PAMELA HOWLAND (1956-2021) was a gifted American pianist, Steinway Artist, and 2017-2018 U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Poland who breathed life and vitality into classical music for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Vivacious, imaginative, sensitive and just a trifle unconventional, she was that rare classically trained performing artist who thrived as an entertainer.
Her passion for promoting classical music led her to develop a unique style of performance which allowed her audiences to go away educated and entertained, feeling they had learned something about themselves as well as the music. (Pamela Howland…on a fascinating musical journey – Fred Child, host of “Performance Today” on American Public Media).
Trained at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music, where she received the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature, she appeared from coast to coast in the United States as both soloist and chamber musician. She toured Poland frequently under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State, and was awarded a 2017-18 Fulbright Scholar grant in residence at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Other touring included selection as a North Carolina Touring Artist from 2002-2007 (NC Arts Council), and a tour of Colombia, South America in 1985. Career highlights include featured return engagements in Paris, Vienna, live solo appearances on National Public Radio broadcasts in Minnesota, New York, and North Carolina, and concerto appearances with the Winston-Salem Symphony, Charlotte Repertory Orchestra, and Wake Forest University Orchestra.
As a long-time educator, Howland held numerous faculty positions (piano and music history) in New York (Monroe Community College), Minnesota (Winona State University), and North Carolina (UNC School of the Arts, Salem College, UNC-Greensboro), and Wake Forest University, where she had an appointment as assistant professor of music for many years, both regular and adjunct, before leaving in 2014 to pursue international performing opportunities and new creative projects.
Howland’s nineteen CDs reflect her eclectic tastes, from standard solo classical music to Christmas tunes, from African-American spirituals to a combination of French poetry and music - and now includes her Beatles arrangements. Her original composition “Three Scenes from Poland” honored a friend she had met during her Fulbright program. Her arrangements combining familiar Christmas carols with favorite Beethoven compositions gave birth to her final album before her illness and death, Christmas with Beethoven in 2020. At the time of her death, she had nearly 300,000 monthly listeners on SPOTIFY, and her version of Chopin's "Farewell Waltz, had well over 10 MILLION listens!
Paul McCartney waves hello to Pamela.
Her latest, CHOPIN MEETS THE BEATLES was released in September, 2015, (Howland reimagines the songs as delicate, passionate instrumentals, bringing a somber energy to “In My Life”… rescuing “The Long and Winding Road” from Phil Spector’s overproduction on the Beatles’ hit version, stripping the tune down to its sweet understated essence – Winston-Salem Journal).
Pamela Howland had a long love affair with Chopin, and become a specialist on his music and life. In 2009 she premiered her original one-woman show/concert REMEMBERING FREDERIC: A Musical Conversation between Chopin and George Sand at the Grać Chopina piano festival in Warsaw, at the invitation of Jarek Cholodecki. What began as one’s musician’s desire to create an unusual classical music/theatre performance in celebration of Chopin’s 200th birthday led to many enthusiastically acclaimed performances (Pamela Howland weaves a special magic…I was spellbound and enchanted - Rosemary Harris, Award winning actress of stage, screen, and television).
Subsequently, she created her documentary film, REMEMBERING FREDERIC: The Genius of Chopin. Premiered at the RiverRun International Film Festival in 2012, it is the story of Howland’s search as a pianist to bring the world, music, and relationships of Frederic Chopin to life for modern audiences. (Howland is elegant in appearance, in her playing, and as a voice-over…fast-paced…succinct interviews, short musical clips…lovely…images of portraits, and of buildings and monuments in France and Poland – Music Media Monthly).
She first visited Warsaw in 2006 when she came to Poland with her family to find the birthplace of her grandfather. Howland returned to perform numerous times since that life changing visit, including the moment at World Music Day in Warsaw, 2013–where she was given the “thumbs up” from Sir Paul McCartney, as she was playing in front of the Church of the Holy Cross (the church which holds Chopin's heart). This single moment further confirmed her belief that her penchant for creating unique musical programs which mix genres and art forms can deliver lifetime moments of revelation and beauty to her audiences.
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