Janelle Phinney and Maira Liliestedt present a lecture-recital of Brahms’s emotionally-charged Hungarian Dances. Dr. Maira Liliestedt presents a lecture exploring the style hongrois featured in the dances and how Brahms' musical construction represents the fictionalized gypsy "other." The pair will then perform ten of the twenty-one dances.

The Appassionata Piano Duo has been a successful musical partnership since 1996. Critic Tom Wachunas described the duo’s playing as “a warm and deft joining of palpable grace with flawless, often fiery technique,” displaying a “riveting, lucid finesse alternately muscular and delicate.” The ensemble has also garnered praise for its “wonderful ensemble, balance, and unity of purpose,” and its “terrific collaboration full of grace and passion.” (Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff, Cincinnati Conservatory Professors of Piano Emeriti.)

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Maira Liliestedt was a prizewinner in numerous student competitions in her native Romania before moving to the United States in 1992. Liliestedt received a Bachelor of Music in piano from Bowling Green State University and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff.

Liliestedt has been a professor of music at the University of Mount Union, Northern Kentucky University, the College of Mount Saint Joseph, and in the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s evening program. She has been published in Clavier magazine and has served as panelist and presenter for the Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy conference. She has presented at local, district, and state conferences including the Ohio MTA and Texas MTA conventions. Her professional experience also includes masterclasses and chamber music coaching with James Tocco and Emanuel Ax.

An active pedagogue, Liliestedt maintains her instructional agility teaching students of various ages in her Keys to Artistry Piano Studio. She was a significant force behind the re-establishment of Solo con Tutti, the University of Mount Union/Alliance Symphony Orchestra concerto competition, and serves as the organizer of the event. She is an active adjudicator for festivals and competitions in the area and abroad.

As a pianist, Liliestedt has been a prizewinner in solo piano and collaborative competitions at the high school, collegiate, and graduate levels, and maintains a regular schedule of solo, chamber, and concerto performances. Her interpretations of the Liszt First Piano Concerto were received enthusiastically. She has presented solo and violin/piano recitals at many universities in the Midwest and abroad, as well as duo and solo concerto performances.

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Janelle Phinney is a staff accompanist and music theory instructor at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. Phinney received a Bachelor of Music in Music History from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Arts and Religion degree from the Yale University Institute for Sacred Music.

Phinney previously taught at the University of Mount Union and Malone University. She founded Sempre Piano School in Canton, Ohio, where she taught piano students of all ages. She has been an active member of pedagogical societies and adjudicated for numerous musical and theatrical competitions.

Phinney has been a prizewinner in solo piano and collaborative competitions at the high school and collegiate levels. She was a featured chamber musician in Prague at the Ameropa Institute, a studio accompanist for notable opera talent, Pasquale Pappano, and accompanist for Constance Chase from West Point Academy. She has accompanied for many professional singers and instrumentalists through the years. Currently, she can be seen in a variety of performance roles at Northwestern College and at her church in Orange City, as well as many venues throughout the country.

The NMM Live! Series is made possible by the USD Student Government Association and the South Dakota Arts Council through the Department of Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts.