The SUNY Fredonia School of Music announces the fifth annual Piano Experience on Sunday. The day-long event includes workshops, performances, master classes and more with Fredonia’s esteemed piano faculty.

This year’s Piano Experience welcomes the newest member of Fredonia’s piano faculty, Dr. Dimitri Novgorodsky.

Hailed by the press as a “breathtaking” and “stunning” pianist, Dmitri Novgorodsky was born to a musical family in Odessa, Ukraine. He began to play the piano at age five and was admitted into a special music school for gifted children a year later. By the age of 16, he had won the First Prize at the Kazakhstan National Piano Competition, and later the Gold Medal of the National Festival of the Arts. After graduating from the studio of Professor Victor Merzhanov at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with high honors, Novgorodsky immigrated to Israel in 1991.

Dr. Novgorodsky’s pedagogical experience includes more than 13 years of university teaching. His former students have continued their graduate studies at Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a piano faculty member at Grand Valley State University, University of Wisconsin, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. He joined the SUNY Fredonia School of Music as an Assistant Professor of Piano in Fall 2012.

“Piano Experience is a day created specifically for the young pianist,” Dr. Novgorodsky said. “We have designed activities to give students an opportunity to work in a nurturing and exciting atmosphere with our talented faculty, and we keep enrollment small to ensure each student gets individual attention throughout the day. It is our goal to provide opportunities for growth and inspiration for these young artists … and to demonstrate what a vibrant and welcoming community of musicians we are at Fredonia.”

Pre-registration is highly recommended and will be limited to the first 20 applicants. The registration fee is $30 and includes a full day of piano activities and lunch on campus. Details of the event and registration information are online at: www.fredonia.edu/music/community/piano.asp. A late fee will be applied for those registering after Feb. 21. Note: This event is free for teachers and parents (excludes lunch).

Fredonia’s esteemed piano studio faculty also includes: Fr. Sean Duggan (on leave 2013-14; will return Fall 2014), Phyllis East, Anne Kissel, Mary Cobb, Stijn De Cock and Brian Bogey (organ). Complete biographies for all faculty are online at: fredonia.edu/music/piano.asp.

Contact the SUNY Fredonia School of Music for more information: 673-3151 or music@fredonia.edu.