Pianist Jon Nakamatsu. (Christian Steiner)

Classical pianist Jon Nakamatsu performs at 乐播传媒 College at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 27, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. Praised for his clean technique and deep musical intuition, Nakamatsu has an impressive repertoire that ranges from Bach to present-day composers. He last performed at 乐播传媒 in 2003.

Admission is $15, available at . A limited number of free tickets for 乐播传媒 faculty, staff, and students and seniors 65-plus are available at . Nakamatsu’s appearance is supported by a generous gift to the college by Atsuko Hirai, Kazushige Hirasawa Professor Emerita of History, who died last year. For more information, contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.

Nakamatsu took the world of classical piano by storm when, over many more-favored competitors, he walked away with the gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997. He was the first American to win the title at the prestigious competition in 16 years.

It was a classic underdog story: Nakamatsu, a high school teacher, had studied with one piano teacher since age 6 and had never gone to a conservatory or college to study music.

Named 1998鈥檚 Debut Artist of the Year by National Public Radio, Nakamatsu has toured extensively聽鈥� from Carnegie Hall to the White House, from Boston and Chicago to Milan, Paris, Budapest and Asia.

He has recorded 12 critically acclaimed CDs with Harmonia Mundi USA. His 2007 collaboration with the Rochester Philharmonic on Gershwin鈥檚 Concerto in F and 鈥淩hapsody in Blue鈥� reached No. 3 on Billboard鈥檚 classical chart and stayed on the chart for almost six months.

Critics across the board applaud Nakamatsu for his crisp and elegant style. Bernard Holland of The New York Times says, 鈥淭his young American pianist has stunning technical control and can do anything at the piano he wants.鈥� Music reviewer Richard Scheinin describes Nakamatsu鈥檚 playing as 鈥渇luid like Chopin, but also with crisp springboarding chords.鈥�

Whether he is playing solo or with an entire orchestra, Nakamatsu remains in control of the entire musical landscape, delivering energetic and sophisticated performances with a down-to-earth charm and nimble fingerwork.

Nakamatsu often performs and records with clarinetist Jon Manasse. The two are co-directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival. He serves as a judge in several piano competitions.

乐播传媒 historian Hirai had a special regard for Nakamatsu鈥檚 artistry. A gifted soprano in her own right, Hirai’s love of history was matched by her devotion to music.

Atsuko Hirai, the college’s Kazushige Hirasawa Professor Emerita of History, died July 14, 2014. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Atsuko Hirai, a witty and exacting teacher and scholar who broadened the college’s curricular offerings in history and Asian studies, died July 14 at her home in Lewiston. She was 78.

An eminent historian of modern Japan, Hirai was the Kazushige Hirasawa Professor of History at 乐播传媒 College from 1988 until her retirement in 2013. Born in Japan in 1936, she studied international relations at Tokyo University and earned a doctorate in government from Harvard University.

At the time of her appointment to one of the first endowed chairs at 乐播传媒, Hirai was an associate of research at the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies at Harvard, where she lectured on the history and politics of her native land.

The Hirasawa Professorship was established at 乐播传媒 by the family and friends of Kazushige Hirasawa, a member of the 乐播传媒 Class of 1936 and a journalist, news broadcaster and editor of The Japan Times. The professorship was designed to reflect Hirasawa’s lifelong commitment to promoting greater understanding between Japan and the U.S. Professor Hirai had an enduring friendship with Hirasawa’s widow, Asako Hirasawa of Tokyo.

Before coming to 乐播传媒, Professor Hirai also taught at Sophia University, Michigan State University, Wellesley College and Simmons College. She was a fellow in Japanese and Korean studies at the University of California at Berkeley.

At 乐播传媒, Hirai’s highly popular courses brought depth and breadth to the study of Japan and were consistently oversubscribed throughout her career.

She taught introductory and advanced courses in Japanese history as well as specialized courses on Japan in the age of imperialism, World War II in the Pacific, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, postwar Japan through film and literature, gender in Japanese history, pacifism in 20th-century Japan, food in Japan, and Americans in Japan.

She was a witty and exacting teacher. In nominating her for a teaching award, one student wrote that Professor Hirai conveyed to students “the unique nature of Japanese history and how dramatically and profoundly it has shaped modern Japan and influenced its remarkable postwar growth.”

乐播传媒 Trustee Darrell Crate ’89 said that she “demanded critical thinking and elevated my ability to learn. At the same time, she displayed a tremendous tolerance and understanding. Those qualities helped me get the most out of 乐播传媒.”

