Alina Kiryayeva, a concert pianist, will be performing pieces from Twilight and Looney Tunes in her concert Tuesday at Ohio University's southern campus.
Unlike most of the world, renowned concert pianist Alina Kiryayeva said she believes classical music isn’t dying.
In fact, “it’s moving and much more diverse,” she said.
The award-winning concert pianist is an alumna from the Juilliard School and will be performing a free concert titled Moving Pictures at 7:30 p.m., on Ohio University’s southern campus in Ironton, Ohio in the Riffe Center Mains Rotunda.
Kiryayeva said she grew up in a family of musicians and started playing the piano at the age of four.
“(My favorite part about performing is) the connection. It is very interesting to play for people and feel their reactions,” Kiryayeva, who received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in piano performance, said.
Kiryayeva said she grew up in Ukraine and came to the United States specifically for the Juilliard School when she was 19 years old. Since she graduated, she has performed mostly in the United States and sometimes in Canada, she added.
She has performed in Ohio before. She said while driving through the region, she contacted as many people in the area as possible, including Patrick McCoy, the community concert coordinator for OU Southern.
“When Alina was performing a couple years ago in northern Ohio, I think a conversation came up about other venues to perform at. My name came up in that conversation,” McCoy, who is also the senior lecturer in fine arts, said.
OU Southern planned to have Kiryayeva this past March, but plans fell through last minute, he added. Kiryayeva contacted him during the summer and rescheduled.
“(It wasn’t a difficult process) because she was doing her own booking, so that made it easier,” McCoy said.
Kiryayeva said she will be performing classical music from different romantic movies and classic cartoons. Music selections were chosen from movies such as Twilight and Interview with the Vampire, along with music from Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes, she said.
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Regarding her choice of music, Kiryayeva said she wanted teenagers to find it interesting, so she chose something that would “connect to their life.”
McCoy called Kiryayeva a “five-star recruit” and said anyone able to come should seize the opportunity to do so.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have someone of that caliber and status,” he said.
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