Unique piano festival coming to SJU Oct. 18

It took Amy Grinsteiner almost 10 years to appreciate the contribution Dennis Alexander made to her career as a pianist and educator.

"He's a fabulous teacher," said Grinsteiner, assistant professor of music at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. "I didn't realize just how fabulous he is until I was in my 20s. I had gone to see him do a workshop, and I saw him working with teachers, and you connect. You realize, 'This is why I'm a musician, because I had that kind of teaching for nine years.' He was like a light bulb for me."

Alexander, as well as Grinsteiner and other members of the music faculty at CSB and SJU, will pass that on to youth ages 10-18 during the Dennis Alexander Piano Festival and Competition Oct. 18 at the Stephen B. Humphrey building, SJU.

It's a unique event for several reasons, according to both Grinsteiner and Ed Turley, professor of music at CSB and SJU. Both worked for nearly a year coordinating the festival.

"It's specific to the piano," Turley said. "Most schools have choral and instrumental programs. But with piano, it tends to be much more your lessons with your private teacher, and then annual or biannual recital events. We really don't have the many public occasions in piano as you do with the other areas.

"You're looking at a multi-dimensional, or multi-activity festival, here," Turley said.

Grinsteiner, who took private lessons from Alexander for nine years while growing up in Montana, has been thinking about holding a festival like this for five or six years. After arriving in 2012 at CSB and SJJU, she centered her quest on doing something locally.

"A lot of times, the performances of students of Minnesota are kind of held behind closed doors for a judge," Grinsteiner said. "Here, even the parents will get to see the performances. We're really trying to get families involved here, to see piano on a bigger stage. They go out for every other event - why not piano? Let the parents see what all those lessons are doing."

Alexander is a logical choice. Since his affiliation with Alfred Publishing Company in 1986 as a composer and clinician, he has earned a reputation as one of North America's most prolific and popular composers. He taught at the University of Montana for 24 years, and, upon his retirement from that position, taught privately in addition to serving on the faculties of Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge. Alexander has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, and remains active as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician.

He is also making a return trip to CSB and SJU. In October 2013, he conducted a clinic for teachers and students at CSB.

The festival includes a traditional competitive component, with three skill levels. Monetary awards will be presented to first-, second- and third-place performers, with written comments from the judges. In addition, the competition winners perform a recital at 7 p.m. at the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater.

A duet workshop and a repertoire workshop will also be held concurrently with the piano competition.

In the duet workshop, a student will be paired with a CSB or SJU student from the Piano Pedagogy class. The teams will rehearse and prepare their duets during the workshop in preparation for an informal performance for the other students, private piano teachers and parents.

The repertoire workshop will offer youth the chance to receive feedback on a piece of music they are working on. Participating faculty from CSB and SJU will lead this workshop.

"We'll have an open door policy, where in-between performances, students can float in and out and observe," Grinsteiner said.

To cap the festival, Alexander will conduct a 30-minute performance and composition demonstration for the youth, teachers and parents, highlighting some of his favorite compositions. The session in intended to be interactive.

This activity is made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Grinsteiner and Turley worked with the CSB External Grants staff to develop their proposal to the CMBA. Additional funding was provided from Alfred Publishing Company.