WINSTON-SALEM – Outstanding current and former students of Clifton Matthews, longtime piano faculty member in the School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), will perform Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14, in Watson Chamber Music Hall on the UNCSA campus, 1533 South Main St., Winston-Salem.

 

Proceeds from the concert will be used to support scholarships for piano students in the UNCSA School of Music.

 

The concert and post-show reception are being presented, in partnership with the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, to honor Matthews, who is retiring at the end of this school year after 43 years of service to UNCSA. 

 

Players participating in the concert include: Mikael Darmanie of Shannon, N.C., class of 2009; Andrew Hudson of Waco, Texas, class of 1989; Daniel Kirk-Foster of New York, N.Y., class of 1988; Patrick Kreeger of Jacksonville, Fla., Summer Session 2006; college senior Jordan Neiman of Kalispell, Mont.; Nelson Padgett of New York, N.Y., class of 1978; Tatjana Rankovich of New York, N.Y., class of 1982; Carlos Rodriguez of Mt. Rainier, Md., class of 1989; Ivan Seng of Asheville, N.C., class of 2005; Ghadi Shayban of Charleston, S.C., class of 2001; Hyunsoon Whang of Lawton, Okla., class of 1980; and Darren Zhu of Winston-Salem, N.C., class of 2005.

 

Tickets for “Grand Piano” are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.  Call the UNCSA Box Office at 336-721-1945 or order tickets online via the box office: www.uncsa.edu/performances/boxoffice.htm.

 

Donations for piano scholarships in honor of Clifton Matthews are also being accepted by the UNCSA Office of Advancement. For more information, or to make a donation, contact Jennifer Blank at 336-770-3330 or blankj@uncsa.edu.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established as the North Carolina School of the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, UNCSA opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from high school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. UNCSA is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. UNCSA is located at 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

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