OC’s Gena Alexander and Milho Fisher among diverse musicians who performed at the 5th annual CollabFest

The University of North Texas honored musical diversity by hosting the “Team Work Makes the Dream Work” 2020 CollabFest online Oct. 15-17; two OC music faculty performed.

November 17, 2020

CollabFest is an annual event for collaborative pianists held at the University of North Texas. This year, Oklahoma Christian University’s pianist Miho Fisher and adjunct professor in the Music Program, Gena Alexander, were invited to play at the festival. 

Musical diversity was one of the main topics discussed during the conference. Because of that, pianists created an opening concert with a program dedicated to music by composers from multiple ethnic backgrounds. 

Pianist Milho Fisher, a participant in the 2018 CollabFest and a graduate from UNT, seized the opportunity. 

“I remembered the violin-piano music of William Grant Smith, an African-American composer from my undergrad years at UNT,” Fisher said. “So I asked Gena to play it with me. We rehearsed it, recorded, sent a video and got accepted to be part of the opening concert.”

This year's event, directed by Eliva Puccinelli, is particularly special as 2020 challenged musicians to get out of their comfort zone and find a way to collaborate while also following proper social distancing precautions. This year also marked the inaugural year of the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society, a professional community for pianists who collaborate with other musicians.  

Alexander was also honored to participate in this experience.

“I am so grateful that Miho had the desire to enter this competition and asked me to collaborate with her,” Alexander said. “I was not familiar with this musical work previously, but it has quickly become one of my favorite compositions. This experience was so enjoyable for both of us that we have plans of continuing to play together.”

Besides Fisher and Alexander, CollabFest featured 25 additional artists; students, educators and professionals alike participated. Some of the presenters at the event included Arlene Shrut, Rena Sharon, Kathy Kelly, Russell Miller, Ana Maria Otamendi and Ben Harris. Along with performances and presenters, CollabFest also offers hands-on skill development sessions and mentoring opportunities.

CollabFest successfully displayed the diversity of music not only through the composers, but also the different styles, genres and traditions from multiple countries and regions. To learn more about the conference, visit the CollabFest website.