International concert pianist and SUNY Oswego music faculty member Robert Auler will pay tribute to classical and jazz greats in a recital titled “Outtakes.”
International concert pianist and SUNY Oswego music faculty member Robert Auler will pay tribute to classical and jazz greats in a recital titled “Outtakes” at 3 p.m. Sunday Nov. 15 in Sheldon Hall ballroom.
The Focus on Faculty Series performance will feature classical pieces of Mendelssohn, Haydn and Mozart, interspersed with transcriptions of the works of such jazz luminaries as Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans. Auler said his work would suggest that “great music is great music—regardless of categorization.”
The repertoire will include Mendelssohn’s ” Variations sérieuses,” Haydn’s “Andante with Variations in F minor” and Mozart’s “Variations on a Theme by Gluck, K. 455.”
“Each of these pieces features a theme, and then variations or outtakes on that theme—written down and preserved for future generations of pianists,” Auler said.
The pianist also will intermingle transcriptions of Evans’ “Here’s that Rainy Day” and “I Loves You Porgy,” Keith Jarrett’s “Someone to Watch over Me” and “Over the Rainbow” and Hancock’s “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “My Funny Valentine.”
“I am re-creating existing performances, faithfully interpreting the notes that these great jazz pianists/composers ‘wrote’ on stage,” Auler said. “In these cases also, there is a theme—in this case the ‘tune’ itself—followed by variations or outtakes.”
Auler added, “I am stunned by how many musical similarities there are in these compositions. Whether under the classical umbrella or the jazz umbrella, the fact remains that it is the same piano, the same musical system, and the same amount of genius/inspiration/hard work that these composers exhibited.”
Tickets for this or any Focus on Faculty concert are $8 ($5 for SUNY Oswego students), available at the college’s box offices, online at tickets.oswego.edu or by calling 315-312-2141. Parking is included in the price of a ticket, and is available in employee and commuter lots adjacent to and across Washington Boulevard from Sheldon Hall. People with disabilities needing assistance should called 315-312-2141 in advance of the recital.
For more information on SUNY Oswego fine arts performances and exhibitions, visit oswego.edu/arts.