October 22

CollabFest at UNT is a celebration and exploration of all things collaborative piano. At the heart of the matter, the collaborative arts are about teamwork, community building, generous sharing of self, and the sheer joy of making music intimately with another musician. CollabFest celebrates this!

Collaborative pianists and vocal coaches work with other musicians, but rarely have the opportunity to gather with other collaborative pianists. The mission of this event is to provide a gathering place and a forum for discussion and exploration for collaborative pianists, as well as opportunities for networking and socialization. CollabFest is committed to providing an enriching and stimulating day-long symposium on a variety of topics central to collaborative piano.

Ann Baltz (Founder and Artistic Director of OperaWorks), Margaret Singer (Atelier Lyrique, Opéra de Paris), Willem van Schalkwyk (University of Northern Colorado) and Lisa Sylvester (University of Southern California) join members of UNT's faculty as presenters and performers for this special day. Anne Epperson (Indiana University, University of Texas at Austin) will give the keynote address and a special masterciass. (Established instrumentalist-pianist duos wishing to be considered for the class should email collabfest@unt.edu no later than September 30, and include a video of a live performance. Teams will be selected by members of the faculty and notified by October 7..)

The day will conclude with a special faculty recital honoring our mentors, in particular, UNT faculty emeritus Harold Heiberg. There is a fee for the conference session, but admission to the recital is free and open to all. Contributions towards collaborative piano scholarships will be gratefully accepted.

CollabFest is for students of piano and collaborative piano, for professional pianists, and for musicians interested in the collaborative arts. All are welcome.

We invite you to join us for this exciting inaugural event and hope to see you at UNT on October 22!

 

Collaboratively yours,
Elvia Puccinelli and Steven Harlos,
Artistic Directors