For the majority of undergrad students, the academic school year  flows in installments. It is laid out in a constructed fashion, with midterms and finals each and every term. But for students of the piano studio of Professor Alexandre Dossin, they are preparing for an exam of sorts, and have been since this summer. @@http://www.uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Alexandre*Dossin@@
Dossin’s students will perform the complete series of all nine Prokofiev Sonatas, written by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev@@namechecked@@. Dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the composer’s death, the performances will take place March 5 and 7 in the Beall Concert Hall on the University campus.
Dossin, associate professor of piano performance and piano literature, has been at the University since 2006. That year, he put together a recital in honor of German composer Franz Liszt, and held the performance on his birthday, Oct. 22. @@checked@@
“After the Liszt performances, I started thinking what else could I do, and I always try to connect important dates of the composers with the performance dates,” Dossin said. “The death of Prokofiev was March 5, 1953. So this is the 60th anniversary of his death and I figured it would be a good date to aim for.”
Dossin’s students are responsible for memorizing and playing the pieces in his recitals, a feat which he said would not be possible without the members of his studio this year, as the Prokofiev Sonatas are extremely complex and difficult.
“I have a very talented studio this year, with 14 students from seven countries. They are doing well so far and are working very hard on the pieces to prepare,” Dossin said. “It takes a very skilled and accomplished student to play these pieces.”
One of Dossin’s students whom he recruited to the University to study is Ednaldo Borba, a 27-year-old doctoral student originally from Rio de Janiero, Brazil. @@http://www.uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Ednaldo*Borba@@
“I saw Dossin play in Virginia during my undergraduate study, and I saw how skilled he was,” Borba said. “I immediately wanted to join him in Oregon.”
According to Dossin, Borba is tasked with playing the most difficult Sonatas in the Prokofiev recital. Known as the “war Sonatas,” Sonatas 6, 7 and 8 were written by Prokofiev during World War II.
“They were written during a very traumatic time in Prokofiev’s life and Russian lives as well. So the pieces are powerful, complex and difficult. His part is about one-third of the entire recital. (Borba’s) arrival in Eugene actually prompted me to do the Prokofiev pieces because of his skill level,” Dossin said.
However, Borba isn’t intimidated by the pieces.
“Some say they are the hardest to play. But I think with practice and of course Dossin’s amazing teaching, I will play these well,” Borba said.
The students will continue to prepare for the March 5 and 7 recitals by practicing dozens of hours a week, including one-on-one sessions with Dossin and weekly practices in the recital hall.