Frances Renzi, UT professor emerita of music, will return to campus for the Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series.
She will celebrate her 75th birthday with a special concert performance Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m.
She also will present a master class Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Renzi
Renzi’s recital program will include Schumann’s “Arabesque,” Mozart’s “Rondo in A Minor” and Beethoven’s “Sonata in A-flat Major.” She also will perform Ravel’s “Sonatine,” two of Chopin’s nocturnes and Debussy’s “L’isle joyeuse.”
She has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, including those of Dallas, Houston, Toledo and the New Hampshire Music Festival. She has performed throughout North America, Taiwan and China, giving recitals in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei, and the China Conservatory in Beijing.
With a reputation as an extraordinary chamber player, Renzi appears regularly as a featured guest artist on the Toledo Symphony Chamber Series and also performs each summer at the New Hampshire Music Festival. She was a founding member of the Toledo Trio at The University of Toledo and performed with them for 27 years.
She has recorded solo and chamber music for Centaur, Educo, Koch International, Musical Heritage Society, Azica, Audite and Decca/Argo. Of her recording of 20th century etudes by American composers Ned Rorem, Vincent Persichetti and George Perle, Fanfare Magazine noted her playing as “… absolutely superb … crystal-like articulation, impeccable rhythmic precision, unflagging energy, and a truly remarkable understanding of these pieces …”
Her recording of chamber music of Paul Schoenfield was nominated for a Grammy. Her performances as a soloist and chamber musician have been broadcast on radio and television across the nation, including a presentation on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.”
She was a solo pianist for the New York City Ballet performing Stravinsky’s “Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra” and Brahms’ “Liebeslieder Waltzes,” and participated in the Stravinsky Festival at Lincoln Center.
In 2000, she was awarded a commendation from the Ohio Senate honoring her outstanding UT career of 27 years.
A native of Texas, she received a bachelor of music degree from the University of North Texas and a master’s degree from the Juilliard School.
For more information on the master class and concert, click here.
