AC, WTAMU to ratify music-transfer agreement, present renowned pianist

The signing of an Articulation Agreement that will strengthen the academic bonds between the AC and WTAMU music programs is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4 in the lobby of AC’s Concert Hall Theater.

Then, in punctuation of the milestone decree, the two dynamic music programs will co-present a lecture-recital within the Concert Hall Theater, an event beginning at 7:30 p.m. and featuring international concert pianist Maria Garzón.

Accompanied by the narration of Dr. Robert Hansen, director of the WTAMU School of Music, Garzón’s presentation will focus on the life and music of composer Viktor Ullmann, who produced many of his works during the 1940s while confined to a concentration camp north of Prague.

The signing ceremony and the lecture-recital are free and open to the public. The Concert Hall Theater is located in the Music Building on AC’s Washington Street Campus.

Garzón was born in Madrid and has performed in venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall. She has given recitals in Istanbul, Glascow and at the Atheneum in Greece. In addition to the piano works of Ullmann, Garzón’s many recordings include the complete piano works of Joaquin Rodrigo and Jan Dussek.

Garzón’s appearance at AC will be the first of two presentations she will make locally in combination with both the Guest Artist Series at WTAMU and AC’s Piano Series. She also will meet with history classes and give a piano master class with students from WTAMU and AC from 2:30-4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5 in WTAMU’s Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex, Recital Hall.

The appearances at WTAMU also are free and open to the public.

Garzón’s presentations will help illuminate the life of the composer Ullman. He was a law student in 1918 when he began studying composition under Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna. Ullman later moved to Prague and devoted his life to music through works that reflected Schoenberg’s influence but still had its own distinctive voice and style. By 1938, the political situation was dire and marked the start of the deportation of the Jewish population to concentration camps. In September 1942, Ullmann, whose parents were of Jewish descent, was transported to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp north of Prague. There he was able to continue working on his music and composed more than 20 works at the ghetto.

The Sept. 4 lecture-recital at AC will include a documentary featuring interviews by Garzón with pianist Alice Herz-Sommer who knew Ullmann at the concentration camp. Ullmann died at Auschwitz, but much of his music and poetry survived. In addition to the documentary, WTAMU’s Hansen will provide readings of Ullmann’s poetry. Garzón, who recently completed her recordings of Ullmann’s piano works, will have CDs available for purchase after the recital, and Temple B’nai Israel will host a reception.

Garzón studied piano in Salzburg at the Mozarteum and earned music degrees from universities in Lubeck and Cologne, Germany. She lives in London where she combines her performing career with teaching.

For more information about Garzon’s presentations, contact Chris Garcia at 806-651-2840 or crgarcia@wtamu.edu or Tiffany McDaniel at 806-371-5340 or tljackson26@actx.edu.