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Husband-wife team of Charles, Kristin Kemper to present piano-violin recital at St. Olaf College

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February 22, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Pianist Charles Kemper and violinist Kristin Kemper will present a faculty-guest recital Monday, Feb. 26, at St. Olaf College. The recital is part of a faculty artist series, "Gypsy Music in the Twentieth Century."

The free, public recital will be at 7 p.m. in Urness Recital Hall, Christiansen Hall of Music.

The husband-wife Kemper duo will perform "Notturno e Tarantella, Opus. 28" for violin and piano by Karol Szymanowski; Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin by Bela Bartok; and "Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano, Opus 25" by Georges Enesco.

Charles Kemper debuted with the Houston Symphony at age 17. He won a full scholarship to study with Eugene Pridonoff at the Cincinatti College Conservatory of Music, where he earned a bachelor of music degree with honors. He earned a master of music degree at the University of Houston, where he was a student of noted pianists Abbey Simon and Ruth Tomfohrde, and won the school?s concerto competition. He earned a doctorate from Yale University, studying with Claude Frank, Boris Berman and Peter Frankl, and winning Yale?s concerto competition.

As an accompanist and featured piano soloist for the Plymouth Music Series, Kemper has performed in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Stockholm, Belgium, The Netherlands and Prague. For three years he was the artist-in-residence at the Aspen Institute. He teaches at Northwestern College and St. Olaf College.

Kristin Kemper, an experienced solo violinist and chamber and orchestral musician, is heard most frequently with the Minnesota Orchestra. She also performs as a guest artist for the Hill House Chamber Music Series and the Plymouth Music Series. She recently completed a concert and mission tour to the Ukraine with her husband, Charles, and the Evangelion Chorale.

She has performed chamber music and concertos with orchestras in Norway, Italy, Scotland, Switzerland, New York City and Minnesota. She has performed, toured and recorded with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and the Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota.

First prize winner of the Guderyahn String competition and prize winner in many other competitions, she received scholarships at the University of Houston, where she earned a bachelor of music degree in violin performance, magna cum laude. She received a fellowship from the University of Minnesota, where she earned a master of music degree, and where she is studying for a doctorate in music.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.