09/23/2026
The Benedictine College music department presents a solo piano recital by Adjunct Piano Faculty member Laura Goehner Moreno at the O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium inside the St. John Paul II Student Center.
The performance, featuring the expressive, virtuosic music of two Eastern European Late-Romantic composers, is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 7:30 PM. The recital runs exactly one hour in length with no intermission. Admission to the concert is completely free and open to the public.
The recital centers on two underperformed masters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Ukrainian-born composer Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877–1952) and Russian composer Sergei Lyapunov (1859–1924). Both composers famously rejected early 20th-century modernist movements, choosing instead to write deeply lyrical, colorful, and sweeping works following the artistic traditions of Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt.
The one-hour program highlights an expansive emotional range, moving seamlessly from the introspective depths of Bortkiewicz's Élégie, Op. 46, Lamentations, Op. 17, and his cinematic 10 Preludes, Op. 33, to the dramatic passion of Three Pieces, Op. 24, No. 3 ("Eros"). The concert then transitions into the grand virtuosity of Lyapunov, concluding with his rarely heard, epic Variations on a Georgian Theme, Op. 60, which transforms traditional Caucasian folk melodies into an orchestral piano showcase.
Laura Goehner Moreno brings over 34 years of professional performance and teaching experience to the stage. Her extensive background spans classical training at the University of Kansas, deep masterclass study with legend Claude Frank, and postgraduate studies at the National Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland.
Event Summary:
• What: Late-Romantic Piano Recital featuring works by
Bortkiewicz and Lyapunov
• Presented by: Benedictine College Music Department
• Who: Laura Goehner Moreno, Adjunct Piano Faculty
• When: Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 7:30 PM
• Duration: Exactly 1 hour, performed without intermission
• Where: O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium, Benedictine College,
Atchison, Kansas
• Cost: Free admission
