NATCHITOCHES – Violinist Andrej Kurti and pianist Chialing Hsieh will present a faculty chamber recital on Thursday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. University COVID protocols will be in effect. Those attending are asked to wear a mask. A livestream of the concert will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream.
The recital will feature Debussy’s “Sonata in G Minor,” Chausson’s “Poeme” (composed for violin and orchestra), and Ravel’s “Tziganne” (Rhapsody for violin and orchestra).
Kurti is a native of Belgrade, Serbia. He studied at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and finished his graduate studies in the University of Georgia, where he received doctorate degree in violin performance.
He was a recipient of five first prizes in competitions in Yugoslavia, four first prizes in competitions in Georgia and Florida and a finalist in the MTNA (Music Teacher National Association) Competition in 1998.
In 2004, Kurti became a violin faculty member at Northwestern State. He has appeared as a soloist with many symphony orchestras in the United States, Serbia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Russia and France. He also appeared as a chamber performer in Spain, France, Latvia, Canada and South Korea.
In the non-classical music world, Kurti performed and arranged on more than 40 albums of popular and modern music, which he recorded for many different music labels in the United States.
His latest CD “Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1” was released last year by Blue Griffin Recording.
Kurti has been invited to several international music festivals where he most often performed music written for solo violin. Kurti performed “Six Sonatas for Violin Solo” in his Road to Carnegie nationwide recital series, culminating with his Carnegie Hall debut in 2015.
Hailed as a “brilliant pianist” (Fanfare), Hsieh has performed recitals in Europe, Asia and throughout the United States and has been a featured pianist on seven CD’s for the Centaur, Enharmonic and Ballpark record labels. Hsieh is an assistant professor of collaborative piano at Northwestern State and has given masterclasses throughout the United States and abroad and served as a judge and adjudicator for competitions and events.
A sought-after collaborative pianist, Hsieh has performed with members of the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Memphis. She has performed with the faculty of Julliard, Northwestern University, New England Conservatory, the University of Cincinnati and Arizona State University.
