JOHN NAKAMATSU, winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will perform in a solo concert March 19 as part of the Lied Center for Performing Arts' New Voices series. (Photo: Ellen Appel)
He's only the third American to win the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. John Nakamatsu, a Californian, won the gold medal last June, pocketed $20,000 and the right to scores of concert recital days. Nebraskans can judge Nakamatsu's superb talent for themselves when he plays a solo recital concert at 8 p.m. March 19 in Kimball Hall as part of the Lied Center for Performing Arts' New Voices series.
In addition to supporting performances by emerging artists, New Voices programs are designed to incorporate meaningful outreach experiences, targeted toward audiences members aged 12 to 21.
Nakamatsu, a native Californian, has studied piano with the same teacher since the age of 6. He is unusual in that he did not attend a music conservatory - he is a graduate of Stanford University - and he majored not in music, but in German. Until this year, he was teaching high school German in Mountain View, Calif.
Always a serious musician, the 28-year-old pianist said he watched the quadrennial competitions as a child and dreamed of being the winner. While a dedicated teacher, his goal is to earn his living as a concert pianist. As the Cliburn winner, he is on his way.
The competition is named for Van Cliburn, who in 1958 won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. The Cliburn competition was inaugurated in 1962.
Nakamatsu also won the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for a performance with the Tokyo String Quartet and the 1995 U.S. National Chopin Competition. He has toured extensively during his young career.
Critics praised his Cliburn performances, saying he has a unique emotional intensity coupled with an impressive technical command. His performance of the Rachmaninoff Third Concerto, which one critic said was "streaked with fantasy and daring," earned a standing ovation. Works by Stravinsky, Chopin, Beethoven and Dvorak also were warmly received. His interpretation of William Bolcom's "Nine Bagatelles," a piece commissioned for the Cliburn Competition required of all semifinalists, won praise from the composer.
For his Lincoln appearance, Nakamatsu will play Sonata in E major, Op. 109 by Beethoven; Polonaise in C-sharp minor, Op. 26, No. 1 and Grand Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op. 13, both by Chopin; Nine Bagatelles by Bolcom; Four Etudes Op. 7 by Stravinsky; and Sonetto 104 del Petratca and Tarantella, both by Liszt.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. performance are $18 and $14. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Doane College students and youth 18 and younger with proper identification can purchase tickets for half-price. Target "Treatseats" discount coupons are available at participating Target stores.
Call the Lied Box Office at (402) 472-4747 or toll free, 1 (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability.
This performance is sponsored in part by the Miriam Croft Moeller Endowment of the Lied Performance Fund in memory of Lucille Tackley. This New Voices Program is made possible in part by funds from Target Stores.
Lied Center programming is supported by the Friends of Lied and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; the Mid-America Arts Alliance; and the Nebraska Arts Council. All events in the Lied Center are made possible entirely or in part by the Lied Performance Fund, which has been established in memory of Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.
ROBERT DUVALL as the Apostle E.F. in a scene from The Apostle, showing March 19-29 at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater. (Photo: Van Redin)
The consummate American actor, Robert Duvall has spent a lifetime crafting roles for other filmmakers. Now, in writing and directing The Apostle, Duvall has created for himself what could be the defining role of his career.
The story of a life-changing crisis that transforms a Pentecostal preacher, The Apostle has been a personal project of Duvall's for more than a decade. It's an excellent fit because the connections between actor and minister - the necessity of belief, the ability to convince, the power of personality and the mastery of the rhythmic cadences of language - are numerous and durable.
The Apostle is showing on March 19 through 22 and on March 26 and 29 at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater. Check the Calendar (back page) for showtimes.
CINDERELLA, drawing by Elizabeth Layton.
The Great Plains Art Collection will host an exhibition, "Reflections on Life and Well Being: Drawings by Elizabeth Layton," March 16 to April 30. The exhibition will showcase 26 drawings by the late artist Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton.
The show was organized and curated by her mentor/champion/friend Don Lambert. Lambert "discovered" Layton while working as a reporter for the Ottowa Herald in Kansas. The work was being shown as part of an exhibit of college freshmen drawings. Amongst the work of the 19-year-olds were some disturbingly powerful images that attracted the young writer's attention.
He found that the work was that of a 68-year-old grandmother, who had succeeded in conquering a 30-year depression by creating a series of blind contour drawings. She followed her instructor, Pal Wright's formula: (1. Draw honest and definite lines. 2. Do not erase: make the lines work for you. 3. Go to the edge/fill the paper). Layton looked in her mirror and unflinchingly drew what she saw. The drawings succeeded where 13 shock therapy treatments and 30 years of psychotherapy had failed.
Ten years after Lambert began making her known to the world, "Grandma" Layton's work had been exhibited in various venues throughout the United States, including the Smithsonian. Her life and the "art cure" have received national attention.
This exhibition has been arranged in conjunction with the Great Plains 22nd Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium on "Health and Lifestyle, Sport & Recreation on the Great Plains."
On April 2, Lambert will be a featured speaker at the Great Plains Art Collection. He will give a slide lecture about Layton and discuss his book, "The Life and Art of Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton." The lecture and exhibit are sponsored by the Friends of the Center for Great Plains Studies. The event is free and open to the public.
Lambert lives in Topeka, Kan., where he works as a freelance writer and art promoter. Lambert holds an MA in American Studies from the University of Kansas, he is vice president of the Kansas Arts Commission, and is representative for the estate of the late Elizabeth Layton. He handled the business affairs for Layton for 20 years and currently manages the Layton estate. He has arranged more than 200 locations for Layton exhibits, as well as arranging feature articles in Life, People, Parade, Times and The Christian Science Monitor and hundreds of other publications.
For more information contact the Great Plains Art Collection at 472-6220.
The UNL College of Fine and Performing Arts has announced the winners of the inaugural Nebraska Young Artist Awards.
Sixty-seven students from more than 45 high schools across the state have been selected to participate in the special day of activities on April 6 at UNL. The Nebraska Young Artist Awards annually recognize 11th grade students who are gifted and talented in the areas of visual art, dance, music and theatre. These students exemplify the pinnacles of creativity in one of the fine and performing arts.
Teachers across the state nominated students and submitted an example of their work College of Fine and Performing Arts faculty chose the students who will come to UNL on April 6 to be recognized.
Honored students will take tours of the arts facilities, attend classes, meet faculty and college students and have lunch. Their parents will also be invited, and they will also take tours, as well as receive information on careers in the arts and college curriculum.
Students selected to participate in the Nebraska Young Artist Awards will also be asked to nominate the teacher who provided them with the greatest amount of mentoring and support in the development of their special talents.
"We think this will provide a special dimension to the day," said Ron Bowlin, program director. "As we recognize these outstanding students, they, in turn, have a chance to recognize an outstanding teacher who has made a difference in their artistic career."
The day will conclude with an awards ceremony in Kimball Hall at 3:30 p.m. Students will receive a certificate, as well as an original print commissioned for this event made by a printmaking student in the Department of Art and Art History.
"We are looking forward to recognizing these talented young artists on April 6 and introduce them to all that UNL has to offer them in the arts," said Bowlin.
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