The College of Southern Maryland welcomes classical pianist, Mark Laverty, to perform at the Ward Virts Concert Series at 3 p.m., Nov. 14 at the Prince Frederick Campus, Room 119. Lavertys performance is the second of six in the concert series, which is held at CSMs Prince Frederick Campus, 115 Williams Road, Prince Frederick.
Laverty is an award-winning artist who began his musical career playing piano when he was five years old. He studied with Jane Allen at the St. Louis Conservatory and Veronica Jochum at the New England Conservatory. He earned a bachelor of music education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, his masters in piano and chamber music at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance at the University of Missouri Kansas City.
He was chosen by the University of Miami (Florida) to attend its Music Institute in Salzburg, Austria, which included studies in piano and vocal accompaniment, as well as performances. Laverty won the 1995 Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition and was the 2004 first-place finalist of the Robert M. Spire piano competition at the University of Nebraska Omaha. In 2008 Laverty was selected by the Missouri Arts Council and the Mid-America Arts Alliance to be on its Artist Rosters.
His debut CD, Music of Bach, recorded at Tanglewood, was released in 2007, and is available at www.CDbaby.com, www.iTunes.com and at www.MarkLaverty.com. Currently, in the 2010-11 season Laverty will perform concerts in St. Louis, Washington D.C., and Tennessee. Laverty plans to perform a Chopin set in honor of the composer's bicentennial, as well as other works as part of the Ward Virts Concert Series.
The Ward Virts Concert Series is presented by Edward and Patricia Mehosky, St. Clair and Mary Tweedie, Gerry Van De Velde and Rene Cunningham and CSM. The centerpiece of the concert series is a world-class Boesendorfer Grand Piano, which was gifted to CSM by the Ward Virts Piano Project as a gift to the entire community.
The WVPP was formed by friends and classmates of pianist Ward Virts, whose sudden death in 1993 inspired them to purchase this hand-made piano and dedicate the piano to CSM Prince Frederick Campus in Wards memory. Inspired by Ward's life and spirit, his friends and classmates conceived the project in order to bring the love of life, beauty and music that Ward embodied to a new generation of Southern Maryland students, performers and appreciative audiences.
Admission is free and seating is open but limited. Contact 443-550-6011, rfleming@csmd.edu or www.csmd.edu/Arts.
Calendar Listing
CSM Ward Virts Concert Series: Mark Laverty. 3 p.m., Nov. 14, College of Southern Maryland, Prince Frederick Campus, Room 119, 115 J.W. Williams Road, Prince Frederick. Award-winning classical pianist Mark Laverty will perform as part of the Ward Virts Concert Series, presented by Edward and Patricia Mehosky, St. Clair and Mary Tweedie, Gerry Van De Velde and Rene Cunningham and CSM. Laverty plans to perform a Chopin set in honor of the composer's bicentennial, as well as other works. Open seating. Free. 443-550-6011, rfleming@csmd.edu , or http://www.csmd.edu/Arts.