Assistant Professor of Piano, Thomas Rosenkranz was recently in residence with Musicians from SoundScape at UMBC from April 8th-12. The residency included masterclasses, a composer reading and a performance including contemporary works by Albinger, Aperghis, Berio, Scelsi, Foss, as well as a premiere by the New York based composer, Richard Carrick.

The ensemble consists of Thomas Rosenkranz piano, Aiyun Huang, percussion, Lisa Cella, flute and Tony Arnold, voice. This ensemble was formed in 2010 in order to highlight aspects of the SoundScape Festival in Italy which celebrates contemporary music through collaborations between composers and performers.

For more information about the SoundSCAPE Festival please visit: http://soundscapefestival.org/

Dr. Liu just completed an intensive three-day recording session of Gregory Mertl’s Piano Concerto with the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, conducted by Craig Kirchhoff. Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment and expressly written for her, the concerto is a 40-minute tour de force for soloist and ensemble. The concerto will be the main work in a CD of Mertl’s music recorded by the University of Minnesota. It will be released by Innova Records in 2013.

Dr. Laura Melton will perform the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor with the Warren Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, April 1st at 3:00pm in the Macomb Center for Performing Arts in Clinton Township, Michigan. The concert will also feature Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Put’s Millenium Canons. Melton will teach a master class on March 31, 1:30-3:00pm for Detroit-area pre-college pianists at Warner Hall, Oakland University. The link for ticket information is http://www.macombcenter.com/Events/2012-04-01-WSO+Concerning+Concertos.htm