NATCHITOCHES – A guest artist recital featuring Dennis Parker on cello and Dr. Ying-Shan Su on piano will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. The recital will be live streamed at nsula.edu/capa/capalivestream.
Parker was born in New York City and began his cello studies at the age of six. He received his early training with Channing Robbins of the Juilliard School and later earned degrees from Indiana University and Yale University.
Since 1988, Parker has served as professor of cello and string chamber music at the Louisiana State University School of Music. A former member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Parker has also served as principal cellist of the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In 2003 he recorded to DVD the first complete performance of David Popper’s “High School of Cello Playing” and authored the accompanying manual, “Popper Manifesto.”
Parker appears frequently as soloist, recitalist, collaborator and guest professor at universities and festivals worldwide. He is actively involved in the expansion of the existing cello repertoire, and has transcribed many important works for his instrument: Parker has also released CDs on the Centaur label:
Su, a native of Taiwan, joined the faculty at Nicholls in fall 2022. Prior to joining the Nicholls State faculty, she served as the collaborative pianist at Northwest Missouri State University, Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Lee University. She also taught at both Lee University and Cleveland State Community College as a piano instructor.
Su has received a Government Scholarship to Study Abroad from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to pursue a doctorate degree in collaborative piano. She has participated in festivals and conferences such as the Women Composers Festival of Hartford, the Music by Women Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute and the National Collegiate Choral Organization National Conference. Her degrees are from the University of Maryland, Lee University and National Taiwan Normal University.
