Meleah Backhaus at CSM Sept. 19
CSM Announces 2014-15 Arts Season
Opening the 2014-15 Arts Season at the Leonardtown Campus of the College of Southern Maryland will be the first of the CSM Showcase Recital Series:
Meleah Backhaus will be performing at 8 p.m., Sept. 19, 2014, at the College of Southern Maryland, Building A, Auditorium, 22950 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown.
Pianist Meleah Backhaus will perform works by Rachmaninov and original compositions from her album. $5 in advance; $7 day of
event. For tickets and more information contact [email protected], 301-934-7828, www.csmd.edu/Arts.
Solo pianist Meleah Backhaus is a classically trained pianist. She composes and performs regularly in both solo and collaborative venues. Her passion for teaching has allowed her to maintain a growing studio of private students in the Southern Maryland area.
Starting her studies in piano at the age of 8, piano has always been a form of self-expression.
Meleah studied at Youngstown State University for Piano Performance, and The University of Akron for Collaborative Piano, as well as currently serving as the pianist/staff accompanist for Kings Christian Academy, and freelancing solo and collaborative work. Meleah has been teaching private piano since 1999, and her students range from children to the adult/collegiate level, with a particular interest in young children that have tested on the Autism spectrum.
Meleah has accompanied instrumentalists and vocalists throughout the state of Ohio, as well as in Maryland, and particularly enjoys working with singers, with music ranging from Contemporary Christian to Modern Art Songs and Opera/Oratorio. Her great love when it comes to music is working with vocalists, collaborating to express musically the emotion of poetry and the passion of the written notes.
While Art Song holds the most special musical space in her heart, Meleah has always turned to her own creative works as an outlet to express her musical ideas. While at YSU and Akron, Meleah regularly played at First Presbyterian Church in Warren, OH, First Baptist Church in Niles, OH, and was the pianist at Bethany Lutheran Church in Akron, OH, and it was in these experiences that her journey to Awake took flight.
Playing her own music during services, members of these congregations received her compositions with excitement. Members often spoke of her original piano music as ‘moving,’ ‘inspirational,’ and ‘touching.’ As Meleah began to play more of her own works, it quickly became clear that Awake needed to be made. Meleah believes anyone can make music, and that piano is one of the best instruments to begin a musical journey, and is happy to share her own journey with you all.
