Hillsdale profs to perform Schubert

Home Culture Hillsdale profs to perform Schubert

Hillsdale’s own Director of String Studies Melissa Knecht, Director of Keyboard Studies Brad Blackham, Lecturer in Music David Peshlakai, and Adjunct Instructor in Music Jonathan Chesson join visiting artists Anna Bittar-Weller and Derek Weller this weekend to perform a faculty recital at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, in Markel Auditorium at the Sage Center for the Arts.

Chesson will open the hourlong recital with Chopin’s “Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brilliante, op. 22.” The solo provides a prelude to Franz Schubert’s “Quintet in A Major, op. 114” — the “Trout Quintet.” Knecht and Blackham described the piece as “a lot of fun” with “interesting instrumentation.”

Performing alongside Hillsdale faculty is a husband and wife duo from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Weller is a professor of bass at Eastern Michigan University, and performs with several symphonies. Bittar-Weller plays violin with the Michigan Opera Theatre.

According to Knecht, recitals enable her and the other musicians to learn and challenge themselves in order to excel as teachers.

“We enjoy supplementing teaching with growth as musicians,” she said.

The quintet has been enjoying rehearsing for this recital and is eagerly anticipating Sunday’s performance.