Photo note: To download a photo, see end of the release

Newest UNC piano faculty member to debut as part of Newman series

By JENA WITTKAMP
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Dr. Mayron Tsong, the newest piano faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will offer a combination of Russian and Canadian piano music in her faculty debut performance Friday (Nov. 14).

Tsong’s performance is the second in the music department’s 11^th annual William S. Newman Artists Series.

The 8 p.m. concert in Hill Hall will feature Russian music by composers Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Prokofiev and Sergei Rachmaninov, with additional music from Maurice Ravel, Franz Joseph Haydn and Jean Coulthard.

"We are very happy to have Dr. Tsong joining our faculty this year and expect the recital to be a very exciting event," said Susan Klebanow, associate chair for applied studies and professor in the music department.

Tsong joined the UNC community this year as an assistant professor. Previously, Tsong served for three years as the chair of the piano area at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada.

Tsong was one of the youngest musicians to complete a performer’s diploma in piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, at age 16. She received her bachelor of music and master of music degrees in piano from the University of Calgary and subsequently studied at Rice University in Houston, where she received a master of music degree in theory and a doctorate of musical arts degree in piano.

Since that time, Tsong has played across the United States, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, China and Russia as a solo recitalist, chamber musician and accompanist. Also active as a teacher, clinician and adjudicator in China and Canada, Tsong has recorded for Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio and television. She is a three-time recipient of the Female Doctoral Students Grant, awarded by the Government of Canada.

The series, sponsored by the music department, is now in its 11^th year. It is dedicated to the memory of Dr. William S. Newman (1912-2000), a music professor, historian and performing artist for three decades.

Other series concerts this year include a performance of 17th-century virtuoso solos by Dr. Richard Wistreich, with Nigel North on the chitarrone, March 19; and numerous music department ensembles and choirs presenting four concerts and a symposium April 16-20, collectively titled "Revisions and Rethinkings: A Festival on the Hill." Details are available at http://www.unc.edu/music/newman.html.

Tickets for the series and the Friday concert are on sale in 104 Hill Hall or by calling (919) 962-1039. Tickets for Friday are $15 for adults, $12 for senior citizens and $5 for students.

Paid parking will be available in the Swain lot off Cameron Avenue, behind Hill Hall.

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Photo note: For a downloadable photo of Tsong, click on http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/tsong_mayron.jpg

(Wittkamp, of Raleigh, is a senior majoring in women’s studies and journalism and mass communication.)

Contact: Glenn McDonald, (919) 962-1039
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589