Violin and Piano Recital

LIN HE made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in November 2014 after having previously performed there with members of the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Over the past seasons, he performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, and Violin Concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Korngold, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Piazzolla, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi. In addition, he has performed the complete violin sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, Fauré, Mozart, Ravel, Schubert, and Schumann.

Mr. He has presented recitals at concert halls and universities across the United States, Canada, Poland, and China. Recently, he shared the stage with the Shanghai String Quartet,  violinist Charles Castleman, and Richard Lin. In addition, he performed solo recitals and gave master classes in Canada, China, Spain, Taiwan, and across the United States, including Arizona State University, Florida State University, Longy School of Music, Michigan State University, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Houston, and University of North Texas. As an orchestral player, he has performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and the New World Symphony. Summer festival appearances have taken Mr. He to the Music Academy of the West, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Aspen Music Festival.

Mr. He is now Associate Professor of Violin at Louisiana State University and is the Associate Concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony. During the summer, he teaches at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Mr. He received his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Zvi Zeitlin. Other major influences include Steven Staryk, Sylvia Rosenberg, Kyung Sun Lee, Paul Kantor, Peiwen Yuan and his father, Dating He, concertmaster of the Shanghai Opera House for 22 years. His CD releases from the Centaur Records of the French Sonatas with pianist Gregory Sioles, and the Piano Trios by Piston, Saint-Saëns and Zemlinsky with the Caladium Trio received favorable reviews. More...

Michael Gurt is Paula Garvey Manship Distinguished Professor of Piano at Louisiana State University. He won First Prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 1982, and was a prize winner in international competitions in Pretoria, South Africa, and Sydney, Australia. He has performed as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Capetown Symphony, the China National Symphony Orchestra, and the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa.

He has made solo appearances in Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) in New York, Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, City Hall in Hong Kong, the Victorian Arts Center in Melbourne, Australia, Baxter Hall in Capetown, South Africa, and the Attaturk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

He recently completed a tour of Brazil. Gurt has collaborated with the Takacs String Quartet and the Cassatt String Quartet, and has performed at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Queensland. He has served on the juries of both the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and the New Orleans International Piano Competition, and he has recorded on the Naxos, Centaur, and Redwood labels.

Gurt serves as Piano Mentor at the National Music Festival in Chestertown, Maryland, and was the chair of the piano department at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival from 1987 through 2007. He has served as Piano Chair of the Louisiana Music Teachers Association, and has taught at two summer music seminars held at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan. Professor Gurt holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School. More...