Dances with Piano

Whirling dervishes and sad Spanish dances, fiery Mazurkas and pulsating Argentine rhythms, all pour from the piano of one of the North Coast’s best-known performing artists, Deborah Clasquin, in a recital of dance music from the twentieth century on Saturday, September 22 at the Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The recital features modern approaches to a mix of musical dance styles from around the world, including a dance suite by Bela Bartok with eastern European and Arab influences, and waltzes by Ravel and by jazz pianist Bill Evans.

Also included are works by lesser known composers—interpretations of Mazurkas from Poland by Karol Szymanowski, dances from Argentina by Alberto Ginastera and dances from Spain by Frederico Mompou.

Deborah Clasquin is known locally for her solo recitals as well as her appearances with the Humboldt Symphony, the Eureka Symphony, the Helmholz Trio and other ensembles. She also has appeared in concert in Paris, Moscow, Kiev, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C., as well as in San Francisco and throughout northern California. She has been broadcast on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, and has won numerous awards and prizes.

The recital explores how twentieth century composers brought a new approach to traditional and popular forms of music for dance. For example, in his “uninterrupted chain of seven waltzes, Ravel both enjoys the strict three-four rhythm for itself, and at the same time views it through twentieth-century eyes,” Clasquin observes. “The harmonies are those of a composer who knows all about Wagner and Schoenberg, as well as Gershwin.”

Of the Spanish composer, Frederico Mompou (a friend of the famous painter Miro), Clasquin said, “ Mompou’s music melds the sensuous coloration and nuance of French impressionistic style with an introspective and intense Spanish flavor, sometimes tinged with sadness.”

Deborah Clasquin’s solo piano recital begins at 8 PM on Saturday, September 22 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office 826-3928) or at the door.

Media: Arcata Eye, Eureka Times-Standard.