COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON YOUNG ARTISTS SERIES RETURNS TO PICCOLO SPOLETO
Young Artists Series • where tomorrow’s stars perform alongside well-established guests and alumni
What was once considered the “Best Kept Secret” of Piccolo Spoleto sold out several shows in 2008. The series opens Saturday, May 23 and runs through Saturday, June 6. All performances begin at 12:00 noon in the Recital Hall located in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. Admission is $7 at the door, $5 for Seniors, and free for ages under 18. Each concert will last approximately one hour. Call 953-5927 for more information.
The performers have won competitions such as the Chopin American Piano Competition, the Music Teachers National Association, Hilton Head International Piano Competition, the Vina del Mar International Piano Competition, the SC Metropolitan Opera Auditions, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and many others. They are coached by a distinguished faculty that includes violinist Lee Chin Siow, cellist Natalia Khoma, soprano Deanna McBroom, guitarist Marc Regnier and pianist Enrique Graf.
Saturday, May 23 – Piano recital featuring Chopin Etudes, Waltzes, Ballade, Barcarolle, and the ever-popular Funeral March Sonata. (Lise Lee, Chee Hang See, David Keiser, Manuel Toro, and 14-year-old virtuoso Micah McLaurin)
Monday, May 25 – The Charleston Academy of Music faculty perform the Robert Schumann Piano Quartet and Song by Erik Satie and Francis Poulenc. -Greg Guay (classical guitar); Mary Hubbell (soprano) and Susan McAdoo (piano); the Schumann Piano Quartet: Irina Pevzner (piano), Tomas Jakubek (violin), Peter Kiral (viola), and Yun Hao Jiang (cello)
Tuesday, May 26 – All About the American Song: Henriet Fourie, Graham Bridges, Christopher Green, Elizabeth Ivory, Michal Johnson, Elise Darrow, Peter Kiral, Yun Hao Jiang – w/ Robin Zemp and Irina Pevzner
Wednesday, May 27 – Fabiola Pinheiro will play piano works from her native Brazil, and Irwin Jiang and Sean Kennard play Ravel’s Concerto for the Left-Hand and Orchestra.
Thursday, May 28 – Chamber music groups perform Schubert, Schumann, Franck, and Prokofieff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 played by Yusuke Komura and Manuel Toro
Friday, May 29 – International Prize Winner, Sean Kennard, plays transcriptions by Rachmaninoff and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with String Ensemble
Saturday, May 30 – Piano Concertos by Beethoven, Gershwin, Prokofieff, and Rachmaninoff played on two pianos by Christopher Lin, Chee Hang See, Sean Kennard, Valeria Diaz, Yusuke Komura, Lisa Lee, and David Keiser
Monday, June 1 – Highlights from the Broadway and Opera Stage: Henriet Fourie, Valerie Osborn, Johnathan White, Benjamin Pulsipher, Andrea Horath – with Robin Zemp
Tuesday, June 2 – Irina Pevzner, Irwin Jiang, and Yusuke Komura play favorites by Brahms and Liszt
Wednesday, June 3 – “A Grand Day for Singing”: Vocal selections from prize-winning singers, Henriet Fourie, Johnathan White, and Valerie Osborn – with Robin Zemp
Thursday, June 4 – Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 1 with David Keiser and Lisa Lee, other works for Cello and Piano, and a Guitar Concerto with Fernando Troche
Friday, June 5 – Irina Pevzner and my friend from Uruguay, Eduardo Gilardoni, will accompany Soprano Maria Antunez and Tenor Martin Nusspaumer in Songs of Edward Hart and South America
Saturday, June 6 – The College of Charleston Opera closes with Where Do We Fit In?, with David Templeton directing. A compilation of scenes from shows performed both on Broadway and the opera house. Scenes included are from Student Prince, Bernstein’s Candide, Kismet, Weill’s Street Scene and A Little Night Music! (John White, Henriet Fourie, Valerie Osborn, Ben Pulsipher and others)