Piano Students Launch Five-City NW Tour

September 24, 2015—Never let it be said that Alexandre Dossin lacks ambition.

Dossin, an accomplished pianist and associate professor of piano performance and piano literature at the University of Oregon, is midway through “In Beall with Brahms,” a multi-concert cycle delivered over years, in which he is performing the complete chamber works with piano by Johannes Brahms. He tours the world, performing at numerous acclaimed venues, and serves as Vice-President of the prestigious American Liszt Society.

And somehow, along the way, Dossin found time to release a recording of Leonard Bernstein’s “Thirteen Anniversaries” last spring on the Naxos label. Currently he is working on the recording and edition of the complete Mozart piano sonatas for the Schirmer label.

Now Dossin and his piano studio of eager UO musicians from several countries have set their sights on a new goal: a tour of the Pacific Northwest in which six graduate student pianists will perform Franz Liszt’s monumental “Transcendental Etudes,” a cycle of twelve inspiring etudes considered some of the most difficult in the piano repertoire.

The tour, which commemorates Liszt’s 204th birthday, will launch with an Oct. 11 concert at the Church of the Good Samaritan in Corvallis, Ore. The second concert, the centerpiece event of the tour on Oct. 22 (Liszt’s birthday), will see Dossin’s students play on their “home turf” in the historic Beall Concert Hall on the UO campus in Eugene, Ore.

From there, the ivory-tickling team will tackle Seattle on Nov. 6; Portland on Nov. 7; and Salem, Ore. on Nov. 8.

“These etudes are extraordinary piano works, and Pacific Northwest audiences don’t have a chance to witness live performances of the entire cycle too often” noted Dossin.

“Playing in so many locales, on different pianos, is good practice for these young pianists, and will keep them from becoming too comfortable in any one concert environment,” Dossin added.

Dossin’s student performers will include Ednaldo Borba, Julianne Shepard, Eduardo Moreira, Alessandro Andrade da Fonseca, Jorge Briceño, and Andrei Andreev.

Complete Tour Schedule

  • Sunday, Oct. 11, 3 p.m.: Church of the Good Samaritan, 333 NW 35th St, Corvallis. Suggested donation: $15.
  • Thursday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m.: Beall Concert Hall, University of Oregon campus, Eugene. Annual Liszt Birthday Celebration Recital organized by the Oregon Chapter of the American Liszt Society. Tickets $10 general, $8 students and seniors, available at the door or in advance from the UO Ticket Office, 541-346-4363.
  • Friday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.: KING 98.1 FM live radio performance, Seattle.
  • Saturday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.: Michelle’s Piano, 600 SE Stark St, Portland. Suggested donation: $15.
  • Sunday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m.: Rogers Music Center, Willamette University campus, Salem. Suggested donation: $15.

Liszt’s 1852 publication of the “Transcendental Etudes” marked a technically and aesthetically superior revision of material the great composer first created in 1826, at the age of fifteen.