Joint piano master class will be held with University of Minnesota using new technology

This is Nariaki Sugiura, piano professor at the music department, together with Popplers Music, will host a joint piano master class Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. using Disklavier.

The remote master class will be held at Popplers Music, together with Paul Shaw’s piano studio at University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

The Disklavier system connects two pianos at different locations. Yamaha Corporation of America has been promoting this type of class for a while, and eventually we are interested in exploring this with other universities in Europe, Asia or South America.

The Disklavier is a grand piano that has the ability to connect to other grand pianos all over the world using the internet. The pianos are connected in such a way that when someone plays the piano at one location, the piano at the other location will play the exact same thing.

Each professor will present a student for the other to critique and instruct. This is the first time in North Dakota that an educational event like this will be taking place and opens an entire new world of collaborative educational possibilities.

The event is open to the public and admission is free.

— Nariaki Sugiura, UND Music