McKay to Perform Solo
Piano Recital at Coker
For more information, contact James Jolly, director of marketing and communications, at 843.383.8018
Hartsville,
SC — Coker College’s Department of Dance, Music and Theater presents a
guest piano recital by John McKay on Friday, March 11 at 8 p.m. in the
Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Performing Arts Center. McKay,
professor emeritus of music at Gustavus Adolphus College, will perform
selected works by Mozart, Chopin, Ravel, Griffes and Rachmaninoff. Admission
to the recital is free and the public is invited to attend.
McKay has appeared as soloist with various orchestras. In addition to
two appearances with the Montreal Symphony, he played Shostakovitch’s
“First Piano Concerto” with Boyd Neel and the Hart House Orchestra in
Toronto, and has been the guest of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra three
times, and is scheduled to appear with that Orchestra again next season.
During the 1960s
and 1970s, McKay concertized extensively in Europe, playing in the Brahmssaal
in Vienna, London’s Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw,
and others in Berlin, Munich, The Hague and Brussels. In Brussels, he
also played with the Orchestra of the Radio-Diffusion Belge, and has recorded
for the British Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Netherlands. In the
1971-72 concert season, while teaching at the University of Toronto, McKay
presented the complete works for solo piano by Johannes Brahms in a series
of four recitals at Toronto’s Town Hall.
McKay has several
recordings to his credit, most notably Bartok’s “Sonata for Two Pianos
and Percussion” on the Musical Heritage label, Harry Somers’ “Sonata No.
4” recorded for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and several recordings
on the Mark label. He plays the longest work (25 minutes) on a CD of music
by Paul Goldstaub, entitled “I am Prospero”. The work is the “Sonata-Variations:
Journey through Prisms” which was written for him by the composer.
As a result
of a sabbatical leave granted him in 1985-86, McKay performed the complete
“Sonatas for Piano” by Beethoven in a series of eight concerts. These
were later broadcast by KGAC and KMSU. In the fall of 1995, he and violinist
Mary Horozaniecki presented the cycle of Beethoven’s 10 “Violin Sonatas”
in three recitals, also at Gustavus. McKay is the founder and director
of a summer chamber music series called Minnesota Valley Sommarfest, and
he is the pianist of the eponymous resident Trio as well as being one-half
of the McKay-Carlson Piano Duo. In July 2000, he and his wife Sara were
honored by the Minnesota State Arts Board for their service to music in
their community.
A native of
Montreal, Canada, McKay earned his bachelor’s degree in music from McGill
University and graduate degrees from the Eastman School of Music.
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Febraury 28, 2005