By Kelli Urry
Jeffrey Shumway, head of keyboard studies at BYU?s School of Music, and Del Parkinson, Boise State University piano professor, will perform tonight in the Madsen Recital Hall as the American Piano Duo.
Tonight?s program includes music from their ?Celebrating Gershwin!? album, a collection of songs from the popular musical ?Porgy and Bess.?
Also included in the program is Camille Saint-Saens ?Danse macabre,? Henryk G?recki?s ?Tocatta,? Frederic Chopin?s ?Rondo? and Darius Milhaud?s ?Scaramouche.?
?The Duo plays wonderfully, with crisp articulation and clear phrasings,? said Edward Reichel of the Deseret Morning News in the American Piano Duo biography. ?Their interpretation is captivating, capturing the work?s youthful high spirits and delightful melodicism.?
The American Record Guide reported in their 2005 January-February issue: ?Jeffrey Shumway and Del Parkinson seem perfectly matched and their warm fluid playing and expert technique are a joy to hear.?
The duo?s friendship, which formed at the Julliard School of Music, prompted them to start the duet in 1984. Since then, they have performed annually at BYU.
?We?ve played all styles of music. Everything from Bach to the present day,? Shumway said.
?We?ve recorded albums and traveled throughout the western United States, Mexico and Germany,? he said.
?It?s a wonderful collegiate and musical relationship.?
In between teaching and performing, the Duo recorded two albums, ?Celebrating Gershwin!? and ?Mendolsshon Concerto for Two Pianos in E major.? Their next album will feature works for two pianos by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free.
