Robert DeGaetano is a classical pianist who performs in informal clothes.
He knows that many people are intimidated by the formality of the concert hall. He knows classical music gets stuffed into a stereotype of stuffiness.
So he ditches the formal concert clothes in more intimate venues, and he tells the life stories of the composers of the pieces he performs. The graduate of the Juilliard School and internationally-known concert pianist wants to take away the God-like aura surrounding composers like Beethoven and Bach.
For those who are cowed by classical music, he may be the performer for you.
He hopes the audience coming to his concert in Westminster Presbyterian Church this weekend brings a flexibility of mind. He hopes they leave having learned that the composers of the music were real people who wrote modern music of their time in response to current events in their lives and the larger world.
One piece DeGaetano has planned, a 1904 piece by French composer Claude Debussy, shows the high of love Debussy was in while vacationing with his lover on the Isle of Jersey. The composition is “totally sensual, totally inspired,” DeGaetano said.
“I like to inspire young people to really give music like this a chance,” DeGaetano said. “We move so fast, especially in this country that we really don't realize how important history is. History can teach us a great deal.”
He compared the realization audiences have about the humanity of complex classical compositions to when he realized in Paris that Impressionist painters like Claude Monet were not creating the pink tones of Paris-based paintings out of their minds but reflecting the tones of Parisian sunsets.
DeGaetano's program includes classics by DeBussy, German composer Johannes Brahms, French-Polish composer Frederic Chopin, French composer Maurice Ravel and more modern works by American composer Samuel Barber.
DeGaetano will perform one of his own compositions that he wrote years ago but has only recently debuted publicly in New York City. “Gratitude,” a piece with serene and wondrous tones, was written in the early 1990s when DeGaetano stepped away from modern life to spend all of his time at a retreat in the Catskills mountains.
“The world was going too fast for me. I need to get away and go deep within,” DeGaetano said. “I absorbed a tremendous amount about life because I didn't have to live in it. I realized I could make a contribution to write what I felt. I was so grateful for the experience.”
DeGaetano performed in Auburn in 2002. He is returning as part of the fifth year of the Adams Foundation Piano Series, which brings renowned pianists to perform in small towns.
“We're at the stage where we're trying to have encore performances,” said Tom Hussey, one of the organizers of the series.
He performed at East Middle School in 2002, but he is pleased to perform for the first time in Westminster because of its acoustic qualities.
“I'm really looking forward to it,” DeGaetano said. “Some of the best halls in the country are in churches where you really get a beautiful sound.”
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
If you go
What: Adam's
Foundation presents pianist Robert DeGaetano
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 17 William St., Auburn
Cost: $15 for adults, $5 for students
For details: Call
253-3331 or visit www.westminsterauburn.org
click here to listen to a sound clip.
So he ditches the formal concert clothes in more intimate venues, and he tells the life stories of the composers of the pieces he performs. The graduate of the Juilliard School and internationally-known concert pianist wants to take away the God-like aura surrounding composers like Beethoven and Bach.
For those who are cowed by classical music, he may be the performer for you.
He hopes the audience coming to his concert in Westminster Presbyterian Church this weekend brings a flexibility of mind. He hopes they leave having learned that the composers of the music were real people who wrote modern music of their time in response to current events in their lives and the larger world.
One piece DeGaetano has planned, a 1904 piece by French composer Claude Debussy, shows the high of love Debussy was in while vacationing with his lover on the Isle of Jersey. The composition is “totally sensual, totally inspired,” DeGaetano said.
“I like to inspire young people to really give music like this a chance,” DeGaetano said. “We move so fast, especially in this country that we really don't realize how important history is. History can teach us a great deal.”
He compared the realization audiences have about the humanity of complex classical compositions to when he realized in Paris that Impressionist painters like Claude Monet were not creating the pink tones of Paris-based paintings out of their minds but reflecting the tones of Parisian sunsets.
DeGaetano's program includes classics by DeBussy, German composer Johannes Brahms, French-Polish composer Frederic Chopin, French composer Maurice Ravel and more modern works by American composer Samuel Barber.
DeGaetano will perform one of his own compositions that he wrote years ago but has only recently debuted publicly in New York City. “Gratitude,” a piece with serene and wondrous tones, was written in the early 1990s when DeGaetano stepped away from modern life to spend all of his time at a retreat in the Catskills mountains.
“The world was going too fast for me. I need to get away and go deep within,” DeGaetano said. “I absorbed a tremendous amount about life because I didn't have to live in it. I realized I could make a contribution to write what I felt. I was so grateful for the experience.”
DeGaetano performed in Auburn in 2002. He is returning as part of the fifth year of the Adams Foundation Piano Series, which brings renowned pianists to perform in small towns.
“We're at the stage where we're trying to have encore performances,” said Tom Hussey, one of the organizers of the series.
He performed at East Middle School in 2002, but he is pleased to perform for the first time in Westminster because of its acoustic qualities.
“I'm really looking forward to it,” DeGaetano said. “Some of the best halls in the country are in churches where you really get a beautiful sound.”
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
If you go
What: Adam's
Foundation presents pianist Robert DeGaetano
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 17 William St., Auburn
Cost: $15 for adults, $5 for students
For details: Call
253-3331 or visit www.westminsterauburn.org
click here to listen to a sound clip.
The Citizens' Say
There are No comments posted.