Parrs to present duo piano recital at SFA

Pianists Dr. Andrew, SFA professor of music, and Linda Parr, member of the Music Preparatory faculty, will present a duo piano recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

NACOGODOCHES, TEXAS - Dr. Andrew and Linda Parr will present a duo piano recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Cole Concert Hall as part of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music's Cole Performing Arts Series.

For the Valentine's Day recital, the couple has chosen to "dedicate the program to the love of music, performing music we love to play," explained Andrew. "We hope our audience will find it a fitting way to celebrate the holiday."

Major works on the program are W.A. Mozart's "Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos, K. 448," which Andrew described as "flashy, yet with considerable emotional depth," and Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos, Op. 17."

"Besides the movement appropriately entitled 'Romance,' which recalls emotional qualities of Rachmaninoff's famous second piano concerto, the suite features a March, a Waltz and a Tarantella," said Andrew. "The pianos together reach almost orchestral effects."

Works by Edvard Grieg and Maurice Ravel round out the program.

Andrew Parr, who joined the SFA faculty in 1983, has performed extensively in solo, chamber and concerto settings. Highlights include a performance of Aaron Copland's "Piano Concerto" with the Belgrade Philharmonic in the former Yugoslavia, Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 4" with the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, Chopin's "Concerto No. 2 in F minor" with the San Antonio Symphony and the Orchestra of the Pines, Prokofiev's "Piano Concerto No. 3 in C" with the Orchestra of the Pines and Longview Symphony, and Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy" with the Orchestra of the Pines.

He began studying piano at the age of 5. He furthered his education at Kent State University, at the Hochschule fur Musik and Darstellende Kunst in Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar, and at Yale University where he earned his master's and doctoral degrees.

Linda Parr, who served on the SFA piano faculty from 1986 to 2010, has participated in numerous Chamber Music in the Pines Festivals and has been on the Music Preparatory faculty since 1983. She is a founding member of the Sylvan Chamber Ensemble, pianist in a duo-piano team with her husband, Andrew Parr, and an active recitalist.

Linda earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance from Kent State University and also studied at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. For tickets or more information, please visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS. Cole Concert Hall is located in the Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.