Guest Lecture/Recital: "Exploring the Piano Works of Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins" presented by Dr. Connor Austell

Thursday, March 13, 2025
5:00 p.m.
Allendale Campus
Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students

Thomas Green Wiggins was a visually impaired, neurodivergent American piano virtuoso born into slavery in 1849. Most of the literature written over the last two decades about Wiggins, or "Blind Tom" as he was known, recounts his life story and places a focus on his performing career. While this is certainly a fascinating topic, there has been a notable absence of attempts to analyze his compositions for piano in any depth. With his application of both theoretical analyses and broader musicological considerations, Connor Austell's 2024 article "Exploring the Compositions of Thomas 'Blind Tom' Wiggins" (due for publication in the academic journal American Musical Perspectives) yields a portrait of an artist with a distinct style and vision.

In this session, Dr. Austell will present the findings of his research into Wiggins' piano works and his efforts to examine each piece within its proper socio-cultural context. Key findings include demonstrable likenesses to music of nineteenth-century European composers and musical aspects that are distinctly the composer's own. In addition, significant questions are raised concerning his composition process. Dr. Austell will supplement his presentation with musical excerpts from Wiggins' oeuvre.

Check out Dr. Austell's recording of Wiggins' music:
http://youtu.be/0yWJNzHeMPo?si=8soGcTwPdfMkpXEc

Based in Lancaster, SC, pianist Connor Austell is a versatile musician and educator equally at home in the performance hall and in the lecture hall. A firm believer that scholarship and musicianship go hand-in-hand, Dr. Austell's teaching philosophy holds that decisions made in musical performance should be grounded in a historical, theoretical, and pedagogical understanding of the score. In 2022, Dr. Austell's work in researching and recording the piano compositions of Thomas 'Blind Tom' Wiggins was recognized with an award by the Willson Center for Arts and Humanities at the University of Georgia. His debut album Blind Tom's Creative Vision is available on all major streaming platforms, and his recent article on the piano works of Thomas Wiggins will appear in an upcoming edition of American Musical Perspectives.

Dr. Austell holds degrees from the University of Georgia, the University of Michigan, and Grand Valley State University, where he studied with David Fung, Arthur Greene, and Sookkyung Cho. He studied chamber music under the tutelage of Katherine Collier, Helen Marlais, and Pablo Mahave-Veglia, and has participated in masterclasses with world-class artists such as Jonathan Biss and Martin Katz. His enthusiasm for Baroque music was fostered by a study of harpsichord and organ technique with Gregory Crowell. Dr. Austell currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina Lancaster. http://www.connoraustell.com/

Location Information

Sherman van Solkema Recital Hall

Download parking map for the Allendale Campus

Contact Information

Dr. Sookkyung Cho
[email protected]

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This event was added to the calendar by Bridgett Vanderhoof (vandebri@eduftp.net) on Saturday, January 11, 2025 and was last updated on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 5:42 p.m.