Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will host “The Three Pianists” featuring Lei Cai, Hee-Kyung Juhn and Naoki Hakutani on Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall.

“Dr. Hakutani, Dr. Juhn and I all came to know each other last year,” said Dr. Cai Lei, Ouachita professor of music. “We thought it would bex fun to get together and play some pieces written for four or more hands.”

Each of the three pianists is from a different part of Asia. Cai is from China, Huhn is from South Korea and Hakutani is from Japan. Hakutani currently serves on the piano faculty at University of Arkansas in Little Rock. Juhn serves as a music professor at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

The concert is also being held to promote piano education awareness. “If we get a good response, we want to tour at other universities,” Cai said. “We have fun repertoire for people of all ages.

“There is a variety of styles and combinations of music from all regions,” Cai said. The program will include overtures, Latin-American pieces with a tango flavor and a Franz Liszt virtuoso piece for four hands by Cai and Juhn, among other selections.

The recital is free of charge and open to the public. For more information, contact Ouachita’s School of Fine Arts at 870-245-5129.

By Amy Lynn Wentz