East Aiken students meet pianist

Solo pianist Tzu-Feng Liu, a Taiwan native now living in New Mexico, has performed throughout the world.

On Friday, she discussed her career and performed for a group of fifth-graders at the East Aiken Elementary School of the Arts.

Liu described how she does a lot of Chopin works and also considers Bach one of her favorites.

"He was the father of music for many composers who came later," Liu said.

During a question-and-answer session, fifth-grader Logan Ford asked if she likes Beethoven, too, and Liu smiled with pleasure.

"Oh yes, very much," she said.

Logan has begun taking violin lessons with about 15 other students during East Aiken's after-school program. He has always liked gospel music, although "I never thought I'd like classical music. But it's good."

Liu came to Aiken for USC Aiken's Winter Nocturne Concert on Thursday night, sponsored by university donor Ben Cox for the second straight year. All proceeds went to the college's music department.

She also did outreach programs at USCA, meeting with music students and also providing master classes for a college student and two high school pianists. Liu visited with orchestra musicians at Aiken High School and the Davidson Fine Arts School in Augusta.

"It was really a treat," said Dr. Joel Scraper, vocal professor at USCA. "She has been very kind and very good with the students."

Megan Jensen, East Aiken's music teacher, readily agreed.

"We jump on any opportunity to expose the kids to any kind of art, whether it's music, visual arts or theater," she said. "Everybody has their own niche, and we have several music lovers in this class of fifth-graders."

Liu received a doctoral degree in musical arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008. She provided several forms of music for the East Aiken children. They included romantics works that make the piano sing, she said, as well as an atonal piece in the lower octaves in which Liu used the palms of her hands and even her elbows on the keys.

"Outreach is a great way to share experiences with the kids," she said. "If you really want to be a classical pianist or a classical singer or violinist, you have work hard, attend lots of concerts and go to summer camps."

In a press release, Cox said he and his wife have been impressed with past music programs at USCA and decided to take an active role in supporting the department. They previously had heard Liu perform at the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. They were so impressed that they invited her to visit Aiken.

"She is very captivating," Cox said. "You can see she feels the spirit in her music."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.