Barton College / Wilson Symphony Orchestra Welcomes Pianist Boaz Sharon

Boaz Sharon
Boaz Sharon

WILSON, N.C. – Internationally renowned concert pianist, educator, and recording artist Boaz Sharon will perform Beethoven’s first piano concerto as guest soloist with the Barton College / Wilson Symphony Orchestra, as members make their debut performance in the new Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell Theatre. The annual Fall Concert is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 22, at 3 p.m.

The orchestra will also perform Haydn’s symphony no. 100, the “Military Symphony,” so titled because of Haydn’s unusual use of wind and percussion instruments. “We are so excited about presenting this concert with such a dynamic soloist in our wonderful new performing venue,” shared conductor Mark N. Peterson. “The acoustics, sight lines and lighting are wonderful, and the audience is sure to be delighted with the program.”

Sharon is Professor of Piano and Chair of the Piano Department at Boston University and also serves as Director of Piano Studies at the Tanglewood Festival in Lennox, Mass. The Israeli-born Sharon moved to Brussels, Belgium, at the age of 13 to study with renowned Mozart and Chopin interpreter Stefan Askenase for five years. He later continued his studies in the U.S. with William Doppmann, and with Leonard Shure at Boston University.

He served as artist-in-residence at Duke University in Durham prior to joining the University of Florida faculty in 1986. In 1996, he launched the annual Prague International Piano Master classes and has served as its artistic director since its inception. From 2002 to 2007, Sharon was a founding member and faculty member of the artist faculty for the International Certificate for Piano Artists program, affiliated with the École Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot and held in Brussels, Paris, and at the University of Florida.

Among his many awards and recognitions, Sharon is a first-prize winner and Gold Medalist at Spain’s Jaen International Piano Competition. He also is an Honorary Fellow at Prague’s Charles University, one of the oldest universities in Europe. In 1998, Charles University presented him with the Jubilee Medal for outstanding contributions in the piano field upon the university’s 650th anniversary celebration, and he was awarded the 2005 Distinguished International Educator Award from the University of Florida. Sharon also has served on the jury of the Firkusny International Piano Competition in Prague and at the Composers of Spain International Piano Competition in Madrid.

He maintains an active performance schedule and has performed at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., at the National Recital Hall in Taipei, as part of the Steinway Celebrity Series at Britain’s Kingston University, at the Gasteig Recital Hall in Munich, at the International Liszt Festival in Rio de Janeiro and at Prague’s National Museum. He also has been featured with the Israeli Symphony Orchestra and has been heard on the “Steinway Hour” radio program and on National Public Radio. In 2004, Sharon presented 14 recitals and concerts with orchestras from Russia’s Far East, Siberia, the Ural Mountains, European Russia, and Moscow. During that year, he also appeared at Steinway Hall in New York City. Each year since, he has returned to Moscow to participate in a piano festival at the Composers House of Creativity.

During the past two years, Sharon has performed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Prague and has given master classes at the Seoul National University and other universities in South Korea. He also is a founding member and judge of the Liszt International Piano Competition, Moscow, and he has served on the jury of the Jaen International Piano Competition, Spain. Sharon teaches at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the China Conservatory in Beijing, and at the Shenyang and Guangzhou Conservatories where he is a piano faculty member.

Following the concert, the audience is cordially invited to meet the musicians at a reception, hosted by ARAMARK Higher Education, in the Bridgestone Americas Atrium of the Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell Theatre.

Admission for the fall orchestra performance will be $10 at the door or by season ticket. All students within the community will be admitted free of charge as well as faculty, staff and students of Barton College. For additional information, please contact Arlene Bishop-Giese at 252-399-6309 or email: albishopgiese@barton.edu.
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Questions? Please contact Kathy Daughety, director of public relations, at 252-399-6529 or email: kdaughety@barton.edu.