Music Department to Present Dr. Margery McDuffie Whatley in Guest Piano Recital, March 26
JONESBORO -- Dr. Margery McDuffie Whatley will present a piano recital on Tuesday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. A master class will be offered Monday, March 25, at 4 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. Both the master class and recital are free and open to the public.
Her program will include Variations on “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman,” K.265 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “Jeux d,eau” by Maurice Ravel, “Blithe Bells” by Bach-Grainger, “Etude en forme de Valse, from Six etudes, Op.52” by Camille Saint-Saens, “Fantasy in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 28 (Sonate ecossaise)” by Felix Mendelssohn, “The White Peacock” from “Roman Sketches” by Charles Griffes, “Concert Etude in D-flat major, Un Sospiro” by Franz Liszt, and “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6” by Franz Liszt.
Whatley performs from coast to coast as piano soloist and as chamber musician. A native of Macon, Ga., she has performed at the Supreme Court at the request of former Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun; at the World Congress Center in Atlanta for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony; and at the Georgia Governor's Mansion with her brother, Robert McDuffie, an internationally acclaimed violinist with whom she frequently collaborates.
Concerto appearances include the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Macon Symphony Orchestra, Chicago’s Lake Shore Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta’s DeKalb Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Bremerton Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in Italy at the Rome Chamber Music Festival. With a strong interest in making classical music accessible to people of all ages and listening experiences, Whatley has presented a series of outreach programs in several states.
The musical artist received her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance at the University of Southern California where she studied with John Perry and was named the most outstanding piano doctoral graduate. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied with Frank Weinstock. She also has studied with George Lucktenberg, formerly of Converse College.
Whatley, her husband Terry, and their twin daughters, Kendall and Lindsay, relocated to Birmingham, Ala., in July 2012, from Missoula, Mont. While in Missoula, Margery was featured on Montana Public Radio, served as a visiting professor/sabbatical replacement at the University of Montana, and taught regularly at the University of Montana Summer Piano Camp. She also served as president of the String Orchestra of the Rockies Board of Directors and president of the Missoula Music Teachers Association.
Prior to her five years in Montana, she was a tenured associate professor of music at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where she also served as chair of the Department of Music and where she received the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She has served on the boards of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and the Huntsville Youth Orchestra, and she has also served as secretary of the Arts Council and vice president of the Huntsville Chamber Music Guild. She was also an active member of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra Guild. Currently she is a visiting associate professor of music at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Margery Whatley’s three CDs, “Piano Reflections - Encore Favorites”; “Margery McDuffie Whatley plays Bach, Haydn, Brahms and Ravel”; and “From Mozart to Gershwin,” have received rave reviews from Fanfare Magazine and American Record Guide. These recordings are available at ArkivMusic, iTunes, Amazon, and other fine retailers and download services. Visit her website at margerymcduffiewhatley.com.
For more information about the concert or ASU music, please feel free to contact the music office at (870) 972-2094.
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