February 8: Hartsville- Coker Concert Association Presents Pianist Michael Gurt

On Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association will present a solo recital from renowned pianist Michael Gurt in Watson Theater on the Coker College campus. The program features two major works, Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Rachmaninoff’s second piano sonata, among other works by Clementi and Villa Lobos.

Gurt is the Paula Garvey Manship Distinguished Professor of Piano at Louisiana State University. He also serves as Piano Mentor at the Hot Springs Music Festival and is the head of the piano department at the Sewanee Summer Music Center. In 1982, he won first prize in the prestigious Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.

Gurt has performed with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Capetown Symphony, the China National Symphony Orchestra, and the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa. He has made solo appearances in Alice Tully Hall in New York, Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, City Hall in Hong Kong, the Victorian Arts Center in Melbourne, Australia, Baxter Hall in Capetown, South Africa, and the Attaturk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Turkey. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School.

“Having Michael Gurt come to Hartsville is an incredible opportunity to expose our community to a giant in the piano world,” said Ryan Smith, assistant professor of music at Coker. “Michael plays with incredible muscularity and stamina, and his program of Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Rachmaninoff’s second piano sonata will demonstrate his enviable skills.” Gurt will also work with Coker’s piano students during his stay in Hartsville.

The concert is the third in the 2014-15 Hartsville-Coker Concert Series. Admission is $25 for adults and free for students under 18 or with a Coker ID. The final concert of the season will be held on March 16 at Center Theater when the HCCA hosts Mithril, an Irish folk group, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

For more information, contact HCCA toll-free at 866-821-4266 or HCCA@coker.edu.