Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University Division of Music will host a faculty piano recital featuring Dr. Lei Cai, associate professor of music. This recital, which is free and open to the public, will be held Monday, Sept. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall.

This program, according to Cai, covers a variety of styles, and he said no piano experience is necessary for audience members to appreciate and enjoy the performance. The recital will include Schubert’s “Sonata in C minor” and Chopin’s “Ballade in F minor” as well as selected movements from Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka.” Cai will be assisted by his wife, Dr. Hee-Kyung Juhn, a piano professor at Henderson State University, on the piano for the final selection.

“As a piano professor, we want to perform as a part of our professional career, so I want to keep that part alive,” Cai said. “We want to try to inspire our students; if they see their teachers performing, it probably will give them some encouragement or inspiration.”

Cai began playing piano at age 5. He said music has “always been an important part of my life, and it’s very natural to want to share music with an audience.”

Cai, who has taught at Ouachita since 2001, earned his Master of Music degree from the University of Tennessee and his Doctor of Music degree from Florida State University. He has work with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra on recordings and has recorded for Radio Shanghai.

For more information, contact Dr. Lei Cai at [email protected] or (870) 245-5140.

By Kate Cody