Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Two-piano recital scheduled for Jan. 28
BRYN MAWR » Jeffrey Brillhart and Laura Ward will bring light into the dark days of winter with a TwoPiano Recital on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. in the Sanctuary at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Their performance features works by Mozart, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and more. It is their third appearance together at the church, and it promises to be a delightful hour of music making.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Claude Debussy’s death, they will present his monumental work for two pianos, En Blanc et Noir. The composer wrote that the movements “derive their color and feeling merely from the sonority of the piano.”
A pianist and co-founding artistic director of Lyric Fest, Ward has been gracing Philadelphia audiences with her powerful, sensitive accompanying since arriving here in 1998. As a distinguished collaborative pianist, she is known for both her technical ability and vast knowledge of repertoire and styles. A native of Texas, Ward received her bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, holds a master’s degree in Piano Accompanying at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and a doctorate in Accompanying from the University of Michigan as a student of Martin Katz.
Brillhart is director of music and fine arts at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, and he is on the music faculty at Yale University, where he teaches organ improvisation. Brillhart is also music and artistic director of Philadelphia’s famed Singing City Choir. A native of Iowa, his teachers include organists Carl B. Staplin, Arthur Poister, Russell Saunders, and pianist Barbara ListerSink. Further studies with Olivier Latry and Philippe Lefebvre in organ improvisation led to his winning first prize in the American Guild of Organists’ National Competition in Organ Improvisation in 1994.
The suggested offering for this program is $10 per person. Following this concert, a reception will honor the performers and provide viewers the opportunity to enjoy a solo show of the works of Ray Sternbergh, father of BMPC member Jennifer Huth. The reception also opens an exhibit for Black History Month to recognize four historic black churches in Ardmore and two churches in Bryn