Pianist Asiya Korepanova performs concert at MSU next week

Master pianist Asiya Korepanova will perform a concert titled “Past and Present” at Morehead State University at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, in Duncan Recital Hall. She will also be joined by Dr. Nathan Mensink, visiting professor of music at MSU, on alto saxophone. The concert is free and open to the public.    

In addition to featuring the music of well-known composers like Beethoven, Korepanova will perform the Franz Liszt arrangement of Richard Wagner’s “Tannhäuser Overture.”   

“This formidable work is rarely performed live and will be a real treat to anyone in the audience,” Mensink said.   

One of the compositions Korepanova and Mensink will perform together is a piece by composer Thomas Sleeper. The 20-minute sonata for piano and alto saxophone is titled “Seven Deadly Sins,” and Mensink said the haunting, passionate piece will “take the listeners on a tense journey.”   

Born in Izhevsk, Russia, Asiya Korepanova is widely recognized for her achievements as a pianist while also doing notable work as a transcriber, composer, visual artist and poet. She is currently the only pianist performing Liszt’s “24 Etudes” as a single program and one of few to tout a concerto list that features over 60 works. Her contributions to solo piano literature, including her historic solo piano transcription of Rich Strauss’ “Ein Heldenlegen” and Rachmaninoff’s “Cello Sonata,” have given her a place among today’s formidable transcribers.   

In addition to recording 53 performances of short works on her YouTube project “Midnight Pieces,” Korepanova has also created several projects featuring a combination of original poetry and visual art that serve as an interpretive commentary to a particular cycle of works for the piano. These cycles include Liszt’s “Transcendental Etudes,” Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier” and Tchaikovsky’s “18 Morceaux, Op. 72.” She also founded “Festival Baltimore,” a two-week chamber music series and summer academy dedicated to the performance and study of complete cycles, and “Music for Minds,” a nonprofit organization that serves to promote classical concerts in classrooms while establishing and supporting music festivals featuring unique programming.   

Mensink has known Korepanova for several years and performed with her multiple times in the past. As excited as he is to share the stage with her, he is even more excited she gets to share her talents with the campus and surrounding community.   

“Asiya’s performances are absolutely stunning and I am excited to bring her out for a concert here in Morehead,” he said.   

This event is supported by the Buckner and Sally S. Hinkle Endowment for Humanities.   

To learn more about MSU’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/mtd, email mtd@moreheadstate.edu or call 606-783-2473.