Steinway Artist to Present Solo Recital at Coker College

Jun Matsuo, assistant professor of music at Coker College, will perform a solo recital entitled “Musical Motives: Inspiration, Obsession and Death”at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11 in the Watson Theater on the Coker College campus.

This recital will include works by Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Debussy. A few selections Matsuo will play include Mozart’s Sonata, three pieces by Rachmaninov and three pieces by Debussy, which pieces, Matsuo explains, “share a certain cohesiveness.”

“One aspect of music that intrigues me is how composers create and utilize a motive, which is, perhaps, the most fundamental part in a musical composition,” explained Matsuo. “I would like to share with the audience my point of view and hopefully it will enhance their listening experience in the future.”

“Dr. Matsuo is a consummate musician, a gifted teacher and a wonderful colleague,” said William Carswell, associate music professor and chair of the Department of Music, Theater and Dance. “Her upcoming piano recital, featuring the works of Beethoven, Debussy and Rachmaninov, will showcase her musical talent and will, again, demonstrate why she was recently named a Steinway Artist – one of only five in South Carolina.”

Matsuo, who joined the Coker College staff in 2009 as a visiting assistant professor of music, teaches piano and music theory. She is a frequent performer and has played as a guest in New York, Maine, Florida, North Carolina and Texas, as well as South Carolina. Her overseas activities include a recital and lecture at the Universitii Sains Malaysia in Penang as well as being one of the selected performers at the French Piano Institute in Paris for master classes with Dominique Merlet, Pascal Devoyon, Noel Lee, and Roy Howat.

Matsuo earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Pedagogy from the University of South Carolina and prior degrees from Binghamton University and the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

The Coker College Music, Dance, and Theater Department is sponsoring Matsuo’s performance, which is free and open to the public.