MTSU’s School of Music continues its new Keyboard Artist Series Tuesday, Jan. 19, with a special free performance by School of Music professor Arunesh Nadgir in the university’s Wright Music Building.

Dr. Arunesh Nadgir

Nadgir’s 8 p.m. free public concert, the fourth in the series, will be conducted inside the Wright Building’s Hinton Music Hall.

The coordinator of keyboard studies for MTSU’s renowned School of Music will perform “Sonata in E major” by Joseph Haydn, “Kreisleriana” by Robert Schumann, “Rain Tree Sketch II“ by Toru Takemitsu and “Sonata No. 3 in F sharp minor” by Alexander Scriabin.

“The Haydn E major sonata is very charming and sweet,” Nadgir explained. “Although the second movement has a more inward character, the outer movements are very light and carefree.”

Calling the Schumann piece “one of the great monumental achievements of the Romantic period” and the Takemitsu composition “a hauntingly beautiful work,” the professor added that each movement of Scriabin’s sonata, which the musician titled “States of the Soul,” “provides a glimpse into the human spirit.”

Nadgir has performed as a solo pianist and chamber musician in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia, in venues that include the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and has participated in several international music events.

Nadgir, who’s taught piano students since he was 17, was a member of the faculties at the New England Conservatory Preparatory in Massachusetts, the Eastman School of Music in New York and the Palisades School of Music in New Jersey before joining MTSU’s School of Music.

He’s been featured in live broadcasts on Nashville’s public radio station, WPLN, and New York City’s flagship public radio station, WNYC, and his recent local performances have included concerts with the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra, the Stones River Chamber Players and the Grammy-nominated ALIAS Chamber Ensemble.

You can enjoy a preview of Nadgir’s Jan. 19 concert below. He performs Bach’s “Partita No. 3 in A minor, BWV 827: Fantasia, Allemande, Corrente” on the stage of Hinton Hall.

For more information on the new Keyboard Artist Series at MTSU, which features MTSU faculty and distinguished guest artists from around the world, visit www.mtsu.edu/music/keyboardseries.php.

For details on more MTSU School of Music concerts, call 615-898-2493 or visit the MTSU School of Music “Concert Calendar” link.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)