She said the church has had a long tradition of presenting concerts, which had lapsed in recent years, but the arts committee want to do something to bring the community together through music.
Huang will perform on Fri., Feb. 11 at 12:15 p.m. The concerts are free and open to the public. Masks are required to attend.
“Frank Huang has had a wide career, internationally, recording as a soloist, with symphonies, and with other groups,” Michael said. “He specializes in the performance of lesser-known works and music of our time, and earlier times.”
He was led to this because he wanted to provide a different perspective to an industry that contained countless recordings and performances of standard repertory music that was already available, she said.
“Through his projects, he advocates for works that have been neglected by the public, and he encourages future generations of musicians to continue to explore music of forgotten composers,” Michael said.
During the concert, Haung will perform works by Frederic Chopin, Florence Price, Nikolai Medtner, and Francis Poulenc.
As a native of Seattle, WA, Huang studied at the Academy of Music Northwest before obtaining Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. Following his training at Juilliard, he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Cleveland Institute of Music.
Huang is an internationally acclaimed Steinway Artist, who currently serves as an Associate Professor of Piano at Miami University in Oxford. He is also a concert pianist and recording artist. Previously, he was a faculty member at The College of Wooster and The Cleveland Institute of Music. He and his wife, Cindy Chang currently reside in the Cincinnati area.
This is the fourth concert on the series. The first concert was only available virtually on YouTube with about 200 views. The second and third concerts were held in-person and virtually. Each concert had about 80 in-person attendees, followed by 150 views and over 1,400 views online, respectively. The remaining concerts will be offered both in-person and virtually.
“The concerts have been very successful,” Michael said, “We are reaching the audience we hope we would reach. COVID-19 shut everything down, and we wanted people to have a way to feel connected. We felt that music is something that connects us all.”
In addition to the Fri., Feb. 11 concert, there will be two more upcoming concerts. On Fri., May 6, The Queen’s Men, an ensemble group from Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, will perform, and on Fri., June 10, Organist David Castillo Gocher will play. Castillo Gocher serves as the organist at St. Catharine of Siena Church in Cincinnati, and he is an associate attorney with Thompson Hine.
The concerts are supported by sponsorship of numerous individuals as well as grants from Butler Rural Electric Community Connections, Matinee Musicale, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Oxford Community Foundation.
“To date, the feedback from written surveys has been overwhelmingly positive, including many suggestions for more concerts. Currently, the Arts Committee is exploring funding and possible performers for a second six-concert series,” Michael said.
All the concerts will be held at 12:15 p.m. in the sanctuary at Holy Trinity Oxford. Holy Trinity Episcopal Church is located at 25 E. Walnut St. in Oxford. For more information, go to www.holytrinityoxford.org or get details on the church’s Facebook page. Following the live concert, the performance will also be available on the Holy Trinity Oxford YouTube channel.
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