The College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University will be hosting some of the top
pianists of the day in a series of lectures and master classes for students and community members alike.
Fortepianist Malcom Bilson will kick off the series on Monday, followed by Jeremy Denk on Feb. 14-16 and
Jerome Lowenthal on April 25 and 26.Bilson will present a lecture titled "Do We Really Know How to Read
Urtext Editions and What, if Anything, Do Instruments Have to Do with It?" from 12:30-2 p.m. Monday, in
Bryan Recital Hall for students and the public. The performance practice specialist will also coach BGSU
piano majors in a master class from 2-4 p.m. All events are free.Bilson, who transports his own fortepianos
(a forerunner of the modern piano) to performances in his station wagon, has recorded the three most
important complete cycles of works for piano by Mozart: the piano concertos, the piano-violin sonatas and
the solo piano sonatas; Schubert’s incomplete sonatas on piano; and Haydn’s sonatas – all within the last
decade.He taught for many years at Cornell University, and is an adjunct professor of the Eastman School of
Music in Rochester, N.Y., and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary.Prior to a 2007 visit to BGSU,
Bilson told the Sentinel-Tribune that his interest in the variety of pianos came in his teenage years. He
noticed when he went from a Steinway piano to a Bechstein instrumet, the sound was different, and it
required a different approach.In 1970 when he learned that pianos like those Mozart played were being
manufactured, he ordered one.His passion is to get the sound closest to what the composer, of any era,
heard. That includes not just playing the appropriate instrument, but also interpreting the score . He
believes many performers misinterpret the notations even when using scores that replicate the composer’s
original manuscript.Denk will visit campus as the featured guest artist of the David D. Dubois Piano
Competition and Festivala nd perform Festival Series concert Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall.Recently
named a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" recipient and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist
of the Year, Denk’s career is on fire. Unique for its pairing of late Beethoven with Ligeti ?©tudes, Denk’s
debut CD for Nonesuch Records was named by The New Yorker magazine, the Washington Post and National Public
Radio as one of the best of 2012, and his collaborative album with violinist Joshua Bell, "French
Impressions," recently won the 2012 Echo Klassik award."One of his generation’s most eloquent and
thoughtful interpreters," according to The New York Times, Denk has recently signed a book contract
with Random House based on his article "Every Good Boy Does Fine." His blog, "think
denk," a repository of his touring and performing experiences and practice methods, will be included in
the Library of Congress Web Archives.Denk will work with pre-college and college pianists in a master class
from Feb. 14, 2:30-5:30 p.m. and judge the final round of the Dubois Competition on Feb.16.Rounding out the
series, Jerome Lowenthal, an 18-year veteran of the keyboard faculty at the Julliard School, will visit
campus on April 25 and 26. Born in 1932, Lowenthal continually wows his audiences with youthful intensity
and eloquence born of his life experience.Originally from Philadelphia, he studied piano with legendary
pianists William Kappell, Edward Steuerman, and Alfred Cortot. After winning international competitions in
Bolzano, Darmstadt and Brussels, he moved to Jerusalem for three years to play, teach and lecture. In 1963
he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic playing Bartok’s Concerto No. 2.Recently he recorded the
complete "Ann?©es de Pelerinage" of Liszt.