ObserverToday.com: Dr. William Chapman Nyaho is special guest in SUNY Fredonia's Piano Festival Session April 12, 2021; free online registration required for Zoom links

Dr. William Chapman Nyaho

Observer

April 11, 2021

A series of virtual experiences celebrating the lives and works of underrepresented composers will be showcased at the State University at Fredonia School of Music’s second annual Robert Jordan Piano Festival during April.

Named in the memory of Professor Emeritus Robert Jordan, who taught at the School of Music from 1980 to 2004, the festival will feature solo and collaborative piano music written by diverse/underrepresented composers, including women, African Americans and members of the LGTBQ community.

All festival events will be virtual and free to the public, but online registration is required to receive Zoom links. The registration link is docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMjTpQFmbt0AnjHzgRp3y9kxcTxgmQW638LwZxfOuvfkX4Kw/viewform

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Special guest William Chapman Nyaho will be featured in the festival’s first session, “In and Out of Africa: Exploring Piano Music of Africa and its Diaspora,” on Monday, April 12, at 7 p.m. Dr. Nyaho, who teaches at Pacific Lutheran University, will discuss the diversity of styles of piano music, the influences of traditional musical forms, such as dance, jazz and blues, as well as Western European compositional practices on compositions in Africa and African diaspora.

Fr. Sean Duggan, SUNY Fredonia School of Music professor, said he considers Nyaho, who he knew when both were living in Louisiana, to be a wonderful pianist and musician who has been doing the musical world a great service by bringing together wonderful piano compositions by various underrepresented composers.

“His excellent five-volume anthology published by Oxford University Press, ‘Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora,’ is going to be a featured part of his presentation in our festival,” said Duggan, coordinator of the Piano Area.