BOAZ, Ala. – Snead State Community College is scheduled to host the annual Piano Festival Friday-Sunday, March 10-12, at Fielder Auditorium, located in the Story Administration Building at 220 North Walnut Street in Boaz.
The festival kicks off Friday, March 10, at 7 p.m. with a guest pianist recital featuring Dr. Kevin T. Chance.
Dr. Chance, who was named Teacher of the Year by the Alabama Music Teachers Association and Music Educator of the Year by the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa, has been hailed as “a superlative musician” playing “with musical conviction and muscularity.”
He has performed throughout the United States and abroad as both soloist and collaborator. Recent engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall as well as concerto appearances with Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety and Rachamninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with the Huxford Symphony Orchestra, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the University of Alabama Wind Ensemble, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Athens Chorale in Georgia, and Gerald Finzi’s Eclogue.
Dr. Chance regularly presents workshops and lecture-performances on repertoire and pedagogy throughout the country, and he has served as a guest artist and clinician for the Michigan, Mississippi, and Alabama state music teacher conferences.
Serving as Associate Professor of Piano and Chair of the Gloria Narramore Moody Piano Area at the University of Alabama, Dr. Chance is a former faculty member at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music where he was awarded the Jerald C. Graue Fellowship for academic excellence. An alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival, he holds the Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University and graduated magna cum laude from Birmingham-Southern College.
Following Chance’s performance, a Student Recital is slated for Saturday, March 11, beginning at 6 p.m., and a Master Class will be held Sunday, March 12. Admission to the recitals is free for the community.