UNL's Narboni has 'Piano in Tow,' takes classical music on tour

From Paris to New York, from Prague to Chicago, classical pianist Nicole Narboni has performed in some of the most prestigious venues on the globe. Later this month, she'll be adding Nebraska towns like Bridgeport, Lewellen and Morrill to the list.

Narboni, a senior lecturer in piano at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music, is spending part of March on the road. She's loading up her Yamaha C7 grand piano from her studio on campus and heading west.

Over five days, she'll tote her piano nearly a thousand miles, deep into the Nebraska panhandle and back, all the while performing for and discussing classical music with students and residents.

Her tour, known as "Piano-in-Tow," is Narboni's one-woman effort to bring classical music to rural areas of the state.

"Classical music is dwindling in interest ... its audiences are getting smaller," she said. "I've often thought, 'What can I do about this?' I came to the realization there is no better way to create and ignite interest than to take the music directly to people."

Easy to say, perhaps, if one's chosen instrument is a violin or cello. But bouncing down state highways while lugging a seven-by-five-foot grand piano that weighs nearly 900 pounds and has more than 6,000 moving pieces?

"Well, it's a little easier said than done," Narboni said. "But at the end of the day, I find it all very satisfying."

This will be the third "Piano-in-Tow" tour for Narboni, who is in her 15th year at UNL. The first two tours chugged across the state in October 2008 and March 2009, made possible by a Leyman Fund grant through UNL and other funding.

The new expedition begins March 22, about 380 miles from Lincoln in Bridgeport. Then it hits Morrill, Harrison, Crawford, Oshkosh, Lewellen and, finally on March 25, Ogallala.

As in previous excursions, Narboni will be aided by Dietze Music's Heath Cole, who will do the heavy lifting -- literally -- to get the grand piano into schools and town halls along the tour.

For all of the logistical and physical challenges "Piano-in-Tow" creates, Narboni also recognizes a more difficult hurdle, the notion that classical music is stuffy and difficult to penetrate or appreciate.

In past tours, Narboni directly tackled the stereotype. Her approach is casual -- a T-shirt and jeans is her standard outfit on the road -- and she often starts her performances with tunes from popular video games to grab students' attentions.

The program's theme is also key to keeping audiences engaged, she said. By focusing on 20th-century, American-composed music, discussions emerged among audiences in the first two tours about what American music meant and what made it unique.

For the new tour, she plans to focus more on how different kinds of classical music evokes different thoughts, feelings and imagery.

For example, Narboni will zoom in on a piece called "Le Loriot" from French composer Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue d'Oiseaux. The piece, Narboni said, has been said to inspire vivid images and even colors in listeners' minds.

"I'm taking a bit more of a risk this time, because (the music) might not be as easy for some people," she said.

Reaction to the first two tours was encouraging, Narboni said. She said she enjoys talking with students and community members, who tend to leave with a broader understanding and appreciation for what they had just heard and experienced.

Narboni knows that classical music might not be for everyone. But she also knows that by taking her grand piano on the road, it may just be the spark of inspiration a future classical musician -- or classical music lover -- might need.

"It comes down to this: I love to play the piano, and I love to talk about playing the piano," she said. "I think about music a lot, and if someone experiences music the same way I do, I want to know about that. I really want to share that with them."

"Piano in Tow" 2010 Tour Schedule:

March 22: 10 a.m., Bridgeport Elementary School; 2 p.m., Morrill Junior-Senior High School.

March 23: 10 a.m., Sioux County High School, Harrison; 2 p.m., Crawford High School.

March 24: 10 a.m., Garden County High School, Oshkosh; 7 p.m., Most Unlikely Place Art Gallery, Lewellen.

March 25: 10 a.m., Ogallala Middle School; 7 p.m., Ogallala Auditorium.