As assistant professor of piano Alexandre Dossin entered the room, the audience burst into applause and Dossin waved his hand and smiled.
Speaking softly, Dossin put on his microphone and said, “I don’t like microphones. The problem is I sing a lot when I play.” He paused with a smile and said, “I’m a very bad singer.”
The music filled the room and suddenly the mood of the audience changed. The energy and excitement permeating from the group ceased, and at once each pair of eyes was drawn to the man at the front of the room. As Dossin’s fingers flew over the piano keys, passion seemed to emanate through his fingertips and into the music.
The pieces Dossin performed during the concert seemed to be a reflection of his own personality. As the enraptured audience reveled in the waves of music traveling across the room, the music seemed to be a collection of contradicting sounds. There was a childlike aspect to it, an exotic feel, and a resonating tone that seemed to reverberate throughout the room. But the combination of all these parts somehow blended to create a soothing and compelling tone.
With a vaguely untraceable accent, Dossin launched into an explanation of his country and its music.
“What we have,” Dossin said, “is a huge country, whose first cultural identity is the native Brazilian, the Europeans and the African culture as a result of slavery.” With these ideas in mind, Dossin described the lives and works of Brazilian composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos and Ernesto Nazareth, whose music he performed. The fondness he felt for these composers as a result of their shared love of music was apparent.
Born and raised in Brazil, Dossin left his home country at the age of 18 for Moscow after winning a piano competition held by a Russian professor. Winning the competition, Dossin was enrolled in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
In 1989, when he arrived, Russia was still the Soviet Union and was controlled by the Communist Party, though it was in its declining period of “glasnost” or “openness”. Communism turned out to be in his favor, as the party fully supported the development of the arts and he was required to pay very little for his education.
“They never asked me for anything in return,” Dossin said. “There was never one word about politics. It was just about music.”
After graduating from the conservatory, Dossin attended the University of Texas at Austin and later taught at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette and University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Dossin is a recent addition to the School of Music and Dance.
Dossin’s concert on Jan. 31 was held by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), a University-affiliated, member-led organization for individuals 55 years of age and up. The OLLI was founded in 2003 to create opportunities for individuals who are sincerely interested in continuing to learn.
“I learned more than I thought I would,” said Joy Sinks, a visitor to the OLLI function.
“I enjoyed his performance very much,” said Flo Alvergue, an OLLI member. “I had heard of him, but not heard him play. He was a real treat.”