This Sunday night, Tampa Oratorio Singers are putting on a special benefit concert at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church in South Tampa.
The program is called, “Keeping It Keyboard,” because almost all the music in it is keyboard music.
And it may be the first time you can hear a recently discovered Chopin piece played live.
The manuscript was found in the vault of the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City and announced to the public in October.
Wade FitzGerald has a master's of music in organ performance from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. He's going to play the Chopin Waltz in A Minor.
“Oh, it's super exciting. I can't wait. I've heard some of it circulate on the internet, but, yeah, I'm pretty sure that this will probably be the first time most people in this area have heard it, definitely the first time they'll be hearing it in person,” he said.
FitzGerald said it's under a minute long. And he called it "technically, pretty easy" to play compared to other Chopin waltzes.
He thinks Chopin may have meant for it to be part of a larger work.
“The form is pretty different. Usually, his waltzes are pretty sectional, but this one's kind of an introduction, and then just an “A section,” and then everything repeats again. So, there's no sort of characteristic middle section. So that makes me think that it's either just a sketch of a longer piece that he intended to write or maybe even kind of a written out improvisation. As you know, all the pianists and composers of that day could improvise pretty fluently, unlike today.” FitzGerald said.
Frédéric Chopin lived in the early to mid-19th century and was known for his virtuosity as a pianist.
The Tampa Oratorio Singers will also feature music by local composer, Edwin Taylor. The group’s treasurer, Sheryl Hofmann, says Taylor writes church music.
“But in addition to composing that type of music, he also composes ragtime pieces. There could not be something more opposite of a church hymn than a ragtime piece. So, he straddles both worlds,” she said.
Music by Bach, Brahms and Liszt will also be played, with performances by Matt Estes and Theresa Brandt.
Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church is at 3501 W. San Jose St., across from Plant High School. Click here to find out more about the Tampa Oratorio Singers concert.
