By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Pianist James Nalley, praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer for his “exciting pianism with powerful emotion,” will be at Campbellsville University in concert at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in The Gheens Recital Hall.
His program, which is open to the public free of charge, will include works by Beethoven, Liszt, Balakirev, Takemitsu and Tsontakis.
On Friday, Feb. 20, he will present a Masterclass for CU piano students from 10 a.m. until noon, also in The Gheens Recital Hall.
Nalley has performed in almost every state in the continental United States, as well as Canada and Europe. Upcoming international recital performances include Nicaragua, England, Ireland, Scotland, Taiwan, Singapore and multiple venues in Canada and Italy.
After his recent performance at the Reading Festival in England, Pianoforte Magazine called him “the latest U.S. pianist to watch” and that his “recital was a sheer and dazzling delight!”
He has since become a regular in the United Kingdom and Irish Music Festivals with great acclaim, according to Dr. Wesley Roberts, professor of music.
In addition to his active performing career, he has been a professor of piano in the College of Music at Florida State University – Tallahassee since 2003. During the summers, he is also the Artist-Faculty in Residence at the Schlern International Music Festival and Academy in the Italian Alps as well as the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine.
An International Steinway Artist (selected for 2009), Nalley is the winner of many national and international competitions, and made his New York Debut in Carnegie Hall to great acclaim, Robert said.
He has performed for numerous radio broadcasts and PBS television performances, including the Bravo Channel Broadcasts in Canada, the BBC in England/Northern Ireland and was the pianist for Ellen Zwilich’s Peanuts Gallery Concerto that was broadcast on over 350 PBS television stations across the United States.
He has also appeared as soloist with many of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony in Davies Symphony Hall. Upcoming concerto performances will be with the Prague Radio Symphony in the Czech Republic.
Equally active in chamber music collaborations and coachings, he has collaborated with many of the world’s finest chamber groups that include the Inman Trio, the Muir String Quartet, the Shanghai String Quartet as well as violinist Charles Castleman. Along with his role as Artist/Faculty at the Schlern Festival in Italy, he is also the Chamber Music Coach for the Festival.
A native of Philadelphia, Nalley is a summa cum laude graduate of Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music and the Eastman School of Music where he received the doctor of musical arts degree. A popular master class clinician and adjudicator, he has presented in over 70 academic programs around the world and is a regular juror of the International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, D.C., and the International Artist Competition in South Korea.
As Artist in Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, Nalley recorded a CD of the Charles Ives Sonata No. 1 /Aaron Copland Piano Sonata. This CD was released with great success, Roberts said, and the American Record Guide called it “Remarkably played … the result is a revelation … This recording is a real treasure!”
His second recording was released internationally (with the works of Schubert and Liszt) again on the Eroica Label. A review on E-Music Magazine called it “amenable and remarkable….and if you think you have heard it all with the Schubert Bb Sonata, take a listen to this disc!”
His third recording has been released performing works by Czech composer Ladislav Kubik on the Munich, Germany label: Col Legno. His upcoming fourth recording will be performing with the Prague Radio Symphony in the Czech Republic under the baton of Alex Jimenez.
He is on the roster of Recording Artist for the Eroica Record Label, listed in the Who’s Who of Professional Artists, the Fulbright Scholar Senior Specialists roster and represented by Lois Scott Management Inc. in New York.
For more information about the concert, contact the School of Music at music@campbellsville.edu.
Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,601 students who represent 93 Kentucky counties, 27 states and 31 foreign nations. Listed in U.S.News & World Report’s 2009 “America’s Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 22nd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South for the second consecutive year. CU has been ranked 16 consecutive years with U.S.News & World Report. The university has also been named to America’s Best Christian Colleges®. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his tenth year as president.