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HANOVER, Ind. (December 2002)– Hanover College music
professors Madlen Batchvarova and Kimm Hollis will present
a free concert of music for two pianos at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday,
Dec. 12, at the Fitzgibbon Recital Hall on the college campus.
The concert is part of the Hanover College Community Artists’
Series, which has provided a variety of musical and dramatic
performances for the enjoyment of the Hanover-Madison community
since 1951.
Batchvarova is the conductor of the Concert Choir and Chamber
Singers at Hanover College, where she also teaches choral
conducting, private voice and integrated arts.
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, she is an accomplished musician with
a variety of credits to her name. Her impressive educational
background includes a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral
Conducting from the University of Alabama.
Batchvarova has also conducted and performed with choral ensembles
in the United States and abroad. She performed with the Atlanta
Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus who won a Grammy
Award for Best Choral Performance in 1998 under the direction
of Maestro Robert Shaw. She has been playing the piano since
she was five years old.
Hollis is the professor of music and Department Chair at Hanover
College. Hollis joined Hanover’s faculty in 1975. His
credits include a 14-year stint as the district chair of the
Southern Indiana Music Teachers Association, chair of the
state committee which compiled the piano solo list for Indiana
School of Music Association district and state contests, and
adjudicator for Indiana School of Music and Music Teachers
National Associations, National Guild and Federation.
In 2000, Millikin University, where Hollis graduated cum laude
and first in his music class, dedicated its new School of
Music computer-technology lab and applied faculty studio area
in his honor. Hollis has been piano concerto soloist with
the Hanover College-Community Orchestra, Decatur, Ill., and
Muncie, Ind. Symphonies and has recorded two compact discs.
He will leave Hanover College in January for a sabbatical
through August 2003.
Batchvarova and Hollis will collaborate, each playing a grand
piano, to perform the concert, which Hollis said will leave
people smiling and tapping their toes.
Some of the pieces were written specifically for two pianos,
while some were revised to fit the performance style. Hollis
said the program was described best by Batchvarova who called
it, “a dialogue between two pianos.”
The program includes a variety of musical genre from classical
to contemporary. Many familiar pieces, such as Dennee’s
“Tarantella, Op. 23 No. 4” and Infante’s “El
Vito” will be performed.
Additionally, in celebration of the holiday season, a classic
Christmas carol medley will be presented including such favorites
as “Joy to the World!,” “Silent Night,”
“Greensleeves” and “Hark! The Herald Angels
Sing.”
The concert will be the only performance showcasing college
faculty this season. Hollis said he hopes the concert will
draw the public and spur them to find out more about the college.
“It’s a great time for people to come out and see
the college and to find out what’s going on,” Hollis
said.
• For more information, call (812) 866-7185.
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