Skip to content

Pianist ready to wow crowd

When it comes to tickling the ivories, a Sundre classical pianist has an expansive repertoire to choose from.
Charles Foreman, an international performer, recording artist and University of Calgary professor, will perform at the Okotoks United Church March 26 at 3 p.m.
Charles Foreman, an international performer, recording artist and University of Calgary professor, will perform at the Okotoks United Church March 26 at 3 p.m.

When it comes to tickling the ivories, a Sundre classical pianist has an expansive repertoire to choose from.

Charles Foreman, an international performer, recording artist and University of Calgary professor, said his favourite piece is whichever one he's performing at the time.

“A lot of people have a strong preference for one era or one kind of music and I don't,” he said. “I have eclectic tastes. My favourite is the one I'm working on at the moment.”

For his upcoming concert in the Okotoks United Church on March 26 at 3 p.m., Foreman selected a series of romantic pieces from Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt.

“It's a fun program everybody will enjoy,” he said. “I thought it would be fun to do a mix of pieces, some that I've played a lot before and four pieces on the program which I've never played before. Hopefully no one will be able to tell which ones they are.”

Unlike many pianists with Foreman's talents, he didn't learn to play the piano until he was 15 years old.

“I had a wonderful jazz teacher but my background was religious and I knew I was never going to play in bars,” he said. “My music teacher pushed me into the classical era.”

Foreman holds an undergraduate degree with high distinction from Indiana University and artist diplomas and master of music degrees from the University of Toronto.

In 1972, he had his musical debut with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and has performed in orchestras across North America, hundreds of solo and chamber recitals around the world and won prizes in Canadian and American piano competitions.

“I've always just loved music and especially classical music,” he said. “I'm fascinated by it. You look at the repertoire and you are never going to be bored and I'm 67.”

Foreman was a professor of piano at the University of Calgary from 1973 to 2009 and also served as assistant dean of fine arts and head of the performance area.

The Sundre pianist assisted in establishing the department of music's innovative master classes and in founding the university's Celebration Series, Collegium Musicum (now the Early Music Ensemble) and New Music Ensemble.

He is a faculty member of the Mount Royal University Conservatory, was appointed Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Calgary in 2010 and named Senior Piano Professor at the Morin Music Studio in 2014.

In 1982, Foreman won the Canada Music Council Award for best recorded chamber music with two other musicians and is the founding member of the Shawnigan Trio.

His collective discography includes four solo albums and five duo albums featuring a vast repertoire.

“I still learn new pieces, but I recycle a lot of older repertoire because I know a lot of repertoire,” he said. “One thing you can do that's creative as a pianist is to create programs, put things side by side and see if that's nice. Hopefully the one I picked for Okotoks will be a lot of fun.”

Shortly after the turn of the century, Foreman concluded his Sounds of a Century project - 10 recitals of 20th century piano music for each decade. He completed his first cycle of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas in 2005 to sold-out houses and standing ovations.

More recently, Foreman began a cycle of the complete works of Chopin for solo piano and became the first Canadian pianist in 2009 to complete the cycle.

“Those are huge projects to undertake,” he said. “If I live to be 150, I will still learn new pieces of piano. I played a couple of late Shubert sonatas and from the beginning of his career and a ton of chamber music and a ton of songs. That's a drop in the bucket for what Shubert played on the piano and that's just one composer.

There's no end of it if you like music.”

Tickets to see Charles Foreman perform cost $20 for adults and $15 for students and can be purchased by calling 403-938-4357. Proceeds will support the church's many programs.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks