Sarasota Concert Association presents
Solo Pianists
Heqing Huang and Emily Charlson
In a Munchtime Musicales Performance
January 21 § David Cohen Hall
(Sarasota, Florida) The Sarasota Concert Association’s free Munchtime Musicales series continues its 2015 season with pianists Heqing Huang and Emily Charlson, Wednesday, January 21, noon, in David Cohen Hall at the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. The two young artists took first and second place at the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s 2014 Competition for Piano, which awards prizes and scholarships to Florida’s top emerging musical talents. Their programs will include works by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Frederic Rzewski. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information about Munchtime Musicales, call 941-351-7467, or visit www.scasarasota.org.
Heqing Huang began studying piano at age four in his native China and, since 2002, has accumulated prizes and acclaim at competitions and performances across the globe. Most recently, Huang was a finalist in the 4th Wiesbaden International Piano Competition in Germany, and the 2013 Chautauqua Piano Competition. Last May, he took first prize in the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s piano competition with his performances of works by Prokofiev, Bach, Beethoven and Chopin. As a soloist, Huang has performed with the Lynn Philharmonic and the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra after he won their concerto competitions in 2011.
A recent graduate of Florida State University, Emily Charlson was introduced to the piano at age four by her grandmother and continued her studies throughout grade school and high school. At age 15, Charlson made her solo debut playing Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major. The following year, she won the Edward and Ida Wilcox Young Artist Competition and the opportunity to perform MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Sarasota Orchestra. Her most recent awards include first place in FSU’s 2013 Annual Competitive Festival for Pianists and second place in the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s 2014 Piano Competition. Charlson currently teaches at the Thomasville Music Academy in Georgia.
Munchtime Musicales is a series of free concerts featuring performances by high-caliber, area-based artists. The series is designed to offer a wide variety of musical genres, including classical, folk, and jazz, featuring both vocal and instrumental performers. The 2015 concert season continues with the Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra, conducted by Paul Wolfe, co-founder of the Sarasota Music Festival (February 18, 2015); Studio Artists from the Sarasota Opera, Sarasota’s ambassadors of opera who bring this musical form to stages beyond the walls of the Sarasota Opera House (March 18, 2105); and the State College of Florida Chamber Choir, an 18-person vocal ensemble that performs repertoire spanning from Renaissance madrigals to contemporary jazz (April 8, 2015). All performances are at noon at the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. The series is free and open to the public. Seating is open; no reservations taken. For more information about Munchtime Musicales, call 941-351-7467 or visit www.scasarasota.org.
Sarasota Concert Association’s 2015 Great Performers Series at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall includes the return of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Pinchas Zukerman (January 14, 2015); the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing “Folk Inspirations” (January 26, 2015); the Dresden Philharmonic, led by Michael Sanderling, with cellist Johannes Moser (March 1, 2015); the Takács Quartet with pianist Joyce Yang (March 17, 2015); and celebrated pianist Murray Perahia (March 25, 2015). In February, the organization celebrates its 70th season with a special concert featuring renowned pianist/composer Dick Hyman (February 11, 2015). Great Performers Series concerts are at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Subscriptions for all five concerts are $155, $195, $235, and $265. Individual tickets range in price from $40 to $75. Season subscriptions and individual tickets are available by calling 941-225-6500 or by visiting www.scasarasota.org.
About the Sarasota Concert Association
The Sarasota Concert Association (SCA) is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to foster an appreciation for the musical arts by sponsoring professional presentations not otherwise available in the community. The SCA endeavors to set ticket fees as reasonably as possible, in order to make the performances available to a wide audience. It provides outreach to all members of the regional community by offering a series of free concerts, Munchtime Musicales, held from November through April every year. For more information about SCA, visit www.scasarasota.org.
