Local Contact: For more information and Zoom access please contact Rosanne Smith.
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Dr. Matt Cooper[expand title=”Read Presenter Bio” swaptitle=” “]Dr. Matt Cooper is a Professor Emeritus of Music at Eastern Oregon University, where he was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Teaching Faculty award, retiring after a 31-year-college-teaching career. He served as OMTA President from 2000 to 2002, during which time he traveled to Khabarovsk, Russia as part of the “Music Without Borders” exchange program, leading to two additional invitations to perform in Khabarovsk in 2002 and 2004.
Dr. Cooper earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has done extensive study in the Taubman approach at the Golandsky Institute and Princeton University, and has studied Tango music in Buenos Aires. A former prizewinner in the Thelonious Monk and Great American Jazz Piano competitions, he is the author of “Duke Ellington: A Study in Styles.”
Dr. Cooper has adjudicated many piano festivals and competitions and has performed numerous solo recitals, chamber recitals, and concerto appearances throughout the Northwest. He has recorded four jazz and classical CDs and is in frequent demand throughout the Northwest as a performer, adjudicator, clinician and presenter.[/expand]

Program Description: Dr. Cooper will present a journey[expand title=”Read More” swaptitle=” “]through Scarlatti’s 160 harpsichord sonatas published by G. Schirmer, with an eye toward successful performance at the piano. Includes historical background, live playing of examples of numerous representative and more-accessible sonatas, and discussion of interpretation and performance practice.[/expand]