On Monday, February 4, the Rappahannock Music Society featured Adjunct Piano Professor Andrew Kraus in the workshop and recital called “Wellness for the Performing Musician,” held in the Central Rappahannock Regional Library theater. Kraus’ workshop got the participants up on their feet to learn “The Relaxing Breath” and “5 Elements QiGong.” Kraus also introduced them to the seminal work on “Flow” by Czicentmihali and applications of that work by Dr. Joseph Parrente in his book The Positive Pianist. The program also included a joint recital featuring pieces that Kraus will perform at UMW later this spring with Doug Gately, director of the UMW Jazz Ensemble. The performance will focus on music by women composers. Kraus closed with Automne by Cecile Chaminade.
UMW Music Department Professors Judge Local Music Scholarship Competition
On Saturday, March 24, University of Mary Washington Adjunct Professors Andrew Kraus and Theresa Steward judged over 30 talented entrants competing for the 2018 Rappahannock Music Society Scholarship and a chance to perform in the Scholarship Honors Recital to be held on April 8th at Ferry Farm Baptist Church.
Open to students of local teachers Grade 8 and up, contestants were evaluated in four categories: Faithfulness to score; Technique; Interpretation; and Stage Presence.
Kraus Releases New Singles on Tunecore Label
Andrew Kraus, Adjunct Professor of Piano, releases two new “singles” this month on the Tunecore label.
Deep River is played in an arrangement by Calvin Taylor, a noted African American pianist, arranger and pedagogue, from his collection Spirituals for Worship, and is available from iTunes, Amazon.com and other outlets as a digital download starting June 10.
January, from Stone Rose, a collection of pieces by Ola Gjeilo, was originally written for cello and piano. Kraus’ performance is scheduled for digital release from iTunes, Amazon.com and other outlets starting June 17.
Kraus is grateful to two of his students for introducing him to Taylor and Gjeilo, and he believes the stories of how these composers and their works came to him through his students is evidence of the value in being a member of the vibrant community of scholars and artists at the University of Mary Washington.
It was Benjamin Jones, a commuter student, who introduced Kraus to Calvin Taylor and his arrangement of Deep River. Jones had heard Taylor play at the church he and his family regularly attend in Stafford, loved what he heard, got fired up to the point where he parted with some hard-earned and all too scarce cash to purchase Taylor’s Spirituals for Worship, showed up with it at his next lesson and asked as he sat down at the piano, “Would it be OK if I learned this piece?” Kraus played through the piece, loved it, and said, “Absolutely, and, do you mind if I learn it too?”
Similarly, Lucas Chandler, another of Kraus’ students who recently graduated, brought Stone Rose, a set of piano pieces by Ola Gjeilo, to one of his lessons earlier this spring, and asked what Kraus thought of them. Reading through a few of them with him, Kraus was again smitten. When he asked Chandler how he had discovered Gjeilo, Chandler told him that he had been introduced to Gjeilo’s oeuvre through his choral music by yet another member of the UMW community, Jane Tavernier, who had programmed some of Gjeilo’s music in a concert by the UMW Chorus. Kraus asked Lukas if he would mind if he learned several and recorded them. The answer was, “yes,” and January is the first of several in Stone Rose to be recorded and released by Kraus.
Kraus Joins Ukrainian Musicians for Memorial Benefit Concert at Ukrainian Embassy
Adjunct Instructor of Piano Andrew Kraus joins Gerdan members Solomia Gorokhivska, violin, and Andrei Pidkivkha, flute, for a “Heavenly Hundred” concert to benefit United Help Ukraine.
- When: Feb. 19, 2016, from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
(Concert from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.) - Where: Embassy of Ukraine, 3350 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20007 – View Map
- Tickets available at http://heavenlyhundred2016.eventbrite.com
The program features music of a variety of types: “classical music” jazz, and Ukrainian folk and popular music including Miroslov Skoryk’s classic Melodie.
As written on the United Help Ukraine website, “This year marks the second anniversary of the mass shootings on Maidan during the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine’s fight for freedom. The Embassy of Ukraine in the USA, Gerdan and United Help Ukraine invite you to a charity concert to commemorate the Heavenly Hundred who gave their lives for free Ukraine. Please come and support Ukraine. Silent auctions and a reception to follow.
Henselt in Context at 26th Annual Feuchtwangen Piano Festival
Pictured here with the commemorative statue of Adolph von Henselt in von Henselt’s home town of Schwabach, Germany, Adjunct Piano Instructor Andrew Kraus presented a recital, Henselt in Context, in the “Stadt Kasten” as a featured soloist in the 27th Annual International Feuchtwanger Piano Festival in Feuchtwangen, Germany on April 23. The program featured 17 pieces pairing works by Adolph von Henselt with those by better known composers including Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt.
Kraus is recognized for the warmth and “heart” in his playing. In the words of one of the Feuchtwangen attendees, “…I had the feeling that [name redacted] plays very well, but without a heart, and at your concert, my heart was happy…”.
The venue for the series was the Stadt Kasten, a half timbered structure located in the main church square of the city, originally built in 1565 as a barn. Today, the building is used for concerts, plays and other cultural events year round.
Kraus plans on presenting this recital to the UMW community during the next academic year.