SFA's Parr to present 'Contrasts in Romantic Piano Music'

Andrew Parr

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present Andrew Parr in a faculty piano recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

A presentation of the Cole Performing Arts Series, the recital will feature Parr performing "Contrasts in Romantic Piano Music." The program includes Johannes Brahms' Piano Sonata No 1, Op. 1 and a group of pieces by Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz from his "Iberia Suite."

"The Brahms work is the first composition that the composer permitted to be published," Parr said. "It was written to be a virtuoso vehicle for recitals by the young Brahms, when he was still a performing pianist."

The "Iberia Suite" of Albéniz is a collection of 12 pieces written to portray different regions of Spain, particularly in the mountainous region of the Iberia peninsula, which includes areas of Spain and Portugal, Parr explained.

"I will present some selections from this Suite, which is generally considered to make enormous technical demands of the performer," he said.

Parr is professor of piano in the SFA School of Music and has performed extensively in solo, chamber and concerto settings. He has presented guest recitals and master classes at universities in Texas, regionally, and in international venues such as Hong Kong. He was a member of the piano faculty at the Vienna Piano Academy in Vienna, Austria, helped to create the First International Piano Camp for students in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was among the artist faculty of the Interharmony Music Festival in Arcidosso, Italy, and joined the jury of the Second International Iberoamericano Competition for Young Pianists in Santo Domingo in 2016. He has been awarded the Teaching Excellence Award for the SFA College of Fine Arts and in 2016 was awarded the Outstanding Collegiate Teaching Achievement Award for Texas by the Texas Music Teachers Association.

Recital tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.