Second Thursday: Evgeny Rivkin, piano

Virtuoso pianist Evgeny Rivkin presents the school’s first performance of the year on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. Tickets for the performance, which continues the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s 2nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series, are $18/$5 for students and available via the UGA Performing Arts Center box office at 706/542/4400 or online at pac.uga.edu.

Rivkin has played some of the world’s premier concert halls, including such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall and Leipzig’s Gevandhaus—as well as Athens’ very own Hodgson Hall.  As Distinguished Professor of Piano in the Hodgson School, Rivkin has been featured on the 2^nd Thursday Concert Series multiple times.

“It’s a wonderful tradition to have Evgeny involved in these concerts,” said Dale Monson, director of the school of music.  “The level of care and musicianship he puts into his performances is always thrilling.”

Rivkin’s program showcases works from composers spanning the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, including Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor “Quasi una fantasia”, commonly known as his Moonlight Sonata.  Other featured compositions include works by Franz Liszt, Alexander Scriabin, and Achille-Claude Debussy.

A native of Russia, Rivkin enjoyed a robust solo career prior to his arrival at UGA in 1995, including a first-place win in his home country’s prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition. Since his appointment to UGA, he has continued to perform and teach worldwide, appearing throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Europe, and Russia.

Established in 1980, the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series offers showcase performances by UGA students and faculty the second Thursday of each month throughout the academic year. Proceeds from individual ticket sales and season subscriptions allow for year-long academic scholarships and assistantships for students and presents donors the opportunity to sponsor individual students of the music school at several levels of giving. In 2011, the 2nd Thursday series provided scholarships to 30 students based on faculty recommendations, academic achievement and performance ability.

The next concert in the series will feature the UGA Wind Ensemble in Hodgson Concert Hall on February 14 at 8 p.m. For more information on the 2nd Thursday Series or the Hodgson School of Music, please visit www.music.uga.edu.