The Fayette Citizen-Weekend Page
Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Spivey Hall to host acclaimed pianist, soloist

ß Internationally acclaimed pianist Evgeny Kissin will perform an all-Chopin program at Spivey Hall Feb. 2 at 8:15 p.m. Spivey Hall is located on the campus of Clayton College & State University in Morrow.

Born in Moscow in 1971, Kissin showed incredible talent at a very early age before he was 1, he was singing Bach fugues note-perfect from memory. At 2, he could play Chopin ballades, Beethoven sonatas and Liszt rhapsodies by ear. At age 5, he began studying with his first and only music teacher, Anna Pavlovna Kantor.

Stardom came at age 12 when he performed Chopin's Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with the Moscow Philharmonic. He followed that performance with a series of triumphs, making his hugely successful Carnegie Hall debut in 1990 at age 19. Since then, Kissin has toured the world and performed in the most prestigious concert halls, dazzling audiences and critics, and always earning the highest accolades for his artistry.

The New Yorker said, "Kissin's performances are...magnificent scenes of inspiration that materialize before the audience's very eyes."

Tickets for this concert are $50 and are available through the Spivey Hall ticket office, 770-961-3683.

ß Baritone William Sharp and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will perform at Spivey Hall Feb. 7 at 3 p.m.

Sharp, a Grammy nominee for Best Solo Vocal Performance, has been lauded by the New York Times as a "versatile, dark-hued baritone...a sensitive and subtle singer who pays close attention to the special character of every song that he sings."

In 1998, he sand Handel and Haydn with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Mahler's "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" with the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Bach's "St. John Passion" with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and "St. Matthew Passion" with the Cathedral Choral Society in Washington. He also performed pieces by Poulenc, Delage, Auric and Antheil at Lincoln Center.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has the reputation as the premier chamber music organization in the country. That reputation has grown over the years and the group has grown with it. In 1969, the CMSLC started with 20 concerts; its 29th season features 90 performances. They continue to commission and perform new works, while educating young people so that ensuing generations can appreciate chamber music.

Performers for the CMSLC are violinist Any Kavafian, cellist Fred Sherry, Mezz-soprano Theodora Hanslow, and pianists Anne-Marie McDermott and Reiko Uchida.

Tickets for this concert are $35 and available through the Spivey Hall ticket office, 770-961-3683.

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