The College of Southern Maryland welcomes pianist Thomas Pandolfi to perform at the Ward Virts Concert Series at 3 p.m., April 1 at the Prince Frederick Campus, Room 119. The performance is the fifth of six in the concert series, which is held at CSMs Prince Frederick Campus, 115 J.W. Williams Road, Prince Frederick.
Pandolfi is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he earned his bachelor and master degrees as a scholarship student. He previously performed in the 2009-10 Ward Virts series season. His orchestral appearances often feature Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Liszt, Paderewski, Rubinstein and Moszkowski as well as works in the pop genre. Pandolfi is considered a leading interpreter of the works of George Gershwin.
Pandolfi has performed in Canada, Germany and China, and he was guest soloist in the world premiere of British composer Simon Proctors James Bond Piano Concerto in London, England. He has made guest soloist appearances with The National Philharmonic of Moldova, The Oltenia Philharmonic (Craiova), The Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra (Pennsylvania), and the La Porte Symphony (Indiana).
Audiences during the 2011-12 season can see Pandolfi perform in New York, Kentucky, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts North Carolina, California, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maine, Kansas, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Toronto, Canada. He will be performing with the Milikin-Decatur Symphony (Illinois), the Owensboro Symphony (Kentucky), The Northbrook Symphony (Illinois), and the Mississippi Symphony (Ms).
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 (WVPP) for the enjoyment the Southern Maryland 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 in Virts memory. Inspired by Virts life and spirit, his friends and classmates conceived the project in order to bring the love of life, beauty and music that Virts 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.