Pianist’s recital right on key

Ian Altman played the piano for the audience in Max Noah Recital Hall last Monday night. He played a variety of music including various sonatas as well as pieces from Chopin. A dynamic range from pianissimo to fortissimo was represented and a smooth legato was heard as well as many fast staccato passages.

“I was very impressed by his hands. He moves so fast, and his dynamics are great. He’s very precise, and he’s a very good performer. I am a pianist and I play a lot of chopin like he did but nothing that hard,” said Heidi Jackson, sophomore exercise science major.

Altman made no reservations in showcasing his talents and students responded accordingly.

“It was really good, I really enjoyed it. The music was really fluid and how he memorized the music was just amazing. I’m a ballet dancer and so I connect more with the soft parts instead of the abrupt tempo changes,” said Crescense O’Neil, sophomore athletic training major.

Dr. Greg Pepetone teaches both Gothic Imagination and piano classes at GCSU. He organized this event and brought Altman to perform here.

“I met him when we were both asked to judicate a high school piano event, and that was shortly after I arrived here,” said Pepetone. “We introduced each other and had lunch together and started exchanging views and very quickly the idea came up that perhaps we should exchange concerts as well.”

Altman primarily works as a piano instructor at Mercer, but also travels around the country performing concerts. Pepetone played a concert last year at Mercer, and Altman came to GCSU to return the favor.

“Whatever you do in music the first thing you have to have is a good ear, and then you have to have a physical knack for whatever instrument you want to be proficient at,” said Altman. “I just happen to have a physical knack for playing the piano.”
Altman started playing at a young age and quickly grew to be a talented and recognized musician.

“I was always drawn to it, (when) I was 6 years old, my mother took me to hear Arthur Rubinstein and I almost went nuts,” said Altman. “They couldn’t keep me quiet in my seat, I was jumping up and down. I was so excited. The piano has always been an integral part of me.”

His musical taste developed as he began to find some types of music to be more enjoyable than others. Altman performed one of his favorite artists for GCSU students and guests.

“I have a very wide interest, but I always come back to Chopin,” said Altman. “He taught the piano to sing like no other. Liszt taught it to belch fire, as you might have heard tonight, but Chopin taught it to sing.”

His talents and abilities were well received and the audience had an overwhelming positive reaction to the music.

“His technique is absolutely incredible,” said Tyler Allen, music education major. “The different color and timbre that he is able to create is quite incredible.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 13 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry