ISSUED: 2 September 2015
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Department of Music will present the second concert of the 2015-2016 Music Salon Series, sponsored by Jefferson Security Bank, on Thursday, September 10, at 8 p.m. in the Frank Center’s W. H. Shipley Recital Hall. An evening of Czech music will feature Washington, D.C.-based violinist Shu-Ting Yao and pianist Dr. Yu-Hsuan Liao, assistant professor of music. The performance is free and open to the public.
The duo will present a repertoire written around the turn of the 20th century for violin and piano, including Janáček’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano,” Dvořák’s “Violin Concerto,” and Hubay’s “Carmen Fantasie Brillante.”
Yao is a solo and chamber violinist who frequently appears in major concert venues in the United States, Europe, and Asia. She has performed with the Charleston Symphony, Manhattan Symphonie, Apollo Chamber Orchestra, Symphony of the Potomac, Baltimore Philharmonic, Bel Cantanti Opera Orchestra, Toscanini New Orchestra, Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, National String Symphonia, and the Celebrated String Quartet.
Liao is director of keyboard studies at Shepherd. She has performed piano solo, chamber, and accompanying vocal music with the American Repertory Ensemble. Liao’s solo performance with the ensemble, “Valses Poéticos,” Passion at Play, was nominated for best instrumentalist in the Austin Critics Table Award for the 2008-2009 season. She published a book titled “Manuel de Falla’s Cuatro Piezas Españoles: Combinations and Transformations of the Spanish Folk Modes.” Liao is an active member of the West Virginia Music Teachers Association (WVMTA), and has been granted national certification for teachers of music by the Music Teachers National Association. She is the district chair of Eastern Panhandle Music Teachers Association and WVMTA state collaborative performance chair.
Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. For more information about the Shepherd Salon Series or other music department events, call 304-876-5555, or visit www.shepherd.edu/music.
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