Kretzer Piano Music Foundation Salutes Board Member Dr. Robin Arrigo

Kathi Kretzer, founder of the Kretzer Piano Music Foundation, today saluted Dr. Robin Arrigo, a member of KPMF's board of directors, for receiving the prestigious designation as a YAMAHA Artist.

"Being named a YAMAHA Artist is a very big deal," says Kretzer. "I believe there are fewer than a half dozen in all of Florida."

Robin Arrigo received the degrees Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, Master of Music Education from Florida State University, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami in Accompanying and Chamber Music. She was an Artist in Residence at Dreyfoos School of the Arts, is currently an Adjunct Professor of Piano/Staff Accompanist at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and Artist Resident for King's Conservatory of the Arts. During the past four years, Dr. Arrigo has been on the faculty for the annual International Piano Festival at Palm Beach Atlantic University, conducting Master Classes for the participating pianists.

Dr. Arrigo has performed as both soloist and collaborative artist on numerous concerts throughout South Florida, New York and Europe. Some venues include the Kravis Center of the Performing Arts, Palm Beach Symphony, Flagler Museum, Mar-a-Lago Club, Bethesda by the Sea, Royal Poinciana's Seagull Cottage series, and The Juilliard School, to name a few. Her recent solo performance for the Mariner Sands Concert Series in November included works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Brubeck.

Dr. Arrigo has spent the last five summers studying and performing abroad, as both soloist and collaborative artist with Fondation Bell'Arte's Paris International Summer Session under the tutelage of well-known artist and piano pedagogue Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri. During her stay, she performed in the Master Classes of Internationally renowned pianist Philippe Entremont. She also performed in the Chopin Festival Concert in Mallorca, Spain closing the festival with Chopin's famous Fantasy Impromptu.

Dr. Arrigo attended the intensive Keyboard Ensemble Technology Seminar at University of Central Oklahoma, directed by Susan Ogilvy, where she expanded her classical training to include digital pianos. As a result, Robin has become proficient in digital keyboard technology on Yamaha Clavinovas. She consulted and assisted with registration selections for many teachers and students during the Clavinova Festival. She has also been creating multi-track recordings from her own personal compositions and orchestrating them.

Dr. Arrigo recently wrote "World Summit" for an online radio broadcast known as the "Spiritual Rave" by the Enlightened Humanity Circle. Sections of this piece were featured as the intro and exit music. The full version can be listened to on Sound Cloud, Patreon, and the Facebook page for the Enlightened Humanity Circle. Robin has also written two piano transcriptions of a Mendelssohn Concert Aria for Soprano and Violin Obbligato, which was discovered at the end of the 20th century. Excerpts of these transcriptions appear in a 2002 book by John Michael Cooper and Julie D. Prandi; The Mendelssohn's and Their Music in History (Oxford Press).

Robin Arrigo has been a soloist with Palm Beach Atlantic University Symphony performing Liszt's Hungarian Fantasy, Mendelssohn's 2nd Double Piano Concerto, Variations on a Gypsy Theme for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, Rachmaninoff's 2nd Concerto, and most recently Grieg's Piano Concerto in a minor. In addition to her performing and teaching career, Dr. Arrigo has recently been welcomed into the Yamaha Artist family.

"It is a great honor for the Kretzer Piano Music Foundation to have a distinguished and talented pianist like Robin Arrigo on our Board of Directors. She brings to us her great insight, incredible talent and sterling international reputation as a Yamaha Artist," adds Kretzer.

About the Kretzer Piano Music Foundation:

KPMF is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the gift of music to children and seniors. "We are passionate about music being a part of every child's life and the Foundation provides performance opportunities so young artists can share their talents with others," says founder Kathi Kretzer.

In addition to awarding scholarships for music lessons and donating pianos to disadvantaged children and local children's charities, KPMF's popular programs include:

+ The KRETZER KIDS, gifted young people who perform over 50 concerts every year in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and children's hospitals

+ The Music for the Mind concert series presented the third Tuesday of every month at CityPlace in West Palm Beach. These concerts feature various musical groups from our area. Beginning in 2002, Music for the Mind has provided more than 11,000 young musicians the opportunity to perform while raising over $625,000 to help keep music in our schools and community.

+ The Keyboards for Kids group piano classes are held weekly for 60 inner-city school children at the Center for Creative Education in Pleasant City.

+ The headline-grabbing Keys to the Cities campaign that placed 18 whimsically painted pianos in public spots from Jupiter to Delray Beach (and winner of the 2014 Bernays Award for Best Special Event from the Gold Coast PR Council).

+ The PHYSICIANS TALENT SHOWCASE concerts held for five years featured a group of talented medical doctors and raised funds for local children's charities and music education.

For more information about KPMF, please visit www.kretzerpiano.com/KPMF.

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