Dr. Elizabeth Grimpo shares piano talent as part of the 500th Reformation Anniversary Celebration

Published by Concordia University, Nebraska 7 years ago on Fri, Oct 21, 2016 9:16 AM
Concordia’s Associate Professor of Music, Dr. Elizabeth Grimpo, will be featured in a recital on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016, at 3 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Music Center on campus.

Dr. Elizabeth Grimpo will be performing a recital in conjunction with the 500th Reformation Anniversary Celebration at 3 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2016, in the Music Center’s Recital Hall on campus. 

Dr. Grimpo is associate professor of music at Concordia University, Nebraska, teaching Aural Skills I, II, III, and IV, Music Appreciation, and private piano lessons. Additionally, she has performed collaborative recitals with many accomplished instrumentalists and has appeared with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra as the substitute pianist.

Her recital is part of the 500th Reformation Anniversary Celebration. Grimpo will be performing a work called “Das Jahr”, which is a piano cycle consisting of 12 pieces, one for each month of the year. The piece has a Lutheran connection in that it incorporates the Easter hymn “Christ ist erstanden” (Christ is Arisen) in March, and the Christmas hymn “Vom Himmel hoch” (From Heaven Above) in December. It is a beautiful, expressive piano cycle and represents the fact that God graciously brings us through each year.

“Throughout my preparation for this recital, I have come to the realization that this entire work is a beautiful representation of Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” said Dr. Elizabeth Grimpo. “Though our lives certainly have ups and downs, as the music of the 12 months suggest, Jesus Christ is the constant. Because of this, a performance of “Das Jahr” seems to be a fitting way to start the year-long celebration of the 500th Reformation Anniversary.”

Grimpo graduated from Concordia University, Chicago, magna cum laude, in 1999. She went on to earn a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts, both from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). During her time as a student at UNL, she studied piano with Paul Barnes, organ with Quentin Faulkner and piano pedagogy with Joan Riest. In 2006, she won the graduate concerto competition, earning the opportunity to perform the first movement of Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto with the UNL Symphony Orchestra.

Additional information about the 500th Reformation Anniversary and Dr. Elizabeth Grimpo’s recital is available online at reformation.cune.edu.