Concert features World-renown Piano Teacher and Student
The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) will present the last session of its new Winter Concert Series on Sunday, April 29, at 1 p.m. in the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. Pianist Dr. Tinka Knopf de Esteban and her student, Junyi Wang Fitzgibbon, will perform a wide selection of beloved piano classics.
A thirteenth-generation Nantucketer, teacher, and published author, Dr. Knopf received her B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. She also received a diploma in piano from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Knopf will be performing works by Prohens and Chopin.
Knopf was a member of the piano faculty and associate dean of the Peabody Conservatory for many years and taught two national Baldwin winners in piano, as well as a national runner-up. One of her students won the Premiere Prix de Paris, and others have made their debut at Little Carnegie Hall. Dr. Knopf is an advisor to the board of the NCMC, and is presently serving as a pedagogical consultant to the Conservatori in Mallorca, Spain, where a number of years ago she and her husband established the Julio Esteban Library.
“Tinka has been such a strong supporter of our new concert series, we are honored she will be performing at our final concert,” said NHA executive director Bill Tramposch. “We are equally delighted that one of her current students will also be performing.”
Fitzgibbon arrived on Nantucket one year ago from Shenzhen, China, where she was a student in a conservatory school of music. An honor student in the 7th grade, she started playing the piano at age four. She’s been studying with Knopf since last May, and has already performed at the Unitarian Church. During this concert she will be playing the Bach prelude and Fugue in D Major, the Beethoven Moonlight Sonata complete, a Chopin nocturne, and a short work by Villa-Lobos.
Previous concerts have been very well attended, so please come early and join us in our “community living room” on April 29 at 1 P.M. 13 Broad Street. General admission $15., free for NHA members, or with museum admission. This program is supported in part by a grant from the M. S. Worthington Foundation.
In addition to this special Daffodil Festival Weekend concert, the Nantucket Historical Association is also offering extended spring hours. Beginning on Thursday, April 26, the Nantucket Whaling Museum at 13 Broad Street will be open from Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Museum Shop will open for the 2007 season on Saturday, April 28.
The NHA Research Library at 7 Fair Street is open Monday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The NHA will open its other historic properties and houses for the season on May 17, and their walking tours will begin on May 15.
