A Sunday of Sonatas

Kevin Ayesh, piano

Sunday, March 9 at 2pm

Not many pianists can say that they’ve performed in all 50 states of the USA, playing as many as 50 recitals per season! Dr. Kevin Ayesh maintains a busy schedule as performer, clinician, and adjudicator, and is the recipient of a long list of prizes and awards. He is well-known for presenting lecture-recitals on the music of American composer Robert Starer. His program will include a sonata by Starer, in addition to Beethoven and Chopin sonatas.
 

Programme

Background information

Pianist Kevin Ayesh has presented concerts and master classes throughout the United States (he has performed in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia), as well as in Canada, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.  As a North Carolina Visiting Artist for four years, he appeared before thousands across that state, performing as many as 50 recitals in a season. He has appeared as featured guest artist and clinician at the Lindlar International Piano Festival in Germany, the Star Valley Junior Music Festival in Wyoming, the Gene Marcus Piano Festival at Purdue University-Fort Wayne, the USA Piano Camp at the University of South Alabama, and the Dr. Sharyn Edwards Piano Festival in North Carolina. 

Recent solo recitals include the Steinway Piano Galleries of Charlotte, NC, Greensboro, NC, and Greenville, SC, Silk Purse Arts Centre in West Vancouver, BC, Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Music Society in Waterloo, ON, St. Paul’s Concert Series in Yuma, AZ, Epiphany Tuesday Concert Series in Washington, DC, St. Paul’s Concert Series in Walnut Creek, CA, Candlelight Concert Series in Port Townsend, WA, Village Concert Series in Mount Pleasant, SC, Sundays at Four Concert Series in McCormick, SC, Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA, and the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery Chamber Series in Lindsborg, KS.

Ayesh has appeared three times as concerto soloist with the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, twice with the Brevard Philharmonic Orchestra, twice with the Asheville Chamber Players, and also with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, the Blue Ridge Orchestra, the 4 Seasons Chamber Orchestra, the Wichita Community Orchestra, and the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra, performing such concertos as Mozart’s K. 466, K. 467, and K. 488, Beethoven’s 2nd, 3rd, and Choral Fantasy, Brahms’ 1st, Rachmaninoff’s 2nd, Clara Schumann’s Op. 7, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Ayesh has presented numerous lecture-recitals of the piano music of American composer Robert Starer, and was one of 25 pianists selected worldwide to perform on a video memorial tribute to the legendary pianist Leon Fleisher.

Ayesh is the recipient of many prizes, including the Naftzger Piano Award, Baltimore Music Club Award, and Winner of both the JCC Baltimore Piano Competition and the Maryland State Music Teachers’ Elizabeth R. Davis Memorial Piano Competition.  He has been a finalist in several national and international competitions, was awarded Second Prize at the Wideman International Piano Competition, and captured both Third Prize and Composer’s Prize at the New Orleans International Piano Competition. Ayesh has adjudicated Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) auditions for the state conventions of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and has been a featured clinician at both the Georgia and South Carolina Music Educators Association state conventions. For 29 years, Ayesh served as head of the music department and Artistic Director of the Concert Series at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC (an All-Steinway School).  He currently teaches applied piano at Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina.  A native of Wichita, Kansas, Ayesh received his Bachelor of Music degree with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin; his master’s and doctorate degrees are from the University of Maryland.  His teachers were Elinor Aiken, William Race, and Nelita True.