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December 7, 2007
By Leanne Goebel | Special to the Herald

Rachmaninoff's "Variation on a Theme From Paganini" is a soul-stirring romantic work, the musical version of Tolstoy, escalating and epic, yet filled with intricate pauses and flourishes. Rada Neal, a pianist and composer from Pagosa Springs favors such Romantic composers as Rachmaninoff along with Tchaikovsky and Debussy. Their influences stand out in her original compositions.

If you go
”¢ Rada Neal will play a free concert with vocalist Sasha Clines and cellist Sarah Dorian-Lawrence at 3 p.m. Dec. 23, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 225 South Pagosa Boulevard, 731-5801.

”¢ She plays at 7 p.m. every Wednesday in JJ’s Upstream Restaurant, 326 East U.S. Highway 160, 264-9100.

Ӣ Her CDs are available at pianopassions.com.
Neal has been writing her own music since moving to the area five years ago. She just released CDs number five and six, she said in her studio on Wednesday. Five is called "Unfolding Fifth" and six is a recording of Christmas music. Seven of the 13 tracks on "Unfolding Fifth" are original compositions in her classically inspired signature sound.

Neal began playing the violin at age seven. Her parents inherited a piano from the neighbors, and she learned to play it as well. By ninth grade she had to choose one instrument. Although, she had been chosen as first chair violin with her school's orchestra and accompanied the choir, she chose piano and has spent her life sharing her love of music and piano through teaching, first in San Diego, Calif., and now in Pagosa Springs.

"She enjoys the kids learning as much as the kids do," said her husband Chip Neal, a building contractor.

Neal allows her students to pick their own music and learn to play things they want to play. Something that parents appreciate.

"They have to like what they're playing; otherwise, it's a total turn off for them," said Christie Spears, whose twin daughters and son take piano lessons from Neal.

Neal credits the sweeping views of the San Juan Mountains from her picture windows for inspiring her to begin composing music. That and the benefit of no longer having a full-time job to distract her from music. Besides, her husband built her a recording studio.



Neal begins each composition sitting at her piano, facing the jagged peaks. She starts with a rhythm or perhaps a meter; she plays, and when she finds something she likes, she writes it down.

Her music has been featured on "The Colorado Wave" an independent music show produced by Carmen Allgood. She has a Web site and a homegrown fan base all over the world. Just last week, Neal sold two CDs to music lovers in Bangkok.

It's a singular destiny for a girl who grew up in Indiana, one of four daughters of immigrant parents who fled Yugoslavia during World War II. Neal's parents met in a refugee camp in Italy. They took a train to Germany, searching for a new home. Neal was born in Germany, but six weeks after her birth, her parents took a 48-hour air trip to Scotland, Canada and eventually New York.

In New York, Neal's mother contacted a Serbian church that provided the family with money and train tickets to Chicago, where they lived for six months before settling in Indiana. Her father worked for 30 years at the Inland Steel Mill, never missing a day of work.

Neal has dedicated "Unfolding Fifth" to her dad. A fitting, and unfolding, tribute.

artsjournalist@centurytel.net Leanne Goebel is a freelance writer specializing in the arts.








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