MEDIA CONTACT: Polly Burks
561-297-2595, pburks@fau.edu

FAU Piano Faculty Kick off School of the Arts
Premier Music Series with Gala Piano Concert

BOCA RATON, FL (October 6, 2005) - Florida Atlantic University's world-renowned piano faculty will kick off the premier music season for the School of the Arts with a gala piano concert, "88 Keys and 60 Fingers, on Sunday, October 16 at 3 p.m. The concert will be presented at the University Theatre on FAU's Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road. General admission is $15 with group discounts available. FAU students, faculty, staff and alumni may obtain free admission with ID.

The concert will include a variety of works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Fredric Chopin, Claude Debussy and others.

FAU's six piano faculty include Judith Burganger and Leonid Treer, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary as FAU's Chamber Soloists. Burganger and Treer have performed all over the world as soloists and guest artists with several renowned orchestras. They have also performed in two of the world's most prestigious music conservatories, The Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Heather Coltman, FAU's department of music chair, has also performed worldwide as a solo and collaborative pianist, and has received many international prizes including the Joanna Hodges International Piano competition and the Geza Anda International Piano Competition. Irena Kofman received her Master of Music degree from the Moscow Conservatory and toured the former Soviet Union extensively. She was the first-prize winner of the International Chamber Music Competition in Latvia.

Rounding out the ensemble of FAU pianists is the Duo Turgeon, made up of Anne Louise-Turgeon and Edward Turgeon. The Turgeons have won several international prizes and are critically acclaimed as one of the top piano duos of our time. Steinway and Sons has also recently named the couple to their distinguished roster of international artists.

The Premier Music Series is presented by the School of the Arts' Department of Music in FAU's Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, in partnership with Bank of America and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council. Other upcoming concerts in the series include the Jazz Rats Big Band on Sunday October 23 at 3 p.m., the Florida Woodwind Quintet on Sunday, February 5 at 3 p.m., the Duo Turgeon on Sunday, February 5 at 3 p.m., FAU's Four Conductors on Sunday April 2 at 3 p.m. and a special presentation of Mozart's Requiem Mass on Tuesday April 18 at 8 p.m. Special pricing is available for the premier series package.

For tickets, call the School of the Arts box office at 561-297-2977 or email artstickets@fau.edu. For further information, call FAU's Department of Music at 561-297-3820.

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