Bring your family and friends for a free interactive, educational concert! In this season of Cliburn Kids on the Road, our artists present “What Makes A Hero,” a program that celebrates music with your favorite heroes.
This event is presented in partnership with Dallas Public Library.
Program
What Makes a Hero?
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a pianist?! A musical conversation about heroes, from caped comic book characters to heroes we meet in everyday life, told through the lens of how Van Cliburn used the superpower of music to connect people around the world.
Featured music:
BEETHOVEN–LISZT Symphony No. 3 “Eroica,” S. 464/3
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor: II. Romance
BENZECRY Toccata Newen
CHOPIN Etude op. 10, no. 12 “Revolutionary”
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, op. 23: I. Allegro non troppo
HOUGH Fanfare Toccata
Nicole Paglialonga, Host
Program host Nicole Paglialonga enjoys a diverse career as a performer, educator, and community builder. She joined The Cliburn in 2022, where she currently serves as the education and community programs manager.
An avid community builder, Nicole founded the Radford Youth Strings to expand the musical opportunities for students in rural communities without access to transportation. She organized the Smiles Outreach Series as a board member for the Friends of the Roanoke Symphony, which brought performances by nationally recognized professional musicians into rural public schools with limited arts funding. She also launched an initiative with St. Albans Psychiatric Hospital called “Music for Mental Health,” which continues to provide healing music to residents.
Nicole is also a violinist—she has appeared in recitals in concert venues and universities in Europe, Asia, and South America. She has premiered several works by notable composers, including the U.S. premiere of Cuban composer Juan Piñera’s La Gaviota; the world premiere of Todd Goodman’s Menagerie in recitals in Thailand; Immanuel Abraham’s Caprice No. 1 at Spectrum in New York City; and Mark Phillips’ Violin Power at the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in America. As an orchestral musician, Nicole is currently a member of the Waco and Texarkana Symphonies, and frequently performs with other regional orchestras in and beyond the metroplex.
Nicole previously served on the faculty at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where her main responsibility was the Director of the Virginia Tech String Project. She also taught courses in musicology and music theory. Prior to that, she was on the string faculty at Bethune-Cookman University, Bluefield College, Patel Conservatory, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Outside of her career, one of Nicole’s major life goals is to pet every dog she meets. She enjoys gardening and going to baseball games with her husband, clarinetist Phillip Paglialonga.
Daria Kiseleva, Piano
Pianist Daria Kiseleva debuted with orchestra at age 10. She has since won top prizes at some of the world’s most renowned music competitions and performed at famous concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Salle Cortot in Paris. She has brought her music to Europe, North, and South America and looks forward to visiting even more continents.
Born in Russia, Daria started piano lessons at the age of 4 and graduated from Moscow State Gnesin College and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 2014, she moved to Fort Worth to pursue an artist diploma and Doctor of Musical Arts at TCU. She also joins Cliburn in the Classroom for her first season as a program pianist.
Apart from music, Daria loves ballet. She danced throughout childhood and now shares that joy with her own daughter. She also can’t live without trips to the mountains or good coffee!