The West Virginia University College of Creative Arts will present a recital of music by Chinese composers at the Creative Arts Center on Thursday, Feb. 17, at 8:15 p.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (Room 200A).

The event is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature works by WVU music alumnus Jianjun He; current doctoral candidate in music Hsiang-Chi Liao; and Sheng-Chang Yao, president of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in Tianjin, China.

WVU music faculty members participating include: William Skidmore, cello, and John Crotty, piano; Laura Kobayashi, violin, and Christine Kefferstan, piano; Virginia Thompson, horn, and James Miltenberger, piano.

The WVU Graduate String Quartet, assisted by faculty member Nicole Brockmann, viola, will also perform.

Jianjun He received his doctorate from WVU and is currently a faculty member in music theory and composition at Casper College in Casper, Wyo. HisSonata for Horn and Pianowill be premiered by Thompson and Miltenberger during the recital. He received his bachelors degree in violin performance from Northwestern National University in Lanzhou, China, and his masters in music theory from The Arts Academy of China in Beijian. He has written more than 50 musical compositions for various media, which are enjoying growing success in China and in the United States. In addition, he has published several research papers dealing with music theory, compositional technique, ethnomusicology, and music education. His dissertation,Chou Wen-Chungs Cursive,completed at WVU in 2000, has also been published as a book in China.

Hsiang-Chi Liao, a native of Taiwan, studied at the National Taiwan University of Arts and received her masters degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music. While studying for her doctorate at WVU , she is also a faculty member of National Taiwan University of arts and Taiwan National College of Arts. HerUnknown Dances,a three-movement work for string quartet and percussion, was composed in 2002. It is suffused with the folk flavor of different regions, including Taiwan and Arabia.

Sheng-Chang Yao, president of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, will be a visiting artist in the WVU Division of Music during April 11-15, 2005. The Division of Music is currently forming an exchange program with the Tianjin Conservatory of Music.

For more information about the concert and master classes, call the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4841, ext. 3108.