Charlie Albright
Lee University will welcome pianist Charlie Albright as opening performer in the 23rd Presidential Concert Series on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Born in Centralia, Wash., Mr. Albright began piano lessons at the age of three. He has studied with Nancy Adsit and has participated in master classes with Richard Goode, Leif Ove Andsnes, and Abbey Simon.
Mr. Albright is a Steinway Artist and a recipient of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the 2013 Arthur W. Foote Award, the 2010 Gilmore Young Artist Award, and winner in the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. His 2013-2014 season included 77 concerts nationwide.
Mr. Albright has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart, the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz, and the Phoenix Symphony, among others. He has collaborated five times with cellist Yo-Yo Ma: at a 10-year anniversary remembrance of 9/11 performing Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time; at a Harvard University ceremony at which Senator Ted Kennedy received an honorary degree; in an event commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, honoring Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison; at the Aspen Institute's "Citizen Artistry" conference at the Danny Kaye Playhouse in New York; and with the Silk Road Project.
Mr. Albright was the youngest artist-in-residence on “Performance Today” during the 2011-2012 season, which included a week of performances and interviews. His debut CD "Vivace" was released by CAPC Music in 2011, featuring works by Haydn, Menotti, Schumann-Liszt, Janácek, Chopin and Albright himself.
He earned an associate of science degree at Centralia College while he was still in high school, and was the first classical pianist accepted to the Harvard College/New England Conservatory joint program, completing his bachelor's degree as a pre-med and economics major at Harvard in 2011. Mr. Albright went on to earn a master of music degree in piano performance at the New England Conservatory in 2012 with Wha-Kyung Byun. He graduated with the prestigious Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, working with Yoheved Kaplinsky.
The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Squires Recital Hall, in the Humanities Center on Lee’s campus. Tickets will be available at the Lee University Dixon Center Box Office, or contact 614-8343, one week prior to the concert, between 3-6 p.m.
For more information about the Presidential Concert Series, please visit http://www.leeuniversity.edu/pcs or call the School of Music at 614-8240.