MSU Music WKAR PRESENTS:

The College of Music Faculty Artist Recital Series

Ralph Votapek, Piano

Monday, April 20, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium

Program The Twenty-four Préludes

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Book I Danseuses de Delphes (Delphic dancers) Voiles (Sails or Veils) Le vent dans la plaine (The wind on the plain) Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir (The sounds and perfumes swirl in the evening air) Les collines d'Anacapri (The hills of Anacapri) Des pas sur la neige (Footsteps in the snow) Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest (What the west wind has seen) La fille aux cheveux de lin (The girl with the flaxen hair) La sérénade interrompue (The interrupted serenade) La cathédrale engloutie (The sunken cathedral) La danse de Puck (Puck's dance) Minstrels (Minstrels) Intermission Book II Brouillards (Mists) Feuilles mortes (Dead Leaves) La Puerta del Vino (Wine Gate) Les fées sont d'exquises danseuses (Fairies are exquisite dancers) Bruyères (Heather) “Général Lavine” – excentric La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (The terrace for moonlight audiences) Ondine (The Water Sprite) Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. Canope (Canopus) Les tierces alternées (Alternating Thirds) Feux d'artifice (Fireworks)

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Mr. Votapek would like to offer a complimentary CD, "Debussy Préludes, Books I and II," to this evening's audience members. They can be found in the lobby.

Artist Bio Ralph Votapek is professor emeritus of piano at the Michigan State University College of Music. He is the gold medalist of the first Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and winner of the prestigious Naumburg Award. Votapek has been featured 16 times as the Chicago Symphony’s guest soloist, has played with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Boston Pops, the Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, National Symphonies, and other top ensembles. With eastern hemisphere concerto engagements stretching from London to Taiwan, he has also toured in Russia, Japan, and Korea. He has made a special commitment to Latin America, where he has toured for nearly 50 years, performing repeatedly in Buenos Aires, Rio, Santiago, and other cities. He recently received the Foreign Artist in Recital Award from the Argerntine Association of Music Critics. He is equally celebrated as a solo recitalist throughout the United States and has performed repeatedly in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, and the National Gallery in Washington. Guest appearances with the Juilliard, Fine Arts, New World, and Chester String quartets highlight his extensive chamber music experience. Votapek was the soloist on Arthur Fiedler’s last Boston Pops recording, a Gershwin program released on CD by London Records and most recently available as a part of the Deutsche Grammophone CD titled “The Arthur Fiedler Legacy.” In recent years he has recorded prolifically for the Ivory Classics and Blue Griffin labels. On the former he recorded the complete Debussy Preludes, the complete Goyescas of Granados, and a collection of important 20th century works. On the latter there are “Votapek Plays Gershwin,” “The Votapeks from Mozart to Piazzolla,” and the complete works for piano and cello of Beethoven with cellist Suren Bagratuni. They have been critically acclaimed by Grammophone, American Record Guide, International Piano, and Fanfare magazines. His wife, Albertine, frequently joins him in two-piano and four-hand recitals. They have appeared in Buenos Aires under the auspices of the Mozarteum Argentino, on the Van Cliburn Series in Fort Worth, the Pabst Theatre Series in Milwaukee, and on many college campuses. Votapek is now retired from Michigan State University, where he served as artist-in-residence for 36 years.

Spring 2015 Upcoming Events Tuesday, April 21, 2015 7:30pm, Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center, $ Campus Bands Tuesday, April 21, 2015 7:30pm, Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium, $ Chamber Choir and Campus Choir Scott Emelander, Andrew Minear, conductors Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:00pm, Hart Recital Hall, FREE Chamber Music Class Recital Wednesday, April 22, 2015 8:00pm, Hart Recital Hall, FREE Chamber Music Class Recital Thursday, April 23, 2015 7:30pm, Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center, $ Concert Band and Concert Orchestra Cormac Cannon, conductor Saturday, April 25, 2015 8:00pm, Cook Recital Hall, FREE Edmar Castaneda Trio, folk harp, trombone, drums Part of MSU’s Latin IS America festival Saturday, April 25, 2015 8:00pm, Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium, $ Men’s Glee Club and State Singers Jonathan Reed, Brandon Williams, conductors Sunday, April 26, 2015 3:00pm, Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center, $ Symphony Band and Spartan Youth Wind Symphony John T. Madden, Cormac Cannon, conductors Joshua Kearney, David Thornton, conductors

$ General Admission tickets. $10 adults, $8 seniors (age 60 and older), free for students with ID & those under age 18. These tickets are available at the door 60 minutes before each performance, online at music.msu.edu, over the phone at 517.353.5340, or in person in Room 102, Music Building, 333. West Circle Dr., M-F, 8:00 am-5:00 pm. Special Admission tickets (THESE EVENTS ARE RESERVED SEATING) $$ – $15 adults, $12 seniors (age 60 and older), $5 students with ID & those under age 18. (Free “rush” seating for students, if available) $$$ – tickets ($20 Adults, $18 Seniors (age 60 and older), $10 students with ID & anyone under 18.