Piano Festival Reaches 35 Years

The 35th annual Truman Piano Festival will be Feb. 16-17 in Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall.

The festival will feature guest artist Robert Carney. He will perform a solo recital at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16 that features the work of Bach, Bonds, Copland, Menotti, Prokofiev and Liszt. He will conduct a master class at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 17 featuring Truman piano majors. Both events are free and open to the public.

Carney is an active soloist and chamber musician and has performed solo recitals in Europe and several U.S. states. He has degrees from the University of North Texas and Louisiana State University and has studied at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.

An associate professor of music and chair of the music department at Southwest Baptist University, Carney teaches applied and classroom piano, piano pedagogy, piano literature, chamber music and music appreciation. His students have been prize winners in state, regional and international competitions. His research focuses on web-based instruction for facilitating independent learning, and he has presented his research in Europe, Canada and the United States.

In the summers, Carney teaches in the advanced piano program at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. Active in many professional associations, he is currently president-elect of the Missouri Music Teachers Association.


Robert Carney