Needing no rehearsal, pianist Kanae Matsumoto arrived at the Performing Art Building’s Mainstage ready to perform for Pierce College students, faculty and staff.
The afternoon concert series resumed Thursday, after a pause for spring break.
Matsumoto opened the concert with “Valses nobles et sentimentales” by Maurice Ravel, continuing with “Sonata Reminiscenza” by Russian composer Nikolai Medtner.
She ended the concert with “Chaconne” originally by J.S. Bach, which has also been performed by violinist Ferruccio Busoni.
After the concert Matsumoto admitted to always being nervous before any performance.
“What I try to convey [to the audience] when up on stage is the beauty of what I love, of what I’m passionate about, that’s my goal,” said Matsumoto.
This is her third performance at Pierce College but it is her first solo concert without a violinist.
Ryan Duncan, a 22-year-old kinesiology major, attended Matsumoto’s performance out of interest.
“I enjoyed it. I thought the pace was really good. She began the first piece slowly and then it picked up faster later on,” said Duncan.
Marco Troiani, a 20-year-old biology chemistry major, attended the concert for class credit. “The last piece was my favorite, it was drastically different from the first piece,” said Troiani.
Matsumoto was born in Japan and began her music education as a child. She attended University of California Los Angeles [UCLA].
She is currently teaching piano performances and collaborative piano at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Matsumoto often performs duets with violinist Jacques Israelievitch.
They recently collaborated on a recording of “French Violin Sonatas” by C. Debussy, M. Ravel, F. Poulenc and G. Pierné, which will be released later this year.