The public is invited to attend several free classical and jazz concerts at the Creative Arts Center this weekend during the annual WVU Keyboard Festival and Competition, which features internationally acclaimed pianists Ann Schein and Stefan Karlsson as special guests.

The only festival of its kind, this annual celebration of the piano offers outstanding artists, teachers, workshops, concerts, panel discussions, competitions and more, all exploring the connections of jazz and classical repertoire, with invited presenters from across the United States and WVU faculty.

Plan to join the WVU School of Music for these cool concerts:

Sunday, June 28, 4 p.m. – Recital with Terry Klinefelter and Friends. This will be a fun, one-hour program with two pianos and percussion, featuring the music of “West Side Story” and other jazz arrangements.

Sunday, June 28, 7 p.m. – A classical and jazz concert by The James Miltenberger Jazz Ensemble, a Morgantown favorite. The group features James Miltenberger, piano, Keith Jackson, trombone, Curtis Johnson and Barbara Green, saxophones, Scott Green, bass, Kevin Lloyd, drums, Lillian Green, viola, and Yana Tyulkova, piano/vocals. The concert will feature the world premiere of a new piece by Russian composer Nikloai Kapustin, who writes classical genres in a jazz style. Yana Tyulkova, who graduated from the WVU School of Music this spring with a doctorate in piano performance, will premiere the work, which was written for her. The concert will also include traditional jazz compositions.

Monday, June 29, 7 p.m. – “A Conversation with Ann Schein.” Come and hear from one of the great pianists of our time. Schein will present an engaging talk with projected images. Her amazing career has earned her high praise in major American and European cities and in more than 50 countries around the world. She has performed with major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the Washington National Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed at the White House and has received many distinguished honors for her performances and recordings. The public is also invited to the reception immediately following this event.

Tuesday, June 30, 7 p.m. – A concert with jazz great Stefan Karlsson, who will play several standard jazz compositions, as well as his own pieces. He will be joined by Scott Green on bass and Kevin Lloyd on drums. Karlsson was born and raised in Vastervik, Sweden, and came to the United States on a scholarship to study at the University of North Texas, where he began touring nationally and internationally with the band “One O’clock Lab Band” before signing recording contract with Justice Records. His recordings have found great success on the national jazz radio charts and his music has been featured in several feature films, as well as on television in “Melrose Place,” “Party of Five,” “Wings” and “Homicide.”

For more information on the WVU Keyboard Festival and Competition, see the website at http://music.wvu.edu/keyboardfestival.

-WVU-

cl/06/24/15

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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