Pianist Phang to perform for Summer Music Festival event

May Phang

Virtuoso pianist May Phang, a DePauw School of Music faculty member, will perform Wednesday evening in the Greencastle Summer Music Festival's next-to-last concert of the summer.

The 7:30 p.m. free concert in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church will include the world premiere of "Time Travel Phantasie" by Sy Brandon, as well as several Franz Liszt transcriptions of music by Wagner, music by Stephen Foster and others.

"May is an extraordinary musician," praised Eric Edberg, the DePauw music professor who founded the festival nine years ago. "I'm so glad we are able to have her perform a solo recital once again."

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 12.

A graduate of McGill University in Canada, she obtained her doctorate from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Currently assistant professor of piano at DePauw, her prior teaching positions include Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis., 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, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kennedy Center for the Arts and National Gallery in Washington D.C., and the Chicago Cultural Center.

A prizewinner of several competitions, including the Chopin Young Pianists' Competition in Buffalo, Canadian Music Competition and Pontoise International Young Artists Competition in France, Phang has performed with orchestras such as the Banff Chamber Players, Singapore Symphony, Montreal Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

An active music educator, she is a teaching artist of Young Audiences of Indiana, the state's oldest and largest provider of professional arts education programs for children. She has adjudicated competitions for the Waukesha Symphony and Piano Arts of Wisconsin, presented master classes at institutions including Idyllwild and Interlochen, and given presentations for music teachers associations.

The Greencastle Summer Music Festival was founded with the idea of bringing the community together with friends making music for friends. Free concerts are staged every Wednesday through Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Gobin Church.