Some students on the UI campus may know Dan Knight as the accompanist and resident composer on the professional staff in the University of Iowa Dance Department.

But the pianist is also honored with the title of being a Steinway Artist, and he will showcase his piano skills in a solo show this weekend.

Knight will give a performance of his "The Walt Whitman Suite" at 3 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.

Knight wrote the suite years ago for a concert at the UI Museum of Art. The concert was part of an international symposium that honored Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

"[The suite] was met with a great deal of success," Knight said. "Right away, I could see that there were a lot of opportunities with all of the imagery and illusions that Whitman makes in his writing."

The musician said he hopes that this solo performance, his first in several years, will be an opportunity for the piece to evolve, much like Leaves of Grass, which Whitman continuously edited throughout his career.

The performance will also feature spoken word and multimedia components. Knight said he is happy about the new fine-arts venue providing a platform for the performance.

"The place is just a jewel box," Knight said. "With the state-of-the-art lighting and sound, and the house [that is] just the right size for me, it’s personal — and the piano is just extraordinary."

— by Hannah Kramer