Going deeper: Concert explores the emotional depths of Chopin

Go inside the music as Opus OP Arts and Education Projects delves into the work of Frédéric Chopin.

“We’re just going to take one piece by Chopin (Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22), and we’re going to spend a lot of time with it,” Oliver Prezant, executive and artistic director of Opus OP Arts and Education Projects, said.

Prezant said the concert is an extraordinary experience because it gives the audience a chance to hear the music, then explore how they feel about it.

“Here you have a chance to explore and you have a chance to give feedback to the performer,” Prezant said.

He said his role is to lead the audience deeper into the music by pointing out aspects, exploring different approaches and facilitating a connection between them and pianist Natasha Stojanovska.

“She really makes the music come alive,” Prezant said, “and she loves to relate to the audience.”

No matter if the audience is new to classical music or has been a fan for a long time, they will find something in this concert, he said.

“We’re going to give people a chance to explore their own feelings, as well as the feelings of the performer,” Prezant said, “and then they’re going to get a chance to really listen to what the composer is doing with the music.”

He said Chopin made the piano into a lyrical and expressive instrument and the concert is an opportunity to sit with the piece and develop a feeling for the structure of the music.

“This is an opportunity to go deeper, because you rarely get the time to luxuriate one little bit of music and explore it in several different ways,” Prezant said.

“We’re not moving on, we’re going deeper.”

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.