Princeton University faculty pianist Francine Kay will perform the opening concert of the third season of Drake University’s Keys to Excellence Piano Series, which raises awareness of Drake’s fundraising efforts for the purpose of purchasing 70 brand new Yamaha pianos for the music department.
Kay’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday, October 26, in Sheslow Auditorium, 2507 University Ave. The concert is free and open to the public.
Noted for innately original and artistic interpretations, Canadian pianist Francine Kay has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, North America and Asia, at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, Salle Gaveau, The National Gallery, Roy Thomson Hall, The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, and Bargemusic. She has been soloist with the Toronto Symphony, the Princeton Symphony, New York’s West Side Chamber Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra London, among others, under conductors Georg Tintner, Mark Laycock, Nurhan Arman, Agnes Grossman, Kevin Mallon, Jonathan Yates, and Simon Streatfeild. Her recordings of Debussy, Ravel, and Satie, on the Analekta and Audio Ideas label have received international acclaim. Her performances have been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, WFMT, Radio France, and the CBC.
Francine Kay is a regular guest faculty artist at the Zodiac Festival and Academy in France, the International Course of Interpretation at the Chopin State School in Nowy Sacz, Poland, and the Icicle Creek International Chamber Music Festival.
Ms. Kay has performed at the Banff, Orford, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Newport, and Music Mountain Festivals. Kay made her New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as winner of the New York Pro Piano Competition. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Juilliard School studying with Adele Marcus, the Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School, and she received her Doctor of Musical Arts from SUNY Stony Brook under Gilbert Kalish. Her significant mentors include Leon Fleisher, Gyorgy Sebok, and Marek Jablonski.
The Keys to Excellence Series brings internationally acclaimed artists to perform on the Yamaha CFX concert grand at Drake University. The series is sponsored by Yamaha, West Music, Civic Music Association, and Drake University. For more information, contact Nicholas Roth at 515-321-5947 or Nicholas.Roth@Drake.edu
KEYS TO EXCELLENCE PIANO CONCERT SERIES 2015-16:
OCTOBER 26: Francine Kay – Princeton University
NOVEMBER. 30: Nicholas Roth – Drake University
FEBRUARY 8: Nicholas Phillips – University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
MARCH 28: Ani Gogova
APRIL 18: Daniel Shapiro – Cleveland Institute of Music.
All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium and are free and open to the public.