George Willis, director of percussion at West Virginia University, will perform a faculty recital with his wife, violinist Ellen-Maria Willis, Saturday (March 2) at the Creative Arts Center.

The recital begins at 3 p.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (200A).The event is free and open to the public.

George and Ellen-Maria Willis bring the standard works from their instruments (violin and percussion) and create new sounds and new energy.

This program will include new works by Eric Sammut and Lili Boulanger. In their creative spirit, Ellen-Maria has written a work entitled “Prayers from the Ark,” based on a set of poems by Carmen Bernos De Gastold, and George has written a bodhran trio and will be joined by a few members of the WVU Percussion Studio. This program will also feature the marvelous work “Historie of the Tango” by Astor Piazzolla.

George Willis received his bachelor of fine arts concentrating in percussion performance from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1984. He followed that with a master’s of music in percussion from Temple University in 1989 and a master’s of business administration specializing in information systems and finance from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000.

He has been performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 1984 and was a full-time member of the percussion section during the 1996-97 season.

Ellen-Maria is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

She has performed with various ensembles including the Houston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Opera and the Wheeling Symphony. She now plays part-time with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

For more information on the event, contact the College of Creative Arts at 304-293-4359.

-WVU-

cl/02/27/13

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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