In Setnor Auditorium’s cathedral, a Steinway piano lay on the stage. Robert Weirich tilted his head back, and then let his right hand loose and began playing high octaves of Mozart’s “Rondo in A minor, K. 511.”

On Tuesday night, Weirich performed a piano concert at Setnor Auditorium, following his masterclass that he gave on Monday night to SU piano students. The performance was part of the Setnor Guest Artist Series.

The guest pianist taught music at Syracuse University in the ’90s, and he recently played at the Skaneateles Festival.

Among the audience was Cynthia Bromka-Skafidas, who works at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said that Weirich’s performance was brilliant.

Robert Weirich took the stage as a part of the Setnor Guest Artist Series Zarah Meyers | Contributing Photographer

Robert Weirich, a classical pianist and faculty member of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, plays pieces of music from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert on a black Steinway & Sons grand piano in Setnor Auditorium to a crowd of Syracuse University students, faculty members and local residents. While in New York, Weirich offered a master class on campus to help strengthen student’s pieces of music in Crouse Hall.

Weirich was met with an applause as he entered onto the shined wooden stage and began to play his rendition of Mozart’s “Rondo in A Minor, K. 511.”

When Weirich finished performing one of the classical pieces, he went off the stage to receive an applause from a crowd and then waited around a minute to head back on to repeat the cycle.

Claire Nolan, a junior in the College of Visual Performing Arts who attended the event, said, “He’s a really skilled pianist who knows what repertoire he’s playing and he’s done it for many years.”

Weirich said that it takes years to remember the pieces he plays, but the Mozart piece he learned recently compared to the other pieces he played at the concert.

As Weirich played a thick bass note during the first section of Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6” he lifted his hand up, allowing a chime to come out of the piano. Whenever one of the many movements from a piece finished, Weirich would lay his hands on his lap for a few seconds and sit at the piano while staring at the keys.

Silence fell throughout the performance of the concert. Other than Weirich’s piano keys, the only noises in the room were the occasional seat shift or cough.

After the intermission, the staff flickered the lights back off and Weirich went back to his routine and began Franz Schubert’s “Sonata in A major, D. 959” where he played among the octaves quickly for the over 40-minute piece.
After around a minute of applause from his Schubert rendition, the classical pianist strolled back to the stage for an encore.

“I’m going to do some 20th century French for a change,” he said, and then began staggering around on the piano playing Claude Debussy’s “Serenade of the Doll.”

As Weirich finished his last note, he received his final applause and leaned on the piano. He then walked off the stage and went by the entrance and mingled with audience members.

Published on October 24, 2019 at 9:58 am

Contact Christopher: cscargla@syr.edu | @chrisscargs