An Intimacy Like No Other

Valery Kuleshov. Photo courtesy Oregon Piano Institute.

There is no orchestra for support, nothing to divert attention from the performer and the music. It’s just the pianist and the Steinway on stage at Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon, and that’s how Alexandre Dossin wants it.

Dossin — a UO professor at the School of Music and Dance — and wife Maria Dossin co-founded the Oregon Piano Institute in 2024, and the first season of the Murdock International Piano Series ends May 28 with a varied recital from Russian pianist Valery Kuleshov.

“We have a beautiful Steinway, and I think Beall Hall is something special,” Dossin says, adding that while he enjoys listening to the Eugene Symphony Orchestra perform piano concertos with guest pianists, he feels the orchestra itself takes away from the main attraction — the pianist. “You don’t have that intimate relationship,” Dossin notes.

Kuleshov certainly will be commanding attention on stage in Wednesday’s recital. A gold medallist at the Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy (1987) and a silver medallist at the Ninth Van Cliburn International Competition (1993), he will play Robert Schumann’s Carnaval, the Ferruccio Busoni Chaconne as well as work by Sergei Rachmaninov. He will follow that with a rare performance of Valery Zhelobinsky’s challenging Six Etudes, Op. 19.

The inaugural season of OPI’s Murdock International Piano Series has been every bit of the success Dossin says he had hoped — and now, as word spreads about the recitals, he is looking for more.

“I think it came out better than I thought,” he notes. “The final goal is to make Beall Hall full.” — Dan Buckwalter

Oregon Piano Institute welcomes Valery Kuleshov for a recital 7:30 pm Wednesday, May 28, at Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon, 961 East 18th Avenue. Tickets are $5 to $10 for general admission, free for students with ID. Kuleshov will also offer a master class at noon Thursday, May 29, at Beall Hall.

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