Jessie Ning, a junior at Rhode Island School of Design, and four of her piano students performed classical piano works at a recital Sunday afternoon in Grant Recital Hall. The program for the recital, entitled "Our Piano," prominently featured music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Ning - a pupil of Arlene Cole, adjunct lecturer in music at Brown - studies graphic design. Her vision for the afternoon was all-encompassing, including her self-made dress and handmade programs - all in hues of black and gold with hints of silver that matched the Steinway and Sons grand concert piano on which she played.
Ning said she has historically been a lover of the Romantic period in classical music, which displays pronounced expressions of emotion. With the exception of Franz Liszt, composers from this time were conspicuously absent from her program. Ning said her inspiration for the selection of pieces had been to explore the music of the two periods immediately preceding Romanticism - Baroque and Classical - whose main figures were Bach and Mozart, respectively. Despite the lesser emotional content, she has found playing their music to be rewarding as well, she said.
Preceding Ning were the performances of her four students - Aunjoli Das, a student in the fifth grade at Moses Brown, Xinghui Zhong PhD '12, Luis Castillo '15 and Dulma Altan '14.
Ten-year-old Das began the afternoon with Bach's Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F major, BWV 779, as well as Friedrich Kuhlau's Sonatina in C major, Op. 55 No. 3. Both were shorter pieces, played impeccably by Das. Zhong followed, performing a traditional Chinese tune entitled "Butterfly Lovers." The music was gentle and invoked the ephemeral stay of a butterfly upon a flower petal.
Castillo then played Frederic Chopin's Waltz in A minor and Felix Mendelssohn's "Venezianisches Gondellied No.3." Altan concluded the students' performances with Robert Schumann's "Traumerei" from his collection "Kinderszenen" (meaning, "Scenes from Childhood,") as well as Ludwig van Beethoven's waltz, "Le Desir." She described the pieces as "exceptionally pretty" and did justice to their emotional richness.
Ning began with the Fantasia and Fugue in A minor by Bach, the master of writing music that could be more easily played by someone with three arms. The Fantasia was an unusually laid back piece by Bach standards. The Fugue was far more intricate, with the pianist's hands always trading off rhythm and lead parts, the music in constant motion.
Next Ning played the entirety of Mozart's final piano sonata, the Sonata in D major, K. 576. This was a highlight of the show, as Ning effortlessly went through Mozart's never-ending scale runs and finger acrobatics. As can usually be predicted, Mozart's music was the most joyful of the afternoon.
After a brief exit from the stage, Ning returned to perform Liszt's "Sonetto 104 del Petrarca" and Wanghua Chu's "Xinjiang Capriccio." At this point, audience members could recognize a young woman who had put in her time studying the more academic work of Bach and Mozart and was now ready to have her fun. Liszt's Sonetto was nearly perfect, walking the line between art and virtuosity, as Liszt's music often does. Chu's music was intense, with rare moments of classical melodicism. Ning's hands ran up and down the keyboard, and she was often playing the highest notes with her right hand and pounding the lowest with her left.
Ning's performance was a pleasure to see and to hear - a panoramic view of the talent of a graphic designer and pianist of over 16 years.
