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UAB Briefs: Pianist visiting Russia, I-Corps, Breast Cancer Month

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Photo courtesy of UAB

Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs, in which we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.

Look for UAB Briefs at ironcity.ink on Fridays.

Know people, places and programs at UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email Iron City Ink at sydney@starnespublishing.com and jchambers@starnespublishing.com.

To Russia with Kasman

The Piano Concerto No. 2 by the legendary Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev is thought to be “one of the two or three most demanding pieces in piano repertoire,” says Yakov Kasman, a professor of piano in the UAB Department of Music.

In fact, Prokofiev biographer David Nice said in 2011 that, a decade before, he would have wagered “there were only a dozen pianists in the world who could play (the concerto) properly,” according to wikipedia.org.

But this huge challenge won’t stop Kasman from performing the piece on Oct, 7 with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Saratov.

For one thing, Kasman – a native of Russia – is a huge fan of Prokofiev, a composer and conductor who died in 1953.

“Prokofiev's music was always very special for me,” Kasman said this week. “He is one of the greatest geniuses of all times. He is one of my very favorite composers. His music is a big part of me. I play a lot of Prokofiev, I have recorded all nine of his piano sonatas, among other things.”

Kasman also has a deep affection for the Piano Concerto No. 2. While many pianists think it is among the toughest to play, Kasman said, it is also thought to be “the most beautiful, most profound and most inspired.”

Prokofiev famously dedicated the piece to a music-school friend who had committed suicide, and that “dedication… is very obvious in the music,” Kasman said. “It is very dark, profoundly sad and sorrowful. It even has an imitation of that shot in the last movement.”

Kasman also performed with the Saratov Philharmonic – which is marking its 70th anniversary -- in December 2015.

Saratov is “a very beautiful city,” Kasman said. Located about 500 miles from Moscow, Saratov is celebrated for its long musical traditions, including having one of the first three music conservatories in Russia.

Kasman is “so happy” to be going back there, he said, citing the “great orchestra (and) wonderful people.”

A native of Russia, Kasman made his American debut in 1997 as Silver Medalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

He has also taken top prizes in competitions in Rome, London and Tel Aviv, recorded 15 albums and performed widely in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and the Middle East.

Understandably, the accomplished musician and teacher still misses some things about his homeland.

“I think the thing I miss the most about Russia is the language,” Kasman said. “I wish I can understand and express in English as much and as well as I can in Russian. Russian culture is also something I am missing – theaters, concerts, exhibitions. Also friends.”

But Kasman said he loves Birmingham and that his work at UAB is “very inspiring and very rewarding.

“I have an excellent piano studio, some really great students,” he said.

The few, the proud, the I-Corps

The National Science Foundation has included the University of Alabama at Birmingham as part of five new grants that will teach entrepreneurship and support research and innovation at regional hubs across the United States under its Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program.

UAB will receive $565,000 over the next five years in a sub-award through Georgia Institute of Technology’s established Southern hub, according to a news release.

“Our interdisciplinary approach to education is a perfect fit for the I-Corps program,” said Kathy Nugent, executive director of the Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UAB. “This will truly be a university-wide effort — from the Center for Clinical and Translational Science to the School of Engineering and Collat School of Business.”

The innovation hubs provide the infrastructure and training to help researchers to transition basic science and engineering discoveries to the market.

The NSF created the I-Corps program in 2011. Since then, more than 800 teams in 44 states have completed the NSF curriculum.

More than 320 companies have been created, raising more than $83 million in follow-on funding.

Breast cancer awareness month

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama has raised nearly $6 million since its founding in 1996 to support research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the BCRFA and other organizations are hosting numerous fundraisers in the Birmingham area.

Here is a partial list of those events:

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