Festival finale to benefit non-food pantry

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Phang

GREENCASTLE -- Virtuoso pianist and DePauw music professor May Phang will perform works by Mozart, Schubert, Liszt, and Gershwin/Wild in the final concert of the 2009 Greencastle Summer Classical Music Festival. Dr. Phang's performance has been underwritten by Chief's Restaurant of Greencastle.

The Festival's thirteenth free weekly concert, at 7:30 PM in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church, will serve as a benefit for the Non-Food Pantry, which is hosted by Greencastle's St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. "When we surpassed this summer's fundraising goal," explains the Festival's artistic director Eric Edberg, "I decided to make our last two concerts fundraisers for other organizations. Last week's donations went to Gobin to support its work. This week, all donations will go to help needy people in Putnam County."

The Non-Food Pantry at St. Andrew's distributes cleaning supplies, paper products, and personal hygiene items, none of which can be purchased with food stamps, on the last Saturday of the month to needy families. It is estimated that over 3600 Putnam County residents live below the poverty line, and approximately 150 families have come each month to St. Andrew's to receive products. Staffed by volunteers, the Non-Food Pantry has no administrative expenses, so all donations are used to purchase products to distribute. Purchase costs are nearing $1000 per month. Funding to date has come from the individual donors and the Putnam County Foundation.

May Phang began piano studies in her native Singapore where she obtained her Associate and Licentiate diplomas from the Trinity College of Music (London) by the age of twelve. A graduate of McGill University in Canada, she obtained her doctorate from Temple University in Philadelphia. Currently Assistant Professor of Piano at DePauw University, Indiana, her prior teaching positions include Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee.

She has given numerous solo recitals and chamber music concerts in Singapore, Canada, the United States, and Europe, performing in venues such as the Goethe Institute in Singapore, Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore Conference Hall, Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur and Place-des-Arts in Montreal, the Concertgebouw, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kennedy Center for the Arts and National Gallery in Washington DC, the Chicago Cultural Center, and at festivals such as the Singapore Festival of Arts, the Montreal International Piano Festival, and the Karol Szymanowski Festival in Zakopane, Poland.

 A prizewinner of several competitions including the Chopin Young Pianists' Competition in Buffalo NY, Canadian Music Competition, Concours d'orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and Pontoise International Young Artists Competition in France, Dr. Phang has performed with orchestras such as the Banff Chamber Players, Singapore Symphony, Montreal Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Radio and television appearances include profiles on Singapore Broadcasting Corporation's "Life and Times" and "Arts Around" and broadcasts on Radio-Canada, Vermont Public Radio, WFLN, Philadelphia and WFMT, Chicago. An active music educator, she is a teaching artist of Young Audiences of Indiana, the state's oldest & largest provider of professional arts education programs for children. She has adjudicated competitions for the Waukesha Symphony and PianoArts of Wisconsin, presented masterclasses at institutions including Idyllwild and Interlochen, and given presentations for music teachers' associations. She is represented by Great Lakes Performing Artists Associates.

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  • What a wonderful addition to the cultural life of Greencastle these concerts have been. Eric Edberg assembled talented musicians who gave first rate concerts to a the fortunate listeners. The Greencastle Summer Classical Music Festival is another reason for Greencastle to be one of the best small towns in America

    -- Posted by lucy_bird on Wed, Aug 19, 2009, at 1:59 PM
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