NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

3/21/2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES -Pianist Kevin Orr will present a recital at Northwestern State University Saturday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. The performance is part of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Tickets are $10. Students from Northwestern, the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts and all students from the state of Louisiana are admitted free.

He will perform works by Johannes Brahms and Jennifer Margaret Baker.

Orr, an assistant professor of piano/piano pedagogy at the University of Florida, has been both a soloist and collaborative performer throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to regular performances and master classes at music schools and universities throughout the U.S., he has been invited twice to give concerts, master classes and lectures at prominent music conservatories in central China. In the summer of 2004, he was Artist in Residence at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

In his career, Orr has premiered solo and ensemble works by several noted composers. He has received the William Kurzban Prize in Piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Aurora Ragiani Martin Piano Award from The Dana School.

Orr studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and at The Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University. With degrees in performance, Orr also holds an undergraduate degree in music education.

While maintaining a primary focus upon classical piano performance and teaching, Orr is also accomplished in other musical styles, including improvisation, which he has incorporated into his teaching. In 2001, he initiated a course at the University of Florida: "Improvisational Keyboard Skills and Related Technology," designed to expose keyboard majors to such intuitive performance skills.

These and other pedagogical interests have led to his presenting numerous papers and pedagogical workshops for various professional organizations, including the College Music Society, the International Conference on Arts and Humanities, and the Florida State Music Teachers Association.

Orr is founder and director of the University of Florida Young Pianists Festival, a weeklong event for pre-college pianists held each year at the School of Music. In addition, he is an active adjudicator for piano competitions.

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