Tarleton Piano Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 1, 2018
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Pianist Gayle Martin performs a solo guest recital at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, in the theater of the Clyde H. Wells Fine Arts Center on the Stephenville campus of Tarleton State University.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students with a valid ID. All seating is general admission. For ticket information, call the Fine Arts Center Box Office at 254-968-9634.
Martin’s public recital opens the weekend Tarleton Piano Festival, at which she will also teach. Tarleton and visiting high school students will perform in a master class setting on Saturday, Oct. 13.
“Gayle Martin is an extraordinary musician, one of the last students of Mme. Rosina Lhevinne, who also taught Van Cliburn,” said Tarleton piano professor Dr. Leslie Spotz. “She is internationally renowned, yet a native of Texas.
“Juilliard trained, with a worldwide career, impeccable technique and wide range, she performs inclusive repertoire, featuring music composed by women and the composers of the Americas. We are delighted to be able to present such an illustrious pianist for our festival.”
Her program will feature works by John Field, Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Judith Shatin, Felix Mendelssohn and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Martin enjoys a distinguished career as a concert pianist, having achieved international prominence as the sole American laureate of the Sixth International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow — the third American woman ever to reach the finals.
In reviewing her solo recital at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, The New York Concert Review wrote that she created “a truly magical atmosphere…and made this listener smile with pleasure.” Her recent CD, “To Keep the Dark Away,” was hailed unanimously by three reviewers at Fanfare Magazine: “Superb performances, staggering interpretations; thought-provoking and deep; beautifully characterized…An infinitely rewarding disc that demands repeated listening.”
Highlights of Martin’s career include performances with the California Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Houston Symphony, the Moscow Radio Philharmonic, the Moravian Philharmonic, the Maracaibo Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Denver Symphony and the Virginia Symphony.
She has toured throughout South America, including an engagement at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina. Other engagements include appearances at the White House and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and numerous performances throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Austria, Poland, Israel, the Czech Republic and mainland China.
A native Texan, Martin began her studies in Houston with Ruth G. Burr, and then continued as one of the last students of the famous pedagogue Mme. Rosina Lhevinne at the Juilliard School, where she received the Josef Lhevinne Prize at graduation. She holds a master’s degree from New York University, where she studied with Eugene List and taught for five years.
The President’s Circle, Dean’s Circle and ULTRA Club at Tarleton are sponsors for the 2018 piano festival. Call 254-968-9241 for festival info.
Tarleton, founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven education marked by academic innovation and a dedication to transform today’s scholars into tomorrow’s leaders. It offers degree programs to more than 13,000 students at Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian, RELLIS Academic Alliance in Bryan, and online, emphasizing real-world learning experiences that address societal needs while maintaining its core values of tradition, integrity, civility, excellence, leadership and service.
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Contact: Phil Riddle, News & Information Specialist
817-484-4415
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