Prelude to a Masterpiece

Prelude to a Masterpiece:
Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor

(Updated September 18  – location of recital moved to Brush Performance Hall)

The Alliance Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with the University of Mount Union, is honored and excited to present Prelude to a Masterpiece: Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor.  This is a personal musical journey for our resident pianist, Dr. Maira Liliestedt, professor of music in piano and music history at Mount Union.

About once a month through 2021, we will be posting a video blog from Maira. Blogs will contain recordings of Maira rehearsing excerpts from the concerto, musical analysis, interviews with other musicians, and more.

Maira will perform the concerto twice this fall:

  • Sunday, September 19, 3pm: Maira will perform the chamber version of the concerto on a solo piano recital in Presser Recital Brush Performance Hall at the University of Mount Union. Accompanying will be Bohdan Subchak, violin; Susan Haddox, violin; Jerry Miskell, viola; Elaine Anderson, cello.
  • Sunday, October 10, 3pm:  Maira will perform the concerto with the Alliance Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eric Benjamin in Brush Performance Hall at the University of Mount Union.

Three episodes are now available:

Part 1: The Inspiration

What does this piece mean to Dr. Liliestedt? She answers questions on this topic from flutist and pianist Natalie Kaufman, music education major at Mount Union, and Noah Stewart, pianist music major with a performance concentration. (13 minutes. Published Feb 6.)

Part 2: Maira chats with conductor Eric Benjamin

Maira interviews our conductor Eric Benjamin to discuss concertos, pieces written to feature a soloist with accompaniment by a larger group. Eric shares with us his knowledge and thoughts about some of the great composers of concertos, the pieces, the styles, the performers, and what it is like to conduct a concerto.
(23 minutes. Published March 5.)

Part 3: The Student Rehearsal Pianist

Maira Liliestedt speaks with Mount Union student Samuel Atkinson, a mechanical engineering and music double major and rehearsal pianist for Maira’s initial rehearsals of the Chopin concerto.
(27 minutes. Published April 5.)

Part 4: The Rehearsal Process

Maira Liliestedt documents the rehearsal process to prepare for the first informal “performance” of the Chopin’s first movement. Enjoy many clips of solo practice and rehearsal sessions with Samuel Atkinson, as well as Maira’s commentary on the action!
(65 minutes. Published May 24.)

Part 5: Learning a New Passage

Maira Liliestedt learns a new four-measure phrase of the concerto’s third movement. See the process of learning and memorizing a brand new passage from the beginning.
(23 minutes. Published June 30.)

Part 6: A Different Kind of Beginning

Maira’s very first Chopin piece, and what the first movement of the concerto speaks to her.
(27 minutes. Published August 3.)

Part 7: The Student Soloists

Previous winners of the University of Mount Union’s Solo con tutti competition reminisce about their experiences performing as soloists with the Alliance Symphony Orchestra. We hear from alumni Kaitlyn Slezak ’20, Ben Hayes ’19, and Ian LeRoy, ’14.
(47 minutes. Published September 11.)

Part 8: The Chamber Rehearsals

The Chopin concerto blossoms as we add the talents of UMU faculty violinists Bohdan Subchak and Susan Haddox, violist Jerry Miskell, and cellist Elaine Anderson
(15 minutes. Published September 18.)

Live (I): Masterpiece Live (I): The Chamber Performance

The Chopin E Minor Concerto in chamber music performance; University of Mount Union Brush Hall, September 19, 2021, 3 pm. Live recording. Maira Liliestedt, solo piano, joined by collaborative artists Bohdan Subchak, violin; Susan Haddox, violin; Jerry Miskell, viola; Elaine Anderson, cello.
(47 minutes. Published October 24.)

Part 9: The Last Stretch

Maira rehearses with the Alliance Symphony and runs through the whole solo part the week before performance.
(44 minutes. Published October 24.)

Live (II): The Orchestral Performance

The culmination of all of Maira’s preparations.
(43 minutes. Published October 24.)

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