by Mary Ellen Graybill | for Columbia news, views & reviews

PLATO SAID IT BEST: “More than anything else, rhythm and melody find their way to the inmost soul and take the strongest hold upon it.”

The Millersville Faculty Concert program on July 25, 2014 started at 7:30 pm and captured the attention of the audience at the Ware Center auditorium with the sound of music from Bach to Kirby, Jonathan Kirby, that is – a Junior Music Composition major at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Kirby’s classical music style combined with humor connected with the audience in a way that no pure classic could, yet, he was inspired to create the piece by the 2014 Lancaster International Piano Festival.

Click here to see the humorous rendition of the original work “Sonata for Seven, for seven hands” by Jonathan Kirby performed on stage live.

The festival, including excellent faculty performances tonight, has been bringing affordable performances to the public under the creative direction of Dr. Xun Pan who has performed solo recitals worldwide from Carnegie Hall to Beijing, and his performances in several of the pieces this evening were inspiring and masterful. As adjunct professor of Piano at Millersville University, and visiting professor at many universities in China, he has brought the world’s future performers of piano music to Lancaster though the International Piano Festival.

Photos by Mary Ellen Graybill