UE Piano Guest Artist Series to Feature Former Evansvillian Nino Cocchiarella
Published: March 12, 2006
Nino Cocchiarella, originally of Evansville and most recently a Bloomington, Ind., pianist and composer, will perform in the University of Evansville’s UE Piano Guest Artist Series Thursday, March 16. The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. in Wheeler Concert Hall, preceded by a lecture before his recital at 6 p.m. Both are free and open to the public.
During the UE performance, Cocchiarella will perform Robert Schumann's "Fantasy" and Modest Mussorgsky's "Picture at an Exhibition . " A black and white nature photo exhibition of Cocchiarella's work will be included as part of the performance.
Cocchiarella was the recipient of the Best Solo Performance Award in this year’s Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings. He has performed across the country in solo and collaborative recitals, being acclaimed by The New York Times as "particularly impressive." In 2004 Cocchiarella toured the Hawaiian Islands, including his debut at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, as well as performances at the Mozart Music House, in Kaneohe, and in Kona. Cocchiarella’s competition prizes include a first prize at age s17 in the Indianapolis Concerto Competition playing Ravel’s "Concerto for Left Hand and Orchestra," top prizes in the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts competition, in the Music Teachers’ National Association competition, and a recent first prize award in the National Society of Arts and Letters Piano Competition. In 2002, he won the first prize in Indiana University’s Concerto Competition playing Strauss’s "Burleske for Piano and Orchestra." Cocchiarella is also an award-winning composer, with a second prize nationally in the MTNA Composition Competition. Cocchiarella graduated from Indiana University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Music Degree.
For more information about his performance, please contact the UE Department of Music at 812-488-2754.
