How do we share the joys of classical music with our young people? How can we open the doors to their imagination and help them to focus and listen? How do we touch their souls? Pianist Barbara Nissman believes in making music up close and personal. She invites all who listen to enter a magical world and experience personally the great composers of the past.

 

Joined by actors from the Greenbrier Valley Theatre, "Barbara & friends" introduces Franz Liszt, our very first pop star and the greatest pianist of all time to performers of all ages. This informal program combines great music with lively chat and also features some of Liszt's well-known friends: Chopin, Paganini, George Sand and Wagner.

 

Filmed at Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia, Liszt: the Elvis of the Keyboard  is a wonderful introduction to one of the most dazzling personalities to come out of the Romantic Age. A lively question and answer session with the young audience is also included. As bonus features Barbara performs and discusses Liszt's masterpiece, the Sonata in b minor, and compares his Db Consolation to Chopin's Db Nocturne, concluding with a rousing rendition of Liszt's dazzling Mephisto Waltz.

 

In 2008, the Greenbrier Valley Theater received an American Masters matching grant from the West Virginia Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts to produce an educational film for young people, created by pianist Barbara Nissman.  It is being distributed to all the schools and libraries in West Virginia.

 

In an age when arts education is facing numerous challenges, this DVD provides an entertaining and informative solution. Music lifts the spirit and touches the heart and soul and can be made accessible to all who listen.