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NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu
)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
3/12/2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES- Pianist Joseph Banowetz will perform at Northwestern State University Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is $10 and free to college or elementary and secondary school students in Louisiana. The recital concludes the 2002-2003 Louisiana Piano International Series.
Banowetz has been heard in recital and as an orchestral soloist on five continents. He has made guest appearances in recent seasons with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the New Zealand Symphony, the Prague Radio Symphony, the Moscow State Symphony, the Belarus National Philharmonic of Minsk, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Shanghai Symphony and the Beijing Central Philharmonic.
During his career, Banowetz has received international critical acclaim for his extensive series of compact disc recordings for the Marco Polo, Naxos and Altarus labels. His world premiere recording of Balakirev works received in 1983 a German Music Critics outstanding record of the year award, and his world premiere recording of Anton Rubinstein's "Concertos No. 1" and "Concerto No. 2" was named as an outstanding international release for 1993 by Fanfare Record Review (U.S.).
A graduate with a first prize from the Vienna Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts, Banowetz also studied with Carl Friedberg (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Gyorgy Sandor (a pupil of Bartok). In addition to his performance and recording activities, he has given lectures and master classes at the Juilliard School of Music, St. Petersburg Conservatory, the Royal College and Guildhall Schools in London, Beijing Central Conservatory, Shanghai Conservatory and Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts. His award-winning book, "The Pianist's Guide to Pedaling," published by the University of Indiana Press, has been printed in five languages.
Banowetz has been invited to serve on many major piano competition juries, including Gina Bachauer International (United States), Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition (Israel), Dvorak International (Prague), Scottish International (Glasgow), Belarussian International (Minsk), and the PTNA Young Artists Competition (Tokyo).
In 1992 Banowetz was presented the Liszt Medal by the Hungarian Liszt Society in Budapest, in recognition of his outstanding performances of Liszt and the Romantic literature. He is a Steinway Artist, and a voting member for the Grammy Awards of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Banowetz has been on the artist-faculty of the University of North Texas College of Music since 1973.