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Two St. Olaf faculty to present clarinet, piano recital

David Gonnerman
September 17, 2007

St. Olaf music faculty members Jun Qian, clarinet, and Kent McWilliams, piano, will perform together on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 11:30 a.m. in Christiansen Hall of Music, Urness Recital Hall. The event, which is free and open to the public as part of the ongoing Faculty Artist Series, is presented by the St. Olaf Department of Music.

Qian&MCWlarge
St. Olaf faculty members Jun Qian, clarinet, and Kent McWilliams, piano, will perform in recital on campus Sept. 20.
This is Qian's first year of teaching at St. Olaf, and his first public performance at the college. "I have enjoyed working with Jun since the moment we met," says McWilliams. "He's an energetic young performer who brings a wealth of color to his instrument."

The program will include sonatas by Francis Poulenc and Johannes Brahms, plus a piece by Charles-Marie Widor. It also will feature the world premiere of St. Olaf faculty member Justin Merritt's Foreign Relations that he wrote especially for the occasion. McWilliams calls Merritt's latest work, which is a look at how people interact as musicians and as humans, "witty and creative."

Qian was the third prize winner of the International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition in 1997 and a soloist in Carnegie Hall in 1999. He most recently taught at the Eastman School of Music and Nazareth College. He performed as principal clarinet of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra for its 2004-05 concert season, during which time he also served on the faculty at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Qian has studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Baylor University and the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a master's degree in clarinet and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance and literature on a full scholarship.

McWilliams has performed in more than a dozen countries and has been an award winner at numerous competitions. He is a recording artist and has played live recitals for Canadian and Australian radio. He holds a Doctorate of Music in Performance degree from the University of Montreal. McWilliams completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance at the University of Toronto. He joined the St. Olaf faculty in 2001 after teaching at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.