Westminster College Presents Piano Duo Concert

The piano duo of Matthew McCright and Kristin Jonina Taylor will present a concert Tuesday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. in Orr Auditorium.

The duo's 2000-2001 program includes "Souvenirs" by Samuel Barber and "The Planets" by Gustav Holst.

McCright earned his undergraduate degree from Westminster College and his master's from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He currently teaches keyboard at Westminster College, and resides in Greenville. He served as orchestral pianist for the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Among his accomplishments are two Instrumentalist Magazine Musicianship Awards in 1993 and 1994, and a John Phillip Sousa Award. He was also the recipient of the Mina Grundish Simpson Award, Marion Gerberich Award, Orpheus Club Musican Award, the University Graduate Scholarship in Music, and was nominated for the Pennsylvania Governor's Award for the Arts/Artist of the Year.

Taylor earned her undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. She is currently a doctoral degree candidate at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Her awards include the Mu Phi Epsilon Bernstein-Crosman Piano Award for Foreign Study, the Mu Phi Episolon Marge Carthwright Accompanying Award, and the Gramma Fisher Foundation Fellowship. She was named the Grand Prize Winner at the Naftzger Young Artist Competition.

The team will culminate the season by recording "The Planets" in anticipation of a fall 2001 release. McCright and Taylor are co-founders of the New Century Piano Duo.

For more information, contact the Westminster College Department of Music at (724) 946-7270.