Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2009-04-03

Concert pianist Robert Blocker will perform as part of Samford University School of the Arts' Davis Architects Guest Artist Series Friday, April 17.

Blocker, dean of the Yale University School of Music, will play at 7:30 p.m. in Brock Recital Hall.

Prior to his Yale appointment in 1995, he was founding dean of the University of California at Los Angeles School of the Arts and Architecture and professor of piano. In 2006, he was named honorary professor of piano at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. This year, Naxos will release a CD of three Mozart concerti performed by Blocker with the Biava Quartet.

Blocker, who today concertizes throughout the world, began his piano study at age five and presented his first public recital two years later.

His Samford concert will include Sergei Prokofiev's "Sonata No. 9 in C major, op. 103," Ezra Laderman's "Decade," and Johannes Brahms' "Sonata in F minor, op. 5."

During his time at the school, he also will conduct a master class. Concert admission is $20 adult, $15 senior adult (55-plus), and $10 student/child. For tickets, go to www.samfordartstickets.com or call (205) 726-2853.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.