Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Division of Music will host Dr. Lei Cai and Dr. Hee-Kyung Juhn in a faculty piano recital Monday, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m. The recital will be held in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall on Ouachita’s campus and is free and open to the public.

Cai, associate professor of music at Ouachita, and his wife, Juhn, director of keyboard studies at Henderson State University, will showcase works for four hands on one piano, works for two pianos and solo pieces.

The performance will begin with a four-hand arrangement of “Overture” to Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 by W. A. Mozart. Next Cai will perform two solo pieces by Claude Debussy, “Étude pour les Arpèges composes” and the prelude “Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest.” The pair will then perform the two-piano selection “Kaleidoscope” by J. Corigliano, followed by Juhn’s solo performance of “Waltz” from Faust by Ch. Gounod/F. Liszt. Cai and Juhn will conclude the recital with the “Allegro” and “Andante con moto” movements of “Symphonic Dances, Op. 45” by S. Rachmaninoff and “Libertango” and “Tangata” by A. Piazzolla.

Dr. Cai earned his Doctor of Music degree in piano performance from Florida State University and joined the Ouachita faculty in 2001. Born in Shanghai, China, Cai has collaborated with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and his work has been recorded and broadcast by Radio Shanghai. He has presented numerous recitals and master classes in China, Korea and the United States, including performing as the featured artist at the National Federation of Music Clubs convention. Among his numerous awards and honors are the Music Teachers National Association Southern Division Collegiate Artist, Tennessee Young Change Artist and the Liberace Scholarship Award for Performing Arts.

Dr. Juhn attended the Juilliard School and Indiana University and made her solo debut at the age of 16, performing with the symphony orchestra of Asunción, Paraguay, and has appeared on concert stages in Asia, South America and throughout the U.S. Her performances have earned national acclaim by the American Record Guide and New York Concert Review. She has participated in noted music festivals such as Aspen, Bowdoin, Tanglewood and Yale Summer Piano Institute and has served on staff at the Music Academy of the West, Great Mountains International Music Festival and Martina Arroyo Foundation. Prior to her position at HSU, she taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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

 

By Anna Hurst