The next winter concert from The Arts Council of the Twin Counties will feature Radford University faculty at 5 p.m. March 26 at the 1908 Courthouse in Independence.
Ranging from classical to folk/Americana, this not-to-be-missed concert features singes and composers Trish Winter & Ferd Bikle; classical guitarist Robert Trent, classical pianist Kwan Yi and Operatic Soprano Youngmi Kim.
The Winter Concert Series is a series of free Sunday afternoon concerts on at the Historic 1908 Courthouse in Independence on select Sundays through April 9. Donations are gratefully accepted at the door and the audience is welcome to stay after the performance for a reception with the artists.
Patricia “Trish” Winter is a board-certified music therapist and assistant professor of music in the music therapy program at Radford University. Ferdinand “Ferd” Bikle is an information technology professional for the 1901 Group in Blacksburg. Trish and Ferd have been composing and performing music together for over twenty-years in the folk/rock /Americana genres and have performed in Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania prior to moving to the New River Valley in 2011.
Robert Trent has performed on the continents of North and South America and in Europe on modern guitar, Renaissance lute, and historic instruments of the nineteenth-century in particular the 10-string Scherzer and authentic 19thc. guitar. A first prize winner in numerous National and International competitions including; the Webb National Guitar Competition, the Masterworks Young Artist Competition (all instruments) and the chamber music prize at the International Competition “Arturo Toscanini” in Italy in Period Instrumental performance.
In addition to his in solo recitals he performs regularly with fortepianist Pamela Swenson Trent (as Duo Firenze). In past summers they have been in residence as performers and teachers in period instrument performance at the “Accademia L’Ottocento” in Rome and Verbania in Italy. Duo Firenze is the recent recipient of numerous awards including: unprecedented two Career grants from The Johns Hopkins University – Peabody Conservatory, two Faculty Development Grant from Radford University, twice from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Dr. Trent is in his 23rd year as Full Professor of Music (Guitar and Renaissance Lute studies) at Radford University where he is in his 16th year as director of Radford University’s Annual International Guitar Festival. Many of his students are performers, educators and administrators at all levels in the U.S., and in Asia.
Kwan Yi has been praised by audiences and critics alike as a pianist of “lyrical elegance” and “ravishing, pitch-perfect clarity”. He has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Center, the Metropolitan and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museums, Jordan Hall, Jones Hall, Mann Performing Arts Center, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Kravis Center of the Arts, Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Auditorium du Louvre, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.
A recipient of many honors and prizes, Mr. Yi’s awards include Mieczyslaw Munz Prize, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, and top prizes in the Sendai International Piano Competition in Japan, and the Trio di Trieste International Chamber Music Competition in Italy. Mr. Yi is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute where he worked with Leon Fleisher and Robert McDonald. Mr. Yi is on faculty at Radford University in Virginia.
South Korean soprano, Youngmi Kim, holds a Doctoral degree in Vocal Performance at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati where she studied voice with Mary Stucky. Dr. Kim has previously served as the voice faculty member at Wilberforce University, OH and currently teaches at Radford University. Dr. Kim is the recipient of numerous accolades including first prize at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition and third prize at the Louisville Bach Society Gerhard Herz Young Artist Competition. She recently made her Carnegie Hall debut as a result of reaching the finals of The Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition where she won the Richard Westenberg Award for 18th Century Stylistic Interpretation.
The final concert this winter will feature UNCSA Flutes at 3 p.m. April 9.
The Arts & Cultural Council of the Twin Counties is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts throughout the Twin Counties. The Arts Council is funded in part by area individuals and businesses, local municipalities, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, please visit the Arts Council website, www.artsculturalcouncil.org or call the office at 276-238-1217.
— Submitted by
Laura Romanowski
