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Walters
Has "Keys" to Audiences' Hearts Ethereal trills, athletic runs and lilting melodic
phrases hang in the air, lovingly and meticulously rendered by pianist Dr.
Teresa Walters for her next CD, The Abbe Liszt, a sampling of the
rare sacred piano music of Franz Liszt, soon to be released on Archangelus
Recordings. Walters is celebrating her recent inclusion, for the seventh consecutive year, in the prestigious Marquis Who's Who Among American Women. Walters has established herself over the past decade as a acclaimed specialist in the music of Liszt. This sacred repertoire is "virtually unknown," and the artist is especially excited about performing it. The timing of a Merkin Hall concert is auspicious in the mind of this pastor's wife: "It's a rare coincidence of Palm Sunday and the Jewish holiday of Purim. Queen Esther of the Purim story has always been a great role model for me. And this music has a wonderful inter-faith feel to it." The Walters have resided in the metropolitan New York area for more than a decade. The couple shares their sunny, airy home with a shy, black, bobtailed cat named Bunny. The pastor removed the basement stairs and lugged his wife's piano down a makeshift ramp to the home studio he built for her. When home, Walters usually spends eight hours each day practicing, committing complex works to memory, experimenting with the permutations of phrasing and dynamics to personalize her treatment of the music. Since she's not around too often, the community may actually know Walters best for her benefit performances. "I think benefits are a good way to give back to the community," she said. Walters was born and raised in Nebraska, where her parents still live. "I started playing very naturally when I was four, and I don't remember ever consciously making the decision to pursue a career in music. I don't recall ever wanting to do anything else." Following her award-winning undergraduate years she went on to earn her master's and doctorate degrees from the Peabody Conservatory. She also studied at the Paris Conservatoire, completing her acclaimed dissertation based upon a series of interviews with the French pedagogue Nadia Boulanger in the last year of her life. Walters often travels for weeks at a time. Occasionally, her husband breaks away from his busy pastorate to join her for a few days. Walters' mother hand-makes all the formal gowns her tall, willowy daughter wears for performances. "I feel lucky. I bring her patterns from around the world, bolts of fabric from the Garment District, and she makes me these timeless, one-of-a-kind things. It's her way of keeping her finger on the pulse of what I do." Family, faith and education have been constants in Walters' life and in her career choices. When possible, Walters hosts meet-the-artist sessions and lectures. "Audiences appreciate it more when they hear more about the music. Lecturing makes both the music and the artist more accessible," Walters said.
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