NMU to host virtuoso pianist
Internationally renowned Italian pianist Gloria Campaner – recently appointed adjunct professor at Nelson Mandela University – will visit the campus this month to perform and lecture.
Campaner will visit the university from February 19 to 25 and give her inaugural lecture on Wednesday February 20 from 1pm to 2pm in the NMU South Campus auditorium.
Campaner has played for the PE Music Society as well as with the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in the past.
Her lecture will be on Chopin Preludes Op 28 and Campaner will perform this work, among other items, on the same night at 7pm in the same auditorium.
The lecture and performance are both free.
An adjunct professor is appointed by the university for a five-year period.
“It is a very prestigious position and such a person is appointed for their exceptional expertise in their field.
“She will visit us twice a year for the next five years,” PE Music Society chair Dr Erika Bothma said.
The 33-year-old classical pianist has a repertoire which spans from Bach to modern, contemporary composers.
Her performances place her side by side with jazz and folk musicians as well as ballet, choreographers, modern dancers, visual artists, actors, DJs and electronic producers, making her an eclectic and versatile pianist.
Campaner has received more than 20 national and international first prizes and since her debut at age 12 with the Venice Symphony Orchestra, her career as a soloist and chamber musician has led her to prestigious festivals all over the world. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in the US in 2010 and since then has gained world-wide recognition, giving her position at NMU an international status.
Recent highlights listed on her website include tours around the world to the US, Europe, China, Japan, SA, the Middle East, Latin America, India, Rapa Nui – Easter Island, and even Myanmar, where she performed for a charity event in one of the first public concerts after the end of the national dictatorship.
Dating back to her high school days in a rock band, Campaner has always explored new artistic horizons, leading to collaborations with worldrenowned jazz pianists and also dance choreographers.
Her debut CD Piano Poems of solo piano works by Schumann and Rachmaninov was released in 2013 by EMI, and an orchestral CD was released in 2017 by Warner Classics containing her live concert debut, followed by her latest album Home, released in November 2018.
In 2016, together with DJ and producer Francesco Leali and poli-instrumentalist Alessandro Branca, she founded the electronic group OPUS3 000 with whom she released a new LP called Benevolence in 2017. In Italy, she’s a regular guest artist in the main festivals and concert institutions but she travels around the world with her music.