In commemoration of the recent 150th anniversary of Debussy's birth, UTC’s Music Department will present, “An Evening With Debussy”, featuring pianist, Dr. Joe Chapman, in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall at the UTC Fine Arts Center, 752 Vine St., on Saturday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. The performance is presented free of charge and open to the general public.
Review for An Evening With Debussy:
Beneath Dr. Chapman's skillful fingers the piano keyboard becomes a lush palette of musical colors that challenges the limits of harmony, melody and form. In addition to Clair de lune and Feux d'artifice, the program includes a number of other pieces with evocative titles, such as Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest (What the West Wind Saw), La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair), and Reflets dans l'eau (Reflections in the Water). The mood of the concert ranges from the haunting chimes of La Cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) to the humorous overtones of Golliwogg's cake-walk, a dance depicting the shenanigans of a boisterous rag-doll, in which Debussy pokes fun at his contemporary, Richard Wagner, with a parody of Wagner's famous prelude to Tristan und Isolde. The finale L'Isle joyeuse (The Joyful Island) rounds out the program with a brilliant coda of virtuosic proportions.
Dr. Chapman is the director of Keyboard Studies at the University of North Georgia where he also serves as conductor of the University Orchestra. He holds degrees in piano performance from UTC and the University of South Carolina. Dr. Chapman has served the music profession in a number of capacities including a term as president of the Georgia Music Teachers Association.
For more information contact the Music office at 425-4601 or see the Music Department website at http://utc.edu/music.