Lincoln, Neb.--The Lied Center Piano Academy will return July 13-18 with a full roster of 20 young pianists, guest artist recitals, master classes and workshops designed to nurture the next generation of pianists.
Hosted in partnership with the Lied Center for Performing Arts and Glenn Korff School of Music, the weeklong academy has quickly become both a training ground for talented high school pianists and a key recruiting event for the university’s piano program.
“We have our full capacity of 20 students this year, so we’re absolutely thrilled,” said Paul Barnes, artistic director of the academy and the Marguerite Scribante Professor of Piano in the Glenn Korff School of Music. “Last year the enrollment popped up, and these kids were so good that we decided to increase the capacity to 20 students, and this year we filled the 20 spots in record speed.”
The academy will feature returning faculty members Barnes, Madeline Rogers (D.M.A. 2021) and Feifei Jiang (D.M.A. 2013), along with workshops led by Tom Larson and David von Kampen. Events and performances will take place primarily in Kimball Recital Hall and Westbrook Music Building.
This year’s featured guest artist is Richard Fountain, a University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumnus (M.M. 2005; D.M.A. 2008), who serves as dean and professor of piano in the School of Creative Arts at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas.
Barnes said highlighting successful alumni has become an important part of the academy experience.
“One of the things I decided to do that we started last year with Madeline Rogers is to feature our absolute best alumni—the alumni of the Glenn Korff School of Music who have gone out and done wonderful things,” Barnes said. “And Richard has done so many great things. I consider him one of my absolute success stories because he developed as a pianist so profoundly and turned into an amazing artist. I want students to see what can happen if you have good teaching, you go to a good school, and you have that motivation to develop a career. He’s having a wonderful career.”
Fountain will present a guest artist recital on Tuesday, July 14 at 7 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall. Rogers will perform a recital on Thursday, July 16 at 7 p.m. also in Kimball Hall. In addition, the students participating in the academy will have a duet recital at 11 a.m. and a solo recital at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 18 in Kimball Hall. All of these performances are free and open to the public.
For Fountain, returning to Nebraska to teach at the academy was an easy decision.
“As a native Nebraskan and an alum of UNL, I want to do everything I can to promote and develop music-making in our state,” Fountain said. “Not only have these students done fantastic work to get to this point, but I especially want to encourage their teachers to continue the amazing work they’ve done to create such a culture of high-level pianism in their studios.”
Fountain said he hopes students leave with more than technical knowledge.
“I hope that the students pick up a few tips and tricks for technique and musicality, of course, but more importantly, I hope they can see in me and in the other instructors a spirit of joy and love for our art that inspires them to keep making music throughout their lives,” he said.
The academy’s curriculum combines private instruction, master classes, chamber music coaching, theory and composition workshops, improvisation sessions and student performances. This summer’s chamber music focus will center on transcriptions, including works such as Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite.
“Feifei is going to be coaching all of the chamber music groups,” Barnes said. “The theme of the chamber music recital this year is transcriptions. It’s really going to be fun.”
Graduate student Wenhao Zhang also will present a special session on commissioning three new ragtime works from contemporary composers.
This year’s academy will also preview the upcoming American Liszt Society Festival, which will be hosted by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Sept. 28-30. During the academy, Barnes plans to preview festival repertoire and themes, including talking about Arvo Pärt’s Trinity symbolism and composer Lincoln Hanks’ “Hristos Anesti.”
The academy has also become an important recruiting tool for the Glenn Korff School of Music. Barnes said many participants from previous years are now enrolled as piano majors at Nebraska.
“So many of the students in last year’s academy are in my studio now as freshmen,” Barnes said. “Word has gotten out, and so many of the people that applied this year are brand new. What I’m excited about is developing talent in the area. It’s been the most fertile recruiting tool that I could possibly have,” Barnes said.
For students, the academy’s appeal extends beyond the classroom.
Lincoln High School senior Maciek Mahoney will attend the academy for the fourth time this summer. He said the sense of community keeps bringing him back.
“Of course, it is fun to work with different professors and people who help me and give me different inputs on pieces,” Mahoney said. “But also, it’s mainly just the community, honestly, just hanging out with a lot of friends who also have been playing the piano continuously. We all share this love for music and piano.”
Mahoney said the academy has played a major role in his own musical development.
“The first academy is what kind of led me to become a student with Dr. Barnes,” he said. “But every professor, every musician has different things to say, and every time I go there, there’s always new stuff that I get to learn.”
Fountain said that sense of community is one of the most valuable aspects of summer academies for young musicians.
“Academies like this are really vital for students to realize there are many others out there just like them. You learn lots of ‘x-factors’ in what makes a successful musical career just by interacting and observing the other students and your instructors and living in a community of piano nerds for a few days,” he said. “The interpersonal and intangible aspects of these experiences can be just as or even more valuable than the musical experiences themselves.”
Barnes said he hopes local music teachers and community members will attend the public workshops and performances throughout the week.
“Everybody is free to attend,” Barnes said. “We’d love to get local teachers coming during the day to the workshop sessions and things like that. They’re more than welcome.”
More information about the academy and teaching artists is available at https://go.unl.edu/2026pianoacademy.
