Master pianist performs to packed crowd

A full theater including young college students to older adults filed into the Bruce Owen Theater on March 2.

With the curtains drawn back and the piano front and center, the lights dimmed as all fell silent.

Master pianist Valery Kuleshov was set to play.

Clapping filled the room as Kuleshov entered. Bowing, he took his seat at the Steinway grand piano and began to play. The movement of the music drove emotion from his face and his finger tips danced as he worked along the keys.

A young woman, Luisa Mattynssens, sat in the third row listening intently until the intermission. The student at University of Central Oklahoma said she took a master class with Kuleshov, but did not know too much about him on a personal level.

“The performance is absolutely breathtaking,” she said. “Words cannot even describe it. I would recommend this performance to anyone.”

Originally from Russia, Kuleshov serves as an artist-in-residence at UCO. In his North American debut in 1993, Kuleshov won the silver medal at the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, according to his Web site. Kuleshov was named Honored Artist of the Russian Federation in 1997, by then Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

After the intermission Kuleshov took the stage once more. Again his fingers raced along the keys.

Towards the end of the performance, clapping to the rhythm of the music rang out as he began to play the vibrant song, “Islamey (Oriental Fantasy),” by Mily Balakirev.

With a final bow, he left the audience in awe.

A shy young student sat at the end of the first row gathered her things.

At first, Amanda Keesey, music major, said she couldn’t find the words to describe the performance, but finally did.

“I absolutely adored it,” Keesey said. “I am studying piano and this is truly inspirational to anyone who wants to be a pianist.”