Eugene music lovers rejoice: For the first time, Eugene will be hosting a series of world class piano recitals on a permanent basis.
The Oregon Piano Institute held their first recital on Nov. 14, performed by Jon Nakamatsu. The performance was the first of three planned for this academic year. The institute was founded by UO piano professor Alexandre Dossin and his wife Maria Dossin as a way to bring world class pianists and piano education to Eugene.
“When my wife and I started the Oregon Ppiano Institute one of our goals was to finally develop a world class piano series in Eugene,” Alexandre said. “Eugene attracts lots of pianists through the Eugene Symphony and also sometimes through the university as visiting professors, but nothing that could be on a permanent and a rotating basis every year.”
Nakamatsu is the first visitor brought in by the institute. He is the 1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medal winner and the first American to win gold since 1981.
“Jon was the only candidate who was not a student of any conservatory. He was a public school teacher,” Alexandre said. He added that at the time, Nakamatsu was actually grading his students’ homework in between rounds of the competition.
The Oregon Piano Institute is its own independent organization, but support from the university has a great allure for visiting pianists. The university allows the institute to use the Beall Concert Hall as well as its grand pianos.
“One thing is that we have very high level quality instruments,” Alexandre said. “That’s something that I’ve been working very hard on since I came, to keep improving the quality. We are very fortunate we have three concert grand pianos on stage that are always available to play and they are the highest quality.”
Nakamatsu set the opening recital off with two slower pieces, occasionally breaking into a speed later compositions would show off in full. As the performance went on, Nakamatsu displayed more of his speed and precision in increasingly impressive pieces.
Nakamatsu said during his recital that the pieces he chose had a lyrical element to them and one of the great challenges imposed on pianists is trying to get their instrument to sing.
“It’s all smoke and mirrors for us,” Nakamatsu said. “Enjoy all the lyrical moments.”
In addition to performing his world-class recital, several pianists and students were able to attend a masterclass taught by Nakamatsu on Nov. 13. The upcoming performers will also be hosting their own masterclasses open to the public.
In the future the Oregon Piano Institute plans to hold competitions, which are expected to draw in talented pianists from around the world. Ruth Seeger, secretary of the institute, said she believes these competitions could be a musical meeting ground for pianists.
“I think of it kind of like what Hayward Field is now to the athletic program, it kind of becomes a meeting place for people,” Seeger said. “In the case of the institute, it’s more about piano performance and trying to identify upcoming performers, give them some visibility and have some friendly competitions.”
One of the other goals of the Oregon Piano Institute is to break into educational outreach.
“Right now, we’re really trying to target the middle and high school ages,” Seeger said. “That was really my interest for joining in, the aspect of trying to augment and enrich public schools with more music education.”
While the rest of these plans are still in the making, what is concrete is the upcoming performances. Antonio Pompa-Baldi will be the next performer on March 15, 2025, followed by Valery Kuleshov on May 28, 2025. More info can be found at the Oregon Piano Institute website.
