VADA SCHNEIDER, STUDENT OF KAWAI MEDALLION EDUCATOR RITA WIDENER, COLABORATION HSPVA QUINTET

Shigeru Kawai Concert Hall – Kawai Piano Gallery April 23 at 5:00 PM

Vada Schneider is a senior in the classical piano department at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and has been studying with Rita Widener since the age of six. She is currently working on her ABRSM performance diploma and has previously earned Distinctions in ABRSM Piano Grade levels 7 and 8. Vada is also part of a Piano Quintet at school and earned Honorable Mention in the 2022 TMEA chamber and ensemble competition. She has been a teacher under Widener Music Studio since July 2021 and currently teaches six students. Vada has been accepted into several prestigious college music programs and plans to double major in piano performance and business while continuing to teach private lessons. Program: Jamaican Medley – Eleanor Alberga Jamaican Medley was written in 1983 for a special concert to mark the 21st Anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence. The vast majority of the piece is made from a selection of Jamaican folk songs. Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A Flat Major WTC II – J.S. Bach The Well Tempered Clavier by Bach consists of 2 sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. The Prelude in A Flat Major BWV 886 opens with a downward stepping theme with ornaments and a jubilant right hand interceding each step. This mostly joyful theme is then followed by a cheeky and playful fugue with a two-part theme that purveys till the climactic chordal ending. Sonata No. 9 Op. 14 No. 1 in E Major – Ludwig van Beethoven I. Allegro II. Allegretto/Maggiore III. Rondo – Allegro comodo The Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14, No. 1, is an early-period work by Ludwig van Beethoven, dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun, one of his patrons at that time. It was composed in 1798 and arranged for string quartet in 1801 which is heard throughout the piece as the melody travels throughout the range of the keyboard. Liebestraum No. 3 in A Flat Major – Franz Liszt The quintessential Romantic piano miniature, Liszt’s Liebestraum No.3 was originally published as one of a set of three works for piano and voice. Each piece depicted a separate facet of love. The third piece is based on a poem by Ferdinand Freiligrath which begins ‘O love so long as you can!’ The arrangement for solo piano is notoriously difficult and famous for it’s beautiful serenity. Intermission Danzas Cubanas – Ignacio Cervantes I. Picotazos II. La Cortesana III. Los Tres Golpes IV. Pst! V. La Encantadora VI. Adios a Cuba Ignacio Cervantes composed these 48 short pieces for piano as a reflection of his experiences living in Havana Cuba as well as a way to express specific emotions, although for short periods of time. These pieces range anywhere from flirtation to chicken fights and end with his final dance, Adios a Cuba, where Cervantes says farewell to his home country after getting deported for his fundraiser concerts for Cuban independence. Piano Quintet in A major Op. 81 B. 155 – Antonin Dvořák III. Scherzo The work was composed as the result of the composer’s attempt to revise an earlier work, the first Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 5. Dvořák was dissatisfied with the Op. 5 quintet and destroyed the manuscript not long after its premiere. Fifteen years later, he reconsidered and retrieved a copy of the score from a friend and started making revisions. The new quintet is a mixture of Dvořák’s personal form of expressive lyricism with elements from Czech folk music such as song and dance. Piano Quintet Op. 1 No. 1 in C minor – Ernst von Dohnányi III. Adagio, quasi andante One of his most infamous works, Dohnányi’s first Piano Quintet is highly regarded as one of the most difficult and beautiful quintets, even receiving high compliments from Johannes Brahms saying, “I couldn’t have done it better myself.” Libertango (arr. Two Pianos) – Astor Piazolla Originally composed for bandoneón and percussion, this arrangement for two pianos combines a virtuosic melody accompanied by a groovy rhythm that is sure to leave any listener dancing. The title is a portmanteau merging “Libertad” (Spanish for liberty) and “Tango”, symbolizing Piazzolla’s break from Classical Tango to Tango.

PROGRAM
Program: Jamaican Medley – Eleanor Alberga
Prelude and Fugue No. 17 in A Flat Major WTC II – J.S. Bach
Sonata No. 9 Op. 14 No. 1 in E Major – Ludwig van Beethoven
I. Allegro
II. Allegretto/Maggiore
III. Rondo-Allegro comodo

Liebestraum No. 3 in A Flat Major – Franz Liszt.
Intermission
Danzas Cubanas – Ignacio Cervantes
I. Picotazos
II. La Cortesana
III. Los Tres Golpes
IV. Pst!
V. La Encantadora VI. Adios a Cuba

Piano Quintet in A major Op. 81 B. 155 – Antonin Dvořák
Scherzo
Piano Quintet Op. 1 No. 1 in C minor – Ernst von Dohnányi
Adagio, quasi andante
Libertango (arr. Two Pianos) – Astor Piazolla