Professor Hirai’s research focused on the comparative and intellectual history of modern Japan and the West, the state and pre-war liberalism in Japan, and women in modern Japan. She authored the book Individualism and Socialism: The Life and Thought of Kawai Eijir艒 (Harvard University Asia Center, 1987) as well as scholarly articles topics from the influence of the English idealist Thomas Hill Green on Meiji Japan and on Mao Zedong, to family law in the Meiji period, to the early history of the piano in Japan.

Her latest book, Government by Mourning: Death and Political Integration in Japan, 1612鈥�1912, a study of governmental edicts on mourning and related rites in Japan, was published shortly before her death by the Harvard University Asia Center.

Her research was supported by a Fulbright Scholarship, a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship and grants from the American Philosophical Society, the Northeast Asian Council, and the Harvard-Yenching Institute.

Professor Hirai was an accomplished musician and classically trained soprano. She gave several concerts at 乐播传媒 featuring arias by Mozart and Lieder by composers from Schubert to Richard Strauss, often accompanied by 乐播传媒 artist-in-residence Frank Glazer.

“Atsuko was a devoted musical pilgrim,” said James Parakilas, the college’s James L. Moody Jr. Family Professor of Performing Arts, “seeking out concerts by great singers and sites associated with great composers. It was important to the feeding of her soul.”

She was also a gourmet cook who hosted elegant, intellectually lively dinner parties at her Lewiston home.

When diagnosed with cancer in 2007, she was fearless and hopeful, and remained so throughout her long illness. “I plan to live,” she stated simply. And that she did, with great courage.

Professor Hirai’s survivors include a sister, Hideko Misawa of Tokyo, nephews Yutaka Misawa of Tokyo and Tooru Hirai of Otsuki-shi, Yamanashi, a niece, Eri Hirai of Otsuki-shi, Yamanashi, and many friends in the U.S. and Japan.

乐播传媒 will hold a memorial service for Professor Hirai at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, in Olin Arts Center, followed by a reception in the Museum of Art. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to commemorate her life may make a contribution to The Professor Atsuko Hirai Scholarship Fund, 乐播传媒 College, Lewiston ME 04240.

Hirai, a native of Japan who teaches courses on “” and among others, says that the Tohoku region is historically among the country’s poorest.

“Patience, hard work and perseverance.”

Yet because of what the has endured, its people may have the stoicism to face what comes ahead, says Hirai. “Despite their poverty, or because of it, the Tohoku people have internalized the values of patience, hard work and perseverance,” she writes in an e-mail exchange with Klonoski. “These qualities will help them again.”

Despite its harsh climate, the Tohoku region, which now faces widespread nuclear contamination, depends upon agriculture.

“I feel inconsolably sad.”

“You can tell how outstanding is the quality of work of these people just by looking at the lovingly tended vegetable fields that the chocolate-colored tidal waves devoured mercilessly,” Hirai said.

“In an instant, these people lost everything that they have built and the loved ones with whom and for whom they have built all I feel inconsolably sad to think about their losses.鈥�

Hirai’s family lives in and around Tokyo, and all are physically safe. “My sister, who is a pillar of strength, was audibly shaken on the phone,” Hirai tells Klonoski. “That spoke (to) the state of her psyche more eloquently than any words she uttered.”

Hirai holds an endowed professorship that honors the late 1936 乐播传媒 alumnus who was a noted journalist in Japan as editor of and news broadcaster.

Hirai too has been jarred by the quake. “On Monday…as I glanced at the heavy doors inside Pettengill Hall and thought that they were moving up and down, I realized I was affected by the TV footage until my mind could make a fool of me.”

Musicians performing at 乐播传媒 College in September include Frank Glazer, a prominent Maine pianist and 乐播传媒 artist in residence; Atsuko Hirai, a soprano and member of the 乐播传媒 faculty; and the Verdehr Trio, internationally acclaimed for its development of the violin-clarinet-piano trio repertoire.

Glazer opens the college’s 2004-05 Noonday Concert Series at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, with music by Bach, Busoni, Haydn and Mendelssohn. 乐播传媒 Noonday Concerts typically last around 30 minutes.

The Verdehr Trio, which has commissioned some 170 pieces of music during a career of more than 30 years, performs at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19. The trio’s pianist, Yuri Funahashi, lives in Maine, and the program includes a piece by 乐播传媒 faculty member Philip Carlsen. Also on the program is the world premiere of “Playground,” a composition by Barry Conyngham, chair of Australian studies at Harvard University.

Hirai, the Kazushige Hirasawa Professor of History at 乐播传媒, is accompanied by Glazer in a program of 10 songs by Johannes Brahms. This Noonday Concert takes place at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21.

