DECATUR – Accomplished pianist Barton Andrew Moreau will perform works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and other artists for a program titled “Farewell to Youth” during a piano concert Monday at East Central Community College.

    The special presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Vickers Fine Arts Center auditorium. There is no charge for admission.

     Moreau explains his “Farewell to Youth” presentation:

     “The opening work, Mozart’s Sonata in D Major, K.311, represents youth in all its joy, ebullience and vitality. The themes often carry a distinctive symphonic or operatic character, and the music is triumphantly happy.

     “The following work, Beethoven’s ‘Tempest’ Sonata, is, by contrast, a dark night of the soul, evoking the struggle and torment of the man who was at this period writing the most consequential missive of his life – the famous Heiligenstadt Testament. The ultimately tragic end of this titanic work signals our ‘farewell’ to youth.

     “Frederic Chopin’s F-sharp Minor Polonaise is sometimes subtitled ‘Tragic,’ and not without reason. In many ways, the work feels like a ‘farewell to youth,’ music clearly from the pen of a man who is no longer naïve about the world nor entirely optimistic about the future. A landmark in the genre, Chopin transforms the trio section of the work into a lyrical and poignant Mazurka, which seems to look back fondly at a youth that was happy – a more innocent time. This piece is performed in honor of the composer’s 200th birthday, which was March 1.”

     Moreau will also perform works by Owen Middleton and Robert Muczynski.

     “Owen Middleton’s Childhood Scenes are from the pen of an adult man, still young but certainly no longer a child, looking back fondly, but not without irony, at the happiness and innocence of youth. Through five vignettes, with titles like ‘Under the Persimmon Tree’ and ‘Cornfield Chase,’ the composer takes us through scenes of his own youth in South Alabama.

     “Muczynski’s Dream Cycle suggests dark and at times disturbing dreams, and progresses like a sonata through four movements that flow in moderately fast, fast, slower and very fast, tempos. The ending suggests that the only cure for a bad dream is to wake up!”

     Moreau, a faculty member at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, made his orchestral debut at age 14 with the New England Youth Ensemble at a concert in New York City. He has since performed as a featured soloist with orchestras across the United States, including the New Orleans Symphony, Port City Symphony in Mobile, Gulf Coast Symphony in Biloxi, Northwest Florida Symphony in Niceville and Mesa Symphony in Mesa, Arizona.

     Moreau has collaborated with distinguished international artists, including clarinetists Robert Spring and Jorge Montilla, and oboist Andrea Ridilla. He has performed at a number of national and regional conferences, including the College Music Society (CMS) National and Pacific Northwest conferences, Montana-Idaho Clarinet Festivals and ClarinetFest in 2003.

     Recent performances include appearances with the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra and at the McCall Second Sunday Sounds Concert Series in Idaho. He also performs regularly with his wife, clarinetist Leslie Moreau, as part of the Moreau Duo.

     Moreau’s honors include a top prize at the Debose National Piano Competition and a collegiate artist award from the Alabama Music Teachers’ Association. He is also a recipient of the Theadore Presser Award. In 2007, he was a finalist at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference’s “Most Wanted Pianist” competition in Las Vegas.

     Moreau currently teaches piano, music theory and music literature courses as an adjunct faculty member at Boise State.

     He has also held teaching positions at Indiana University, Arizona State University and Scottsdale Community College.  

     Moreau’s parents are Henry and Sara Moreau of Decatur.

     For more information, contact Len Bobo, ECCC music keyboard instructor, (601) 635-6227 or call toll free, (877) 462-3222, ext. 227. The e-mail address is lbobo@eccc.edu.