Heidelberg Keyboard Festival

A festival of recitals and masterclasses
October 23—31, 2009
Festival Directors: Dr. Pierre van der Westhuizen and Dr. Sophia Grobler

Featuring
Frank Heneghan
Dan Tepfer, American Pianist’s Association Jazz Fellow
Andreas Klein, The 2009 Montague Artist

Schedule of Events

All events are free and open to the public

Friday, October 23
7:00 pm Piano recital presented by Andreas Klein
Ohl Concert Hall

Saturday, October 24
10:00 am Masterclass for Heidelberg piano students
Ohl Concert Hall

Sunday, October 25
3:00 pm Organ recital presented by Joan McConnell
Trinity United Church of Christ

Monday, October 26
1:00 pm Lecture by guest professor Frank Heneghan
Brenneman Music Hall, room 249

Tuesday, October 27
3:30 pm Jazz Pianist Dan Tepfer presents a coaching session with the Heidelberg Jazz Ensemble
Ohl Concert Hall

8:15 pm Jazz Trio concert performed by Dan Tepfer and friends
Ohl Concert Hall

Thursday, October 29
11:00 am Masterclass for Heidelberg piano students, presented by guest professor Frank Heneghan
Ohl Concert Hall

Saturday, October 31
10:00 am Masterclass for non-Heidelberg students, presented by Dr. Pierre van der Westhuizen and Dr. Sophia Grobler
Ohl Concert Hall

3:00 pm Festival participant recital
Ohl Concert Hall

Monday, October 26—Thursday, October 29
TBA Guest Professor Frank Heneghan presents masterclasses and coachings for Heidleberg piano students. The classes are free and open to the public.
Ohl Concert Hall

Featured Musicians

Frank Heneghan
Frank Heneghan, highly respected as a clinician, teacher, lecturer, examiner and researcher, is the former director of the Dublin Institute of Technology, having managed its College of Music for 22 years. A founding member of the Irish branch of the 34-nation European Piano Teachers’ Association, he has served for 20 years as chairman of Feis Ceoil, the century-old National Music Festival of Ireland. Additionally, he is a council member of the European Music for Youth Competitions. A visiting professor and examiner at the Academic College of the Moscow State Tshaikowskyu Conservatory, he has adjudicated at international events in Belgium, Italy, Norway, Russia, Taiwan and the U.K., and has conducted master classes around the world. He is a researcher and pioneer in the philosophy of interpretation in music, having written extensively on issues of music education. His most concentrated interest is in the area of piano pedagogy.

Dan Tepfer

Born in Paris, Dan Tepfer is an award-winning jazz pianist and recording artist. Recent awards include being named the 2007–09 Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz. Tepfer received a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a master’s in jazz from the New England Conservatory in Boston. He has recorded several albums with The Dan Tepfer Trio, and has continued his solo career as a performer, composer and educator, giving lectures and master classes around the world, including the Royal Academy of Music in London and the SMU Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas. Dan currently resides in New York City, and has recently released his second album with the Dan Tepfer Trio, titled OXYGEN.

Andreas Klein
the 2009 Montague artist

Andreas Klein is an internationally acclaimed solo pianist whose music has been heard in venues around the world, including Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York City. He has also performed in Rome, Bern, Dresden and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Named the 2009 Montague Artist, Klein has appeared with the Berlin Symphony and Radio Symphony, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, and has toured with the Salzburg Chamber soloists twice, performing in San Diego, Salt Lake City and Thomasville. A graduate of The Julliard School, he is frequently heard on NPR’s “Performance Today.” His CD recordings include “Dancing Through Time” and “Beethoven and Berg.”

Joan McConnell

Joan Holder McConnell is a member of the adjunct faculty of Heidelberg University, where she teaches Music Theory, Aural Training, Organ, and Piano. She also serves the Music Department as one of the staff accompanists, working with student recitalists. Since returning to Ohio in 2000, she has been studying organ with Trudy Faber of Wittenberg University and performing an annual Faculty Artist recital. These programs are comprised mostly of newly learned material, often involve collaborative musicians, and always feature extensive program notes for the audience. Ms. McConnell has performed guest artist recitals in other venues, including First United Methodist Church, Mansfield, Ohio; St. Wendelin’s Church, Fostoria, Ohio; and Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago. In addition to her work at Heidelberg, Ms. McConnell is a church musician, serving Trinity United Church of Christ (Tiffin) as Organist and Music Coordinator.

Ms. McConnell earned her Master of Music degree in Organ Performance at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. She took her Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, spending one year at the Kirchenmusikschule in W. Berlin, Germany. Additional credentials include a Master of Arts degree in Theological Studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Westhuizen Duo
Pierre van der Westhuizen and Sophié Grobler, both natives of South Africa, are graduates of the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. They were the first piano duo ever to be accepted into the Artist Diploma program at CCM, where they studied with Frank Weinstock, and Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff. The Westhuizen Duo also graduated from the prestigious Cliburn/PianoTexas International Academy, and has received masterclasses from Emanuel Ax, Janos Starker, and James Tocco, among others. Their performances have taken them across the US and South Africa, with venues including the National Arts Festival (Grahamstown), the Volksblad Arts Festival (RSA), as well as a recent debut at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Michigan. They have been heard on WGTE, WCLV, WYSU, RSG Afrikaans Radio and ClassicFm, and in April 2008 they were featured at the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago, which was broadcast live on NPR and PBS Television. Another exciting project is a CD recording contract with Centaur Record Company to record all of Francis Poulenc’s works for two pianos and piano four-hands. Pierre and Sophié both serve on the faculty of Heidelberg College, as Assistant Professors of Piano.

See photos from last year's event

For more information, contact the Department of Music. Or, you may download the registration form and return it to

Department of Music
Heidelberg University
310 E. Market St.
Tiffin, OH 44883
419.448.2073