Finally, Glazer offers music by Mozart, Schubert and Schumann in a recital at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24.

The Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St., is the site of all four concerts, which are open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6135.

Through commissioning new works and transcribing or rediscovering music from centuries past, the Verdehr Trio has molded and defined the personality of the violin-clarinet-piano trio. The ensemble has performed worldwide in chamber concerts and in trio-concerto repertoire for orchestra. Its catalog of recordings includes the 17-volume series “The Making of a Medium,” documenting the trio’s contributions to the repertoire (Crystal Records). An article about the trio appears in the new Groves Dictionary of Music.

Though in residence at Michigan State University in East Lansing, where violinist Walter Verdehr and clarinetist Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr teach, pianist Yuri Funahashi lives in Wilton and teaches at the University of Maine in Farmington. She is known statewide for her performances with such chamber ensembles as the Nordica Trio and the Funahashi-Pane Duo.

A highlight of the trio’s 乐播传媒 program is the world premiere of Conyngham’s “Playground.” In addition, the trio performs its own arrangement of the Andante-Allegretto (Op. 43, No. 13) from Beethoven’s music for the ballet “The Creatures of Prometheus”; Carlsen’s 1987 “Penumbra”; Peter Sculthorpe’s 1992 “Dreamtracks,” inspired by the Australian landscape; William Brohn’s adaptation of music by songs by George and Ira Gershwin; and “Tibetan Dance,” composed and dedicated to the Verdehr Trio by Bright Sheng.

One of Maine’s best-known pianists, 乐播传媒 College artist-in-residence Frank Glazer is a musician of international stature. His long career includes numerous recordings, and countless solo recitals and performances with orchestras and chamber ensembles, including the New England Piano Quartette, of which he was a founder.

Glazer, 89, taught at the Eastman School of Music for 15 years before retiring to Maine with his wife, Ruth, in 1980. The couple founded the Saco River Festival, held in Cornish every summer. A student of pianist Artur Schnabel in the 1930s and ’40s, Glazer is one of the few remaining proteges of that great musician.

The first Kazushige Hirasawa Professor of History at 乐播传媒 and a specialist in Japanese history, Atsuko Hirai is a graduate of Tokyo University and earned her Ph.D. in government at Harvard. She and Glazer perform together occasionally at 乐播传媒.

Philip Carlsen has degrees from the University of Washington, Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. His many compositions include works for such Maine ensembles as the Portland Symphony Orchestra and 乐播传媒’ gamelan orchestra, and a commission from the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center in connection with the orchestra’s residency in Maine. Carlsen teaches half-time at UMF and half-time at 乐播传媒, where he conducts the college orchestra.

Matthew C么t茅, associate professor of chemistry; Atsuko Hirai, Kazushige Hirasawa Professor of History; and John Rhodes, associate professor of mathematics, have been awarded Phillips Faculty Fellowships for the 2002-03 academic year, announced Donald W. Harward, president of 乐播传媒 College.

Phillips Faculty Fellowships at 乐播传媒 provide a full-year’s paid leave, with additional funding for scholarly research, enabling fellows to travel, pursue scholarship and interact with other leading scholars in their field.

C么t茅 will spend one year fabricating and studying arrays of metal oxide nanostructures at the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology at the University of Maine at Orono. Access to the laboratory and to its staff expertise will expand the range of research possibilities for C么t茅 and his students, and will produce continuing collaborations after C么t茅鈥檚 return to 乐播传媒.

Hirai plans to complete her manuscript, Government by Mourning: Death and Political Integration in Japan, 1612-1912 and secure its acceptance for publication. Her research is a study of governmental edicts on mourning and related rites in Japan. The grant enables her to complete extensive archival work in Tokyo as well as in provinces of Japan, and to meet with scholars in Japan and the United States who are working on related topics.

Rhodes will focus in two areas: number theory and mathematical biology. His plans include investigating the number theory of modular forms for complex quadratic number fields. The grant also will enable Rhodes to develop a new research direction in phylogenetic invariants, studying algebraic methods of inferring relationships among species from DNA sequence data.

The Phillips Faculty Fellowships are part of an ambitious initiative of awards, honors and opportunities for faculty and students funded by a $9-million endowment bequest from former 乐播传媒 President Charles F. Phillips and his wife, Evelyn Minard Phillips, in 1999. President and Mrs. Phillips, longtime Auburn residents, served 乐播传媒 from 1944 through 1966. Charles died in March 1999, just months after the death of Evelyn, his wife of 65 years. In addition to the faculty fellowships, the Phillips Endowment Program supports student fellowships, two endowed faculty professorships and academic programs recommended by the dean of the faculty.