Vardan Mamikonian is one of eight artists that will be featured
throughout the school year in the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard
Concerts. Mamikonian will perform first on Sunday, Sept. 18.
Photo Courtesy of Andreas Werz

It has been 40 years since the Keyboard Concerts were founded by the late German-American pianist and professor, Philip Lorenz.

These concerts of world-class pianists begin on Sept. 18 with Vardan Mamikonian as the first performer and will continue into the beginning of May 2012. Each performing pianist will honor the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt, and play a piece by this 19th-century pianist, conductor and teacher.

“There must be some sort of a deep secret that brings the world’s best pianists to Fresno,” Kristina Herrick, a member of the board of directors, said. “After all, we are not an important metropolitan city in the big picture. We are very fortunate to have this extraordinary series here.”

Lorenz was appointed professor of piano here at Fresno State shortly after he arrived in Fresno from the East Coast in 1969.

Prior to his arrival, Lorenz had a number of tours and performances through the United States, Europe, South America and the Far East. Lorenz’s accomplishments include a broadcast he did for the Chopin and Schumann centennials in Munich and Stuttgart, Germany. In addition, he had served as assistant to Claudio Arrau, a world-renowned keyboard master, in master classes worldwide.

His accomplishments did not end there. With the establishment of the Keyboard Concerts, Lorenz was able to create an ongoing world-class performing pianist series.

By 1990, the concert series formed a board of directors and the organization received nonprofit status.

Professor Lorenz passed away shortly after in 1992 and the president and art director Andreas Werz then became his successor when he was appointed by the board of directors.

The series was renamed the “Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts” in honor of its founder and director for 20 years. In 1992, the series moved to the concert hall in the music building here at Fresno State where students only have to pay $5 for admission to performances of world-class pianists.

Werz himself was a student under Philip Lorenz and came to study here so he could learn and follow the philosophy of Claudio Arrau, who Lorenz had worked closely with. Werz said that no other sister campuses have this opportunity to see performances of this class at a fraction of the price someone would pay to see these pianists in a bigger market like San Francisco or Los Angeles. These concerts also give the students an opportunity to meet the artists after the performances and attend master classes.

Mark Gutierrez, a current music performance graduate student, believes the concert is one of the “best in the west.”

“To have a concert like this is a privilege,” Gutierrez said, who has been able to attend at least six master classes since his time here at Fresno State.