哔咔漫画

Acclaimed pianist aims to spread the 鈥榣anguage of peace鈥�

By KILEY MALLARD, USF Advancement

A CHILD PRODIGY, pianist Rebecca Penneys has been immersed in music since she began playing by ear as a toddler.

It鈥檚 a powerful language, she says.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a language of peace, and I鈥檓 definitely an advocate of peace on earth,鈥� she says. 鈥淢usic makes you smarter. When you play an instrument, it changes your thinking. The whole idea is that civilization then can go forward in a more peaceful way.鈥�

She has spent decades working toward that end, both performing and teaching. And, while she officially left the classroom in 2017, retiring to St. Petersburg, she has continued educating and supporting student artists through USF.

In 2013, she launched the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, a three-week, tuition-free collegiate piano festival hosted each summer at USF. It draws up to 40 aspiring artists, selected from about 200 applicants, from all over the world. Participants attend private lessons, master classes and concerts 鈥� all led and performed by a who鈥檚 who of pianists.

Recently, Penneys established the Rebecca Penneys USF Music Fund, which provides two-year assistantships to five music master鈥檚 degree students who perform in a chamber music ensemble. Known as the Rebecca Penneys Graduate Collective, it consists of two pianists, a violinist, a violist and a cellist.

It鈥檚 a format Penneys is fond of. In 1974, she founded the New Arts Trio chamber ensemble, which won the Naumburg Award for Chamber Music in 1980 and 1982 and was the trio-in-residence at the Chautauqua Institution from 1978-2012.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檝e included other instruments. I couldn鈥檛 see myself just helping pianists since I still have a chamber music series in New York state. Chamber music is so wonderful to play,鈥� she says.

School of Music Director David Williams says the assistantships are great for everybody.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great because the students are on assistantship and their duties are to perform in this group. They鈥檙e getting an education and a really great experience out of it,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 great for the School of Music because we鈥檝e got some really talented students who represent us 鈥� and Rebecca 鈥� in the community and performing on and off campus.

鈥淓verybody wins in this arrangement, and it鈥檚 because of Rebecca.鈥�

While most assistantships in the school offer 10 hours a week, the Penneys assistantship is twice that, which makes these spots especially attractive and has helped the school recruit talented musicians from all over the world.