Guest Roland Szentpáli highlights Jacobs School of Music Octubafest 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 11, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Brass Department will present "Octubafest 2012" beginning Thursday, Oct. 18, and running through Tuesday, Oct. 23. The annual series of performances on the tuba and the euphonium by students, faculty and guests is free and open to the public.
IU Press recently released "Mr. Tuba," a nearly 500-page book about the extraordinary career of IU Distinguished Professor Emeritus Harvey Phillips.
The Oct. 18 through 22 concerts, directed by Professor Daniel Perantoni, will all take place at 7 p.m. in Ford-Crawford Hall.
Highlighting the series is a concert by guest tubist Roland Szentpáli and pianist Piotr Wisniewski on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. in Auer Hall. Szentpáli is a prize-winning international tubist, composer and teacher.
Established in 1974 at Indiana University by now deceased Distinguished Professor Emeritus Harvey Phillips in honor of his teacher William Bell, the annual "Octubafest" has become a widely celebrated concert series, with multiple performances at universities and communities around the United States.
To celebrate the legacy of Harvey Phillips, IU Press recently released "Mr. Tuba," a nearly 500-page book about his extraordinary career -- from his Missouri childhood through his days as a performer with the King Brothers and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses, his training at the Juilliard School, a stint with the U.S. Army Field Band and his freelance days with the New York City Opera and Ballet.
About Roland Szentpáli
Roland Szentpáli was born in 1977 in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. He began playing the euphonium at the age of 12, moving on to the tuba in the following year under the guidance of Sandor Lukács.
He was a student at the Béla Bartok Academy in Budapest from 1991 to 1995, studying with Joseph Baszinka and Gábor Adamik. He continued his studies with Lászlò Szabò at the F. Liszt Academy. On the international scene, Szentpáli has attended courses held by Roger Bobo, Mel Culbertson, Manfred Hopper, and Sam Pilafian and has been the recipient of numerous scholarships for study abroad.
Among Szentpáli's successes in solo competitions, the most notable are his first prizes at the Lahti International Brass Competition in Finland (2001), the International Performer's Competition in Brno, Czech Republic (2000) and the International Tuba Competition in Cheju, Korea (2000). He was awarded second prize at the prestigious Markneukirchen International Tuba Competition in 2000 and has also been a prize winner at other competitions, including TubaMania (Australia, 1999) and the Geubwiller International Tuba Competition (France, 1998).
Szentpáli is also very active as a composer, having written many works for tuba, chamber ensemble and orchestra in a broad variety of styles. In February 1994, he performed his own Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra in Budapest for live television broadcast. His music has been played and recorded by the Hungarian Radio Orchestra and the Orchestra Hungarian Music Academy Béla Bartok. His last solo CD, "I Killed My Lips," includes four of his own compositions.
Apart from his busy solo and composition schedule, Szentpáli does freelance tuba work and plays in the National Radio and Television Youth Orchestra of Hungary. Always in great demand, he has given numerous master classes in the United States, Japan and many European countries.
