Penn State Shenango will be host to pianist Paul-Andre Bempechat, professor and guest artist, on Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the Penn State Theatre. The afternoon lecture-recital, which will begin at 1 p.m., is "Chopin the Nationalist: Escapism or Self-Expression?" His evening concert, which will include Chopin's 24 Preludes, Opus 28; Polonaise-Fantaisie, Opus 61; and Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Opus 58, will be held at 8 p.m. A reception where the public will have an opportunity to meet the artist will be held following the evening recital.
Bempechat, who has been an artist-in-residence at Penn State Shenango since November 2004, is performing at the campus under the auspices of the 2004-2005 Distinguished Lecture Series.
Bempechat is an artist scholar-in-residence for the Institut Culturel de Bretagne and holds a concurrent research appointment at Harvard University's Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures.
He has been hailed by critics as a leading exponent of the First Viennese School and has performed at numerous European and North American concert halls. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Boston University and the Sorbonne, Bempechat is a contributor to The Revised New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001) and Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (2001).
Bempechat is Penn State Shenango's second visiting scholar in conjunction with its Distinguished Lecture Series which was made possible by a grant from the Sharonsteel Foundation.
For more information, call (724) 983-2906.