March 24th: Coker College Presents "The Music of China"

Internationally acclaimed pianist and Steinway Artist, Sandra Wright Shen, will present a recital at7:30 p.m. Monday, March 24 at Coker College.

The recital will be held in the Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center and is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the performance.

The program will explore Chinese folksongs, poetic scenery and the Peking opera.

Shen has won first place in numerous international piano competitions, including the 2012 International Piano competition of France, the 1997 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the Mieczyslaw Munz Piano Competition.

Shen has produced recordings, including a debut CD featuring Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, released by Taiwan Rock Music. She has played at various benefit concerts for disaster relief, orphanages, foster children and underprivileged children’s music education.

Shen received her Bachelors and Masters of Music in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory. She is on the piano faculty at Brevard Music Festival.

Additional information about Shen is available online at http://sandrashen.com. For more information about the music program at Coker College, visit www.coker.edu.

October 3rd: A Night to Remember with David Osborne at Coker College

David Osborne, a renowned Steinway Artist and Las Vegas, Nev., pianist, is returning to Hartsville for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3 in the Watson Theater of Coker College’s Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center. A cocktail reception will be held after the event in the Stein Gallery.

Tickets for the event are $40 for single attendees and $75 for couples. They are available at the Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Goodson Accounting office or from Wes Daniels in Coker’s development office. Proceeds will benefit Coker’s All-Steinway Initiative.

Osborne, nicknamed “Pianist to the Presidents,” has shared his musical talent at The White House for various U.S. presidents such as Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Obama. His musical styles fall into the classifications of romantic, jazz, pop, classical, inspirational and Broadway. Osborne also plays for crowds at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. This performance will be Osborne’s first at Coker since 2010.

As a designated Steinway Artist, Osborne has sold more than seven million copies of his 27 albums under the North Star music label. His success has allowed him to be considered as one of the country’s leading romantic piano recording artists. Osborne also highlighted his achievements with a star at the historic Paramount Theater in Hollywood, Calif., and a lifetime piano achievement award. Osborne tours and performs throughout the United States.

Coker is in the process of becoming an All-Steinway School – a commitment to using Steinway-designed instruments in classrooms, practice studios and in performance spaces campus-wide. It will give Coker a distinction held by less than one percent of colleges and universities worldwide.

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.

Coker's Matsuo named Steinway Artist

In a surprise campus presentation this week, Associate Professor of Music Will Carswell announced that Assistant Professor of Music Jun Matsuo has been designated a Steinway Artist.

“A pianist who achieves the title ‘Steinway Artist’ reveals to those who study with that artist, and those who hear that artist perform, that they are serious about their craft and are committed to extraordinary results as a teacher and performer,” said Carswell, who chairs Coker’s department of dance, music and theater, coordinates the music and music education programs and directs the choral studies program.

“Steinway & Sons is proud to welcome Jun Matsuo to our illustrious roster of Steinway Artists,” said Steinway & Sons President – Americas Ron Losby.  “Matsuo has demonstrated not only a commitment to personal excellence, but also a commitment to bringing out excellence in her students. It is especially fitting that Professor Matsuo teaches at Coker College, which has committed to becoming an All-Steinway School.”

In accepting the award, Matsuo deflected the attention from the prestigious accomplishment to her music, saying simply, “I’ll be playing here next Monday.”

Last month, the music program presented a gala concert to celebrate the College’s All-Steinway Initiative, a commitment to using Steinway-designed instruments in classrooms, practice studios and in performance spaces campus-wide and to engaging a Steinway Artist on the faculty.

Less than one percent of colleges and universities worldwide are designated as All-Steinway Institutions.  Coker will be one of only three colleges in South Carolina with this distinction.

Jyotindra Parekh, owner of Rice Music House of Columbia, S.C., a Steinway partner in the region since 1924, his wife, Mary, and Losby were present for the celebration.

Matsuo joined the Coker College faculty in 2009 as a visiting assistant professor of music, teaching piano and music theory.

She is versatile as both a solo and collaborative performer. In addition to South Carolina, she has appeared as a guest pianist in New York, Maine, Florida, North Carolina and Texas. Her international activities have included a recital and lecture at the Universitii Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia; performances of Spanish and South American Music for Cello and Piano in Japan; and master classes with Dominique Merlet, Pascal Devoyon, Noel Lee, and Roy Howat at the French Piano Institute in Paris, France. She also recently presented a lecture on Carl Czerny at the World Piano Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia. 

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.

Matsuo’s teachers include Nanako Tamaki, Kathryn Stuart, Peter Takacs, Walter Ponce and Charles Fugo as well as Diane Richardson and John Keene in collaborative study. 

Matsuo and cellist Richard Thomas will perform a recital, which is free and open to the public, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5 in the Hannah Lide Coker Recital Hall.

For more information about music programs at Coker College, please contact Carswell at 843-383-8063 or wcarswell@coker.edu.