Dr. Brent Runnels plays and discusses the music of 19th-century American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. The American composer and pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk fused elements of music from nineteenth century Europe, America and the Caribbean into a unique musical mixture that laid the groundwork for ragtime and jazz. He drew inspiration from his Haitian heritage and his visits to the Caribbean Islands, was celebrated in the salons of Paris and was one of the earliest matinee idols in America. He is considered one of America’s first great musical stylists.
Brent Runnels is Director of Music at Oglethorpe University and Artistic Director of the OUMA Skylight Concert Series. Dr. Runnels has fashioned a broad and diverse musical career as a performer, arts administrator, educator and musical entrepreneur. Brent Runnels is Executive and Artistic Director of Jazz Orchestra Atlanta, a not-for-profit arts organization based in Atlanta that conducts summer jazz music camps and presents jazz performances. An International Steinway Artist, Runnels has won critical acclaim for his performances in the US, Europe, Australia and Russia as an orchestral and recital soloist, chamber musician, and jazz pianist.
This concert will be held in the Skylight Gallery of OUMA which is on the 3rd floor of Lowry Hall, above the Philip Weltner Library. Free for OUMA Members or with a Petrel Pass. Free for Students, Alumni, Faculty, and Staff of OU. General admission: $10. This event is part of the campus-wide celebration, Hispaniola: A Celebration of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The exhibition Hispaniola is on view in OUMA from September 30 through December 17, 2017
