| <image src=http://www.plymouth.edu/news/newsimages/monster_web_05.jpg | Fans of the infamous PSU piano monster will have several opportunities to visit the monster at summer camp between June 22 and 29 at the Silver Cultural Arts Center on Main Street in Plymouth.
The Junior Piano Monster Festival will
Public concerts will be held Saturday, June |
Monster camp students live on campus while they study
ensemble techniques, musicianship and specialty topics
such as chorus, handbell choir, percussion ensemble,
digital keyboard ensemble, improvisation, history of
piano music, theory and technique, piano pedagogy and
conducting and participate in master classes. Continuing
education units or graduate credits are available for
teachers who participate in a two-day teacher
seminar June 28 and 29 on a selection of topics.
Ginger Yang Hwalek of Bangor, Maine will be
the piano ensemble conductor. Dr. Hwalek teaches
class piano, accompanies and coaches chamber music at the
University of Maine and is director of Maine Summer Youth Music.
In addition, she is an independent teacher of pre-college
students in Bangor. She conducted the 1992 and 2000 PSU Biennial
Monster Concerts and the 1993 and 1998 Piano Monster Festivals.
The conductor of the digital keyboard orchestras will
be Donna Smith, from Gold Canyon, Arizona, who
is returning for her seventh year. A music educator, accompanist
and church musician, she is an advocate for the integration of
music technology into traditional piano instruction, she has been
a clinician at teacher workshops throughout the country and her
articles have been featured in a number of keyboard magazines.
The founder and director of the PSU Monster Piano
Festivals is Carleen Graff, professor of music
at Plymouth State. An active performer in solo and
chamber recitals, Graff holds Master Teacher certification from
the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and was the 1993
NHMTA Teacher-Member of the Year. For information about the
festivals, call Dr. Carleen Graff, 603-535-2313. Monster Festival
information is online at www.plymouth.edu/mtd/pianonews.
Staff for the institute are chosen for the
ability to work with young musicians. They are committed and
highly qualified individuals drawn primarily from the PSU
faculty, staff, alumni and students.
For ticket information, call the Silver Cultural Arts Center
box office at (603) 535-ARTS. If special
accommodations are needed for persons with disabilities,
please call in advance.
Overcast. Rain. Temperature: 58; Wind: E at 3; Conditions as of Wed May 22 at 06:00 PM EDT