duo whose four-hand performances are fondly recalled by Oberlin audiences, will share the spotlight in a two-piano version of Rhapsodie Espagnole by Maurice Ravel. Alvin Chow and Angela Cheng, both newly appointed associate professors of piano, will follow the Ravel with the "Modéré" and "Braziliera" from Darius Milhaud's Scaramouche, for two pianos. "We've been playing as a duo ever since we were married, twelve years ago," says Chow of his wife, Angela Cheng. "The second Milhaud excerpt we'll play on Saturday is a particularly delightful movement, with the dance rhythms of the samba. It's an infectious piece--as soon as we start to practice this piece at home, our two little girls come into the music room and dance!" The two duos - Shannon/Song and Chow/Cheng - will then combine hands as a quartet in a performance of Rachmoninov¹s Prelude in G minor. To add even more variety into the mix, Huang Ruo ('00) - composer, conductor, and Oberlin Renaissance man - will conduct Frank Chiou's ('97) arrangement of Peter Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. "Frank's arrangement from the orchestral version is for four pianists, complete brass section and four percussion," Huang. "In 1812 this piece was a celebration of a war in Russia; in 2000, it is a celebration of our graduation! These two events, in my mind, are funnily linked together. It is a great ending, a great finale, in every sense of the word. The brass will blow up everything and everyone, and the audience will definitely love it." The second half of the program will feature works by Bernstein, Chopin, Joplin and Holst. "The Bernstein is basically a medley of songs from West Side Story," explains Ilonka Rus ('00), a pianist from Mendota Heights, MN. "The main tune featured is "Coming to America," and what's great about it is that there are three non-Americans playing this--two Russians (Maxim Mogilevsky, visiting assistant professor of piano, and his wife Svetlana Smolina) and a Rumanian, myself." An annual audience favorite is Chopin's aerobic Revolutionary Etude, arranged by David Owen Norris for six revolving pianists. "The stage is positioned with three pianos, nose-to nose, with two players at each piano," describes Myer. "A referee stands at one side with a whistle and blows it, signifying a musical chairs-type move from the pianists, who then switch pianos as quickly as possible. It's pretty hilarious, actually." Highfill admits, with a chuckle, that "in the past, faculty members have participated in this act. But we figured we might be getting a bit decrepit for its athletic demands, so this year we're passing the baton on to a sprightlier generation." After Marc-Andre Hamelin's six-piano arrangement of Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin, the program's grand finale, a Chiou eight-piano arrangement of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity", from Holst's The Planets, will be conducted by Philip Highfill, and performed by eight Oberlin piano professors. "It's not only the Oberlin community that benefits from this concert, it's the Oberlin community along with many visitors, alumni and friends who see the piano department having fun together," remarks Hisey. "They're all a great bunch, able to work together and work hard, but also able to have fun and laugh while making music."
		The Program: The Millennial GRAND PIANO EXTRAVAGANZA presented by the Piano Faculty and Friends David Love, Master of Ceremonies Warner Concert Hall Friday, May 26 at 8:00 P.M. Nocturne for the Left Hand Alexander Scriabin Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein Feria, from 'Rapsodie Espagnole' Maurice Ravel Haewon Song and Robert Shannon Modéré and Brazileira, from 'Scaramouche' Darius Milhaud Angela Cheng and Alvin Chow Prelude in G minor Sergei Rachmaninov (arr. Wolfgang Rebner) Haewon Song, Robert Shannon Angela Cheng, Alvin Chow '1812' Ouverture Solennelle Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (arr. Frank Chiou OC '97) Spencer Myer, Hiromi Takaoka, Sandra Gu, Ying Zhang, piano Patrick Gonsalves, Stephen Stratman, Kenneth Bean, Peter Evans, trumpet Shannon McLeod, Carson Keeble, Pieter Wyckoff, trombone Ben Burney, bass trombone Reagan Fletcher, Jonathan Simon, Lydia Steier, Aymeric Dupré Latour, percussion Ruo Huang, conductor Pause West Side Story Medley Leonard Bernstein (arr. Derison Duarte) Svetlana Smolina, Maxim Mogilevsky, Ilonka Rus Revolutionary Etude, for six revolving pianists Frédéric Chopin (arr. David Owen Norris) Spencer Myer, Sandra Gu, Rosi Choi, Cathryn Lai, Youngha Guk, San Di Koh Maple Leaf Rag, for six pianos Scott Joplin (arr. Marc-André Hamelin) Maxim Mogilevsky, Peter Takács, Robert Shannon, Haewon Song, Andrew Hisey, Sedmara Rutstein Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, from 'The Planets' Gustav Holst (arr. Frank Chiou) Angela Cheng, Alvin Chow, Peter Takács, Andrew Hisey, Robert Shannon, Haewon Song, Svetlana Smolina, Maxim Mogilevsky Lydia Steier, Spencer Myer, percussion Philip Highfill, conductor Proceeds from the Grand Piano Extravaganza go towards supporting piano department scholarships and other special projects. Special thanks to the Piano Tech staff Andy Bertoni, Ken Sloane, and Allen Wright for their preparation of the pianos.