At professional pianist Keith Snell’s Feb. 10 recital at Fresno City College, the beauty and simplicity of the piano flooded the Old Administration Building’s auditorium.

Snell visited FCC for the second time to perform in a solo performance as well as to lead a master class for FCC piano students the following day.

Snell’s piano recital was a popular event composed of three distinct sessions. Beginning with Snell’s own transcriptions of Johann Sebastian Bach’s violin and cello “Prelude” compositions, the performance progressed to a twelve-piece composition titled “Verbs, Book One” created especially for Snell by fellow pianist Kathleen Ryan.

The program ended with pieces by composers such as Felix Blumenfeld and Moritz Moszkowski.

Snell had mostly positive thoughts on his performance .

“Like any concert there were things that I thought went really well and things I wish had gone better,” he stated.

Although Snell made his way through more than twenty diverse compositions, one would never guess that he did so performing solely with his left hand.

After being diagnosed with the repetitive motion injury focal dystonia in his right hand in 1986, Snell transitioned from a busy professional career to a life dedicated to teaching others through master classes, as well as through composing and recording piano music for students.

At his master class the following day, Snell worked alongside four FCC students to instruct them on sharpening their skills at the piano.

“I love working with the students. There was a wonderful variety of music today so I hope that everybody got something out of it, not just the students who played but the people who listened as well,” the performer said.

For both the instructor and the students, it was an opportunity to delve deeper into a form of creativity.

“I think the thing about music is that it’s a form of self-expression,” Snell said. “Every piece of music is a unique expression of some aspect of the composer’s feelings and then the expression of the performer’s feelings. And that’s the thing that has to come across more important than anything.”

Snell’s visit was part of a collection of FCC piano events in February. Still to come is a lecture by piano technician Franz Mohr, who has spent his 30-year career tuning the piano of famed pianist Vladimir Horowitz on Feb. 20, as well as a concert of piano duos performed by FCC piano instructor Olga Querica and staff accompanist Matt Horton on Feb. 22.