Community Arts Program Presents Piano Concert With Dr. Nariaki Sugiura
September 8, 2024 at 4:32 p.m.
WINONA LAKE – The Community Arts Program of Kosciusko County welcomes Dr. Nariaki Sugiura to Warsaw for a piano concert performance on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The concert will be held at the Warsaw Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 210 S. High Street, Warsaw, at 4 p.m.
Pictured is Dr. Nariaki Sugiura. Photo Provided.Keisuke Yoshimura
Dr. Judie Meulink, artistic director for the Community Arts Vocal Vision Youth programs, has been instrumental in bringing this concert to Warsaw. She said, “You will not want to miss this concert! Dr. Sugiura is a phenomenal pianist, and has performed in the Warsaw area for the last few years. He is bringing his student, Eunsong (Grace) Kim, who proves to be an accomplished pianist also. The concert will be focused on pieces for the piano that use only the left hand – a different type of concert, but one that will be very enjoyable!”
This concert will feature piano music played with the left hand only (left-hand piano music), which has a special and historical significance, according to a provided news release. Although left-hand piano music existed before World War I, its prominence flourished partly following WWI because of the concert pianists who lost their right arms and the prominent composers who wrote music for them.
Pictured is Eunsong Kim. Photo ProvidedAustrian concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein was sent to the frontline in WWI, and due to severe injury, had to have his right arm amputated. After returning from the war, he was determined to continue living as a concert pianist, and he began commissioning many prominent composers of the time, including Ravel, Prokofiev, Hindemith, R. Strauss and Bortkiewicz. They were inspired by his determination to continue his career as a pianist; hence, many left-hand piano pieces were created during this time.
Sugiura reflects that “through left-hand piano music, this disabled soldier-pianist encouraged the people of Europe who had been traumatized by the war. The role of music in war can be divided into two categories. The first is music that encourages people to fight, and we could call this ‘wartime music.’ The other genre is music that soothes the hearts devastated by battle and moves towards recovery. This could be called ‘postwar music.’ It displays the true power of music to heal the soul in postwar society. I believe that left-hand piano music belongs to this genre.”
The community is invited to attend this piano concert on Sept. 28. In addition to this concert, Sugiura will lead a piano master class at 1 p.m. Information about the piano master class is available by contacting Meulink at [email protected].
A native of Japan, Sugiura began piano studies with his mother at age 5. Under the tutelage of Michel Block and Shigeo Neriki, he received his Master and Doctor of Music in Piano Performance degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Other prominent piano teachers include Alicia de Larrocha, Friedrich Schurr, Alfonso Montecino, Naomi Ebihara and Leonard Hokanson. He has won prizes at numerous competitions, including the 1999 and 2000 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition Top Prizes. He was laureate of the 1993 National Music Competition in Tokyo and of the Annual Competition of Music from Spain and Latin America in 1999.
Eunsong Kim is a music educator and a pianist who wants to nurture within her students, the value and beauty of music through the piano, which is the driving force, inspiration, and passion of her life. Originally from South Korea, her teaching experience includes multicultural perspectives from countries such as Korea, China, and the United States, where she has taught respectively as a general elementary teacher, a specialized music teacher and a piano instructor.
The Community Arts Program of Kosciusko County exists to provide a variety of creative, collaborative experiences which allows people in Kosciusko County the opportunity to discover, develop and share their musical and artistic gifts, the release states. Visit the website at www.capwarsaw.com to learn more about the organization.
WINONA LAKE – The Community Arts Program of Kosciusko County welcomes Dr. Nariaki Sugiura to Warsaw for a piano concert performance on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The concert will be held at the Warsaw Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 210 S. High Street, Warsaw, at 4 p.m.
Pictured is Dr. Nariaki Sugiura. Photo Provided.Keisuke Yoshimura
Dr. Judie Meulink, artistic director for the Community Arts Vocal Vision Youth programs, has been instrumental in bringing this concert to Warsaw. She said, “You will not want to miss this concert! Dr. Sugiura is a phenomenal pianist, and has performed in the Warsaw area for the last few years. He is bringing his student, Eunsong (Grace) Kim, who proves to be an accomplished pianist also. The concert will be focused on pieces for the piano that use only the left hand – a different type of concert, but one that will be very enjoyable!”
This concert will feature piano music played with the left hand only (left-hand piano music), which has a special and historical significance, according to a provided news release. Although left-hand piano music existed before World War I, its prominence flourished partly following WWI because of the concert pianists who lost their right arms and the prominent composers who wrote music for them.
Pictured is Eunsong Kim. Photo ProvidedAustrian concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein was sent to the frontline in WWI, and due to severe injury, had to have his right arm amputated. After returning from the war, he was determined to continue living as a concert pianist, and he began commissioning many prominent composers of the time, including Ravel, Prokofiev, Hindemith, R. Strauss and Bortkiewicz. They were inspired by his determination to continue his career as a pianist; hence, many left-hand piano pieces were created during this time.
Sugiura reflects that “through left-hand piano music, this disabled soldier-pianist encouraged the people of Europe who had been traumatized by the war. The role of music in war can be divided into two categories. The first is music that encourages people to fight, and we could call this ‘wartime music.’ The other genre is music that soothes the hearts devastated by battle and moves towards recovery. This could be called ‘postwar music.’ It displays the true power of music to heal the soul in postwar society. I believe that left-hand piano music belongs to this genre.”
The community is invited to attend this piano concert on Sept. 28. In addition to this concert, Sugiura will lead a piano master class at 1 p.m. Information about the piano master class is available by contacting Meulink at [email protected].
A native of Japan, Sugiura began piano studies with his mother at age 5. Under the tutelage of Michel Block and Shigeo Neriki, he received his Master and Doctor of Music in Piano Performance degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Other prominent piano teachers include Alicia de Larrocha, Friedrich Schurr, Alfonso Montecino, Naomi Ebihara and Leonard Hokanson. He has won prizes at numerous competitions, including the 1999 and 2000 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition Top Prizes. He was laureate of the 1993 National Music Competition in Tokyo and of the Annual Competition of Music from Spain and Latin America in 1999.
Eunsong Kim is a music educator and a pianist who wants to nurture within her students, the value and beauty of music through the piano, which is the driving force, inspiration, and passion of her life. Originally from South Korea, her teaching experience includes multicultural perspectives from countries such as Korea, China, and the United States, where she has taught respectively as a general elementary teacher, a specialized music teacher and a piano instructor.
The Community Arts Program of Kosciusko County exists to provide a variety of creative, collaborative experiences which allows people in Kosciusko County the opportunity to discover, develop and share their musical and artistic gifts, the release states. Visit the website at www.capwarsaw.com to learn more about the organization.