Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2009-01-21

Samford faculty pianists Barbara and Ronald Shinn will perform a recital of music for four hands Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Brock Recital Hall. The public is invited free of charge.

The program will feature pieces written for one piano, four hands: Beethoven's "3 Marches," Mozart's "Sonata in D Major" Samuel Barber's "Souvenirs (Ballet Suite)" Brahms' "Waltzes," and Poulenc's "Sonate for Piano Four Hands."

The couple performed the same duet program in Virginia in January at the invitation of the Tidewater Music Teachers Association.

Ronald Shinn, professor of piano and accompanying at Samford since 2007, previously taught on the music faculty