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Lee’s University’s 20th Presidential Concert Series promises a variety of top performers, including pianists, violinists, an organist, an orchestra and more. These world-class performances will begin with pianist Ilya Yakushev on Sept. 13, 2011.

Winner of the 2005 World Piano Competition, Ilya Yakushev opens this year’s concert series on Tuesday, Sept. 13. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Yakushev won his first award at age 12 as a prize winner of the Young Artists Concerto Competition. His San Francisco Symphony performances in 2007 were included in the top ten classical music events of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, and prompted a return to the Symphony in September 2009.

He attracted international attention in December 2006, presenting solo recitals at such venues as the Bechstein Center in Berlin and Vienna’s Musikverein. Yakushev has performed in various venues worldwide, including Glinka Philharmonic Hall (St. Petersburg), Victoria Hall (Singapore), Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York), and Sejong Performing Arts Center (Seoul, Korea) where he was a recipient of the prestigious Gawon International Music Society’s Award.

Back by popular demand, the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra (CSO) will perform in the Conn Center on Monday, Oct. 24 under the baton of new maestro Kayoko Dan, featuring solo pianist Ning An. The performance, a sequel to last year’s appearance of An with CSO, promises all the power and precision of the 2010 combination with a new selection of music.

An, accomplished pianist and music professor at Lee, has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra and many more. He has been invited to perform at several music festivals and is the recipient of top prizes from associations world-wide.

On Monday, Nov. 7, famed trumpeter Allen Vizzutti will return to Lee for his second appearance in the presidential series. He first appeared here in 2007. He was awarded first chair in the World Youth Symphony Orchestra after winning the concerto competition at age 16. Since then, Vizzutti has appeared as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Germany, St. Louis, Seattle, New York, Buffalo, Phoenix, Vancouver and Winnipeg to name a few.

Vizzutti has performed on over 100 motion picture sound tracks, such as Back To The Future, Rocky II, and Star Trek, as well as countless TV shows, commercials and recordings with such artists as Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, the Commodores and Prince. His continued commitment to music education and the value of music in everyday life results in an extensive schedule of guest appearances at universities throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.

Organist Burkard Schliessmann will be at Lee on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, featuring the first public performance on the new chapel’s Rodgers R376 organ. As an orchestral soloist, Schliessmann has appeared with the Munich Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Symphony Orchestra Wuppertal and the New Philharmonic Westfalia, earning international recognition for his compelling performances, featuring clarity and subtlety at the highest technical level.

Schleissmann has received many awards and honors as recitalist, recording artist, orchestral soloist and chamber musician. His album, ‘Chopin-Schumann Anniversary Edition 2010′ on MSR-Classics, recently released worldwide, has received the “Critics’ Choice Award 2010” from American Record Guide.

Manuel Barrueco, internationally recognized as one of the most important guitarists of our time, will be at Lee on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. His career has been dedicated to bringing the guitar to the main musical centers of the world. His commitment to contemporary music and to the expansion of the guitar repertoire has led him to collaborations with many distinguished composers such as Steven Stucky, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky.

During three decades of concertizing, Barrueco has performed across the US from the New World Symphony in Miami to New York’s Lincoln Center. His international tours have taken him such places as the Royal Albert Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Philharmonie in Berlin. He has appeared on a wide array of American television programs including “CBS Sunday Morning”, A&E’s “Breakfast with the Arts”, and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on PBS.

The concert series will conclude on Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012 with Ysaÿe (string) Quartet. The quartet was formed in 1984 while the members were still students at the Paris Conservatoire. They gained international recognition in 1988 by being the first French quartet to win the Grand Prix at the Evian International Competition. Having a deep interest in contemporary music, their performances have been a catalyst for new works by Boucourechliev, Dusapin, Krawczyk, Monnet, Tanguy, and Escaich.

The quartet’s international schedule includes regular appearances in the US, Asia, and throughout Europe. Their discography includes recordings of works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Ravel and Fauré for various recording companies. In 2003 the Ysaÿe Quartet founded its own record label (Ysaÿe Records/Aeon), and their most recent releases feature repertoire by Haydn, Schumann, Mozart, Magnard, Fauré, Beethoven and Franck.

Tickets will be available at the Lee University box office in the Dixon Center or by phone (423) 614-8343 one week prior to each concert, between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m.

For more information about Presidential Concert Series or the performers, please call the School of Music at (423) 614-8240.

Photo:  (from top l to r) Yakushev, Dan, An, Vizzutti, Schiessmann, Barrueco, Ysaye Quartet