News

Lee University’s 23rd Presidential Concert Series promises a variety of top performers, including vocalists, pianists, violinists, and more. These world-class performances will begin with pianist Charlie Albright on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Hailed as “among the most gifted musicians of his generation” by The Washington Post, Albright has been praised for his “jaw-dropping technique and virtuosity meshed with a distinctive musicality” by The New York Times.

Recipient of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the 2010 Gilmore Young Artist Award, and winner in the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Albright’s 2013-2014 season included 77 concerts nationwide. He is also a Steinway artist and was the recipient of the 2013 Arthur W. Foote Award.

Albright has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart, the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz, and the Phoenix Symphony, among others.

On Friday, Nov. 21, The Piano Men will continue the Presidential Concert Series, supported by the Lee Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Robert Bernhardt.

Whether it is his country music, contemporary Christian music, or the music of Billy Joel and Elton John, The Piano Men’s lead singer Jim Witter’s versatility as an artist has allowed him the opportunity to reach out with his music to audiences of all ages across Canada and the United States. From his first self-titled record to “All My Life” and “Forgiveness,” Witter has had ten Top 10 radio hits in Canada, seven hit videos on CMT, and impressive chart action in the U.S. on both the Billboard and R&R charts.

Witter’s songwriting and music have been recognized on both sides of the border, earning him multiple awards and nominations from the Canadian Country Music Association, the Juno Awards, and most recently the Dove Awards in Nashville, where Witter’s album “Forgiveness” was nominated for inspirational album of the year.

Chris Brubeck’s Triple Play will take the stage on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015. Triple Play will feature Brubeck on electric bass, bass trombone, piano, and vocals; Peter Madcat Ruth on harmonica, guitar, jaw harp, percussion, and vocals; and Joel Brown on folk and classical guitar and vocals.

Triple Play frequently plays in concert halls, clubs and festivals, including performing many of Brubeck’s symphonic arrangements with orchestras across the U.S. Paul deBarros, writer for The Seattle Times and Downbeat, commented, “Triple Play is what jazz always was and always should be about: good-time rhythm, unbridled joy and the sweet release but bittersweet aftertaste of the blues.”

On Feb. 3, 2015, the concert series will welcome international recording and touring artist Chanticleer.

Called “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker, the San Francisco based GRAMMY® award winning ensemble Chanticleer embarks upon its 37th season, performing throughout the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden. Since the group began releasing recordings in 1981, they have sold well over a million albums and won two GRAMMY® awards.

Chanticleer was named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in 2008, and installed in the American Classical Music Hall of Fame the same year.

“Ning and Friends” will close out the season on March 31, 2015, featuring the Arianna String Quartet, violinist Janet Sung, and Lee’s own Ning An on piano.

The Quartet has appeared throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia, with frequent visits to Brazil and South Africa. They have collaborated with many of the world’s finest musicians, including members of the Vermeer, Tokyo, Cleveland and Juilliard Quartets. Their live performances have been heard on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” and “Live from Music Mountain,” which broadcasts to 125 stations in the U.S. and to 35 countries. They have recorded for Albany Records and Urtext Digital Classics, and have a long-term contract with Centaur Records.

The Arianna String Quartet has been full-time faculty at the University of Missouri – St. Louis since 2000. They are also Ensemble-in-Residence at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis, where they present their own series of concerts.

Sung has been guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Aspen Chamber Symphony, among others. Abroad, she has been heard with South Korea’s Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra, Germany’s Stelzen Festival Orchestra and Russia’s Omsk Philharmonic Orchestra and National Symphonic Orchestra of Bashkortostan. Her solo performances have frequently been aired on radio and television, nationally and internationally, including multiple broadcasts of her performance of Korngold’s Violin Concerto on NPR’s “Performance Today.”

Highly sought after as an artist-teacher, Sung has conducted masterclasses throughout the country, including the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, Harvard University and The Juilliard School. She has also served as faculty at The Juilliard School (initially as the Starling/DeLay Institute Fellow), State University of New York at Fredonia School of Music, Hot Springs Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival and the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp. Sung began as a full-time faculty member at DePaul University School of Music in fall 2010.

An, an assistant professor of music at Lee’s School of Music, is hailed by the New York Concert Review as a musician who “combines a flawless technique and mastery of the instrument with an expressive power that is fueled by profound and insightful understanding.”

An’s top prizes from the Queen Elizabeth, Cleveland, and William Kapell Piano competitions led to performances across the globe, from Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital and Milan’s Salle Verdi to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. He has performed with some of the world’s great ensembles, including the Ysaÿe, Daedalus, and Takács quartets, as well as with renowned instrumentalists Paul Neubauer, Andres Diaz, and Soovin Kim.

Tickets will be available at the Lee University Box Office in the Dixon Center, or contact 423-614-8343, one week prior to each concert, between 3 and 6 p.m.

For more information about the Presidential Concert Series, please visit https://www.leeuniversity.edu or call the School of Music at (423) 614-8240.