News Release
for Benefit Concert World-renowned pianist and Peabody Conservatory graduate Awadagin Pratt will return to The Johns Hopkins University for a special performance with the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra led by music director Jed Gaylin at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 21, in Shriver Hall, located on the university's Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. Pratt's homecoming performance with Hopkins' community orchestra of students, faculty and greater Baltimore- Washington residents will benefit the AMC Cancer Research Center in Denver. The evening's program begins with a pre-concert lecture by WBJC-FM's Jonathan Palevsky at 4:30 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., the orchestra will perform, starting with Webern's transcription of Bach's "Ricercare" from A Musical Offering, followed by Schubert's Symphony No. 8, "Unfinished." For the finale, Pratt will perform one of the repertoire's most demanding compositions, Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1. A 1992 graduate of the university's Peabody Conservatory, Pratt engages audiences with his musical insight and the intensity of his performances. At 6, he began studying the piano. Three years later, he began studying the violin as well. And at 16, he entered the University of Illinois to study piano, violin and conducting. Later at Peabody, he became the first student in the school's history to receive diplomas in three performance areas. In 1992, Pratt won the Naumburg International Piano Competition and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994. His numerous recitals around the United States include performances at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, and Orchestra Hall in Chicago. Pratt has also performed at many major summer festivals and with several American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the New York Chamber Symphony. Pratt's debut album, A Long Way from Normal, was released in 1994. A favorite of university performing arts series and an advocate of art education, Pratt participates in numerous residency and outreach activities such as master classes, children's recitals, and question and answer sessions for students of all ages. He was named one of the 50 Leaders of Tomorrow in Ebony magazine's 50th anniversary edition and has been featured on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" and "Weekend Edition." Pratt's television appearances include "Today" and "Sesame Street." He has performed twice at the White House. "Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, AMC Cancer Research Chesapeake Chapter, and Awadagin Pratt invite listeners to this special benefit concert in the hope that the struggle to conquer cancer will someday be won," Gaylin said. "More than 50 percent of the receipts will go directly to life- saving research." Because of Pratt's popularity, advance ticket purchases are encouraged. Advance tickets are $15 for the general public, $14 for seniors and students. Tickets will be available at the door, $20 for the general public and $18 for seniors and students. JHU student tickets are $5 with proper ID. To order tickets or for more information, call the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra at 410-516-6542. Visit the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra's Web site at www.jhu.edu/~jhso.
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