Contact: Maridith Geuder
(From left to right) Marilyn Neeley, Jim Giles and "From the Top's" Christopher O'Riley
A popular host on Public Radio International will be at Mississippi State June 3 to help open the Mississippi Piano Showcase.
Christopher O'Riley will tape his popular "From the Top" musical variety program in the university's McComas Hall theater, beginning at 4 p.m.
Now in its 17th year, the 2001 Mississippi Piano Showcase is being sponsored June 3-8 by the MSU music education department.
Since first airing in January 2000, Boston-based "From the Top" has been launched on more PRI stations than any other new classical music show in the network's history. Combining individual performances, interviews, pre-produced segments, and lighthearted musical games, its one-hour format has been compared to "A Prairie Home Companion," another PRI distribution.
"From the Top" is featured at 1 p.m. each Sunday on Public Radio in Mississippi, which is co-sponsoring O'Riley's visit to the state.
Five performers, including two from Mississippi, will appear on the taping, said Joel Harrison, MSU music education professor and showcase director.
"Amanda Smith, an award-winning high school violinist from Brandon, will perform, as will Trey Fortenberry, an exciting young pianist originally from Jackson who now lives in Atlanta," he said.
Other festival artists include Marilyn Neeley, professor of piano at Washington, D.C.'s Catholic University, and Jim Giles, director of the Las Vegas Music Festival's Piano Institute.
Neeley has made solo appearances with more than 100 symphony orchestras and teaches on the summer faculty of the Brevard (N.C.) Music Center.
Giles is a recent winner of the Classical Fellowship Awards of the American Pianists Association. He also is a first-prize winner in the Joanna Hodges Competition.
Neeley and Giles also will be heard in showcase faculty recitals with MSU faculty artists Jackie Edwards-Henry, James Lesniak and Harrison at 7:30 p.m. on June 5 and 7.
Daily tickets for regular showcase performances are $8 for all and may be purchased at the McComas theater box office.
"From the Top" tickets are $15 each and also may be purchased at the McComas box office prior to the show's opening.
For more information about any of the musical events, telephone (662) 325-3070.