December 5, 2025

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Wells Publishes Article on Liszt’s Rhythms and Premieres Piano Piece

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Photo of Music Professor Robert Wells

Music Professor Robert Wells

Associate Professor of Music and Associate Director of the Honors Program Robert Wells recently published an article in the open access journal College Music Symposium: Journal of the College Music Society.

The article, titled “Diabolical Dances and Rhythmic Poetry: Interpreting and Performing Franz Liszt’s Metric Conflicts,” investigates rhythmically/metrically complex writing in Franz Liszt’s piano music and develops a series of specialized performance strategies for such music.

This research stemmed from a 2023–24 Jepson Fellowship that allowed Wells to present Liszt-focused lecture-recitals and performances at UMW, Randolph-Macon College, Furman University and the College of William and Mary. Audio excerpts from the performances at UMW and Furman appear in the article. Read the full article in the College Music Symposium journal.

Screenshot of College Music Symposium article referenced in first paragraph

Excerpt from College Music Symposium article

Additionally, at the recent 2025 Society for Music Theory/American Musicological Society Joint Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Wells was invited to premiere Nigerian composer Ayọ̀ Olúrántí’s solo piano work Eré Ayò: A Study in African Pianism (2025).

This performance was part of an African Pianism session featuring works by composers from across the continent of Africa. Eré Ayò was one of two pieces commissioned by the American Musicological Society for this year’s conference.

Wells to Present Piano Lecture-Recital at UMW, Jan. 27

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Music professor Dr. Robert Wells will present a piano lecture-recital, “Diabolical Dances and Pianistic Poetry,” on Saturday, January 27 at 7:30 PM at UMW. This special event, featuring the music of virtuoso composer-pianist Franz Liszt, will take place in the Weatherly Wing of Seacobeck Hall, and will draw upon Dr. Wells’s research as part of his UMW Jepson Fellowship. Dr. Wells will first present a 20-minute lecture on four Liszt piano works featuring supernatural and poetic themes, with an emphasis on these works’ distinctive rhythmic challenges for the performer. Then, he will perform all four of the discussed works on UMW’s beautiful new Steinway grand piano. The event is free and open to the public. Those who cannot attend Saturday’s performance are welcome to attend an open dress rehearsal on Thursday, January 25 at 7:30 PM (also in the Seacobeck Weatherly Wing). For more information, please contact Dr. Wells at rwells@umw.edu.

Wells Presented Duo Piano Recital, March 11

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Assistant Professor of Music Robert Wells

Assistant Professor of Music Robert Wells

UMW music professor Dr. Robert Wells joined his former piano professor, Dr. Derek Parsons (Furman University), presenting a two-piano recital at UMW on Friday, March 11 in Dodd Auditorium (originally scheduled for March 2020, but postponed due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic). Parsons performed Anglo-Canadian composer Healey Willan’s piano concerto, accompanied by Wells on a second piano, after which Wells performed American composer Amy Beach’s piano concerto, accompanied by Parsons.

Wells Presents Duo Piano Recital, March 13

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Assistant Professor of Music Robert Wells

Assistant Professor of Music Robert Wells

UMW music professor Dr. Robert Wells will be joining his former piano professor, Dr. Derek Parsons (Furman University), to present a two-piano recital at UMW. The concert will be on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 PM in Dodd Auditorium, and admission will be free. Parsons will be performing Anglo-Canadian composer Healey Willan’s piano concerto, accompanied by Wells on a second piano, after which Wells will perform American composer Amy Beach’s piano concerto, accompanied by Parsons. This concert will kick off a music-filled weekend for the UMW Music Department, with the UMW Chamber Music Festival occurring on Saturday and Sunday at Belmont.

UMW Debuts Indian Music Ensemble in Friday Concert at Belmont

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The University of Mary Washington Department of Music is proud to present Supercollider and Sitars, a concert featuring two of its newest ensembles at Gari Melchers Home and Studio on Friday, November 2, 7:30 PM.

The UMW New Music Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Michael Bratt, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Technology at UMW, will feature a live-coding session utilizing the computer programming language Supercollider. The Ensemble’s performance will also feature the world premiere of the I Think Everything is Going to Be OK by award-winning composer Jeremy Allen, Assistant Professor of Music Composition at John Brown University.

This event also marks the debut performance of the UMW Indian Music Ensemble, dedicated to performing classical literature from the Indian subcontinent (both Northern and Southern traditions) under the direction of Dr. Robert Wells. Dr. Wells is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Aural Skills at UMW. The Ensemble will perform a variety of vocal, instrumental, and rhythmic works, aided by traditional instruments such as the sitar, tabla, mridangam, naal, tambura, Carnatic flute, and violin.

The concert will be presented in the Pavilion at Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont and is free and open to the public. Contact Meghan Pcsolyar at mpcsolya@umw.edu or 540-654-1848.