News & Information

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Aug. 10, 2012) Armenian-born master pianist Mikael Oganes will play and discuss classic Western theme scores from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, in conjunction with an art exhibit at California Lutheran University.

“Variations” will be presented in the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art. Refreshments will be served.

A fiery pianist and virtuoso music transcriber, Oganes has won prizes at international competitions and wide praise for his original arrangements of symphonic works for solo piano. Vocalist Alice Kirwan Murray will join Oganes in presenting musical selections by Elmer Bernstein, Dmitiri Tyomkin and Ennio Morricone. In addition to numerous film and television credits, Murray has performed as a featured soloist at major venues such as New York’s Lincoln Center.

The event is one of a series of informal salon gatherings celebrating “Western Salon,” a CLU exhibit of art that former game show host Bob Eubanks and his family donated to the university and pieces on loan from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

The Eubanks family donated more than $170,000 in art, including four bronze sculptures and 26 acrylic and oil-on-canvas paintings, pencil drawings and fine art prints, to CLU. The collection includes works by sculptor Herb Mignery and painters Martin Grelle and Donald Putman.

These works are on display along with 41 paintings and sculptures from the Reagan Library through Saturday, Sept. 15, in the Rolland Gallery. The paintings are hung salon-style, closely next to and atop one another.

The gallery is inside the William Rolland Stadium on the north side of Olsen Road near Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, and by appointment. Admission to the gallery and all events is free. No reservations are necessary. For more information, contact curator Jeff Phillips at 805-493-3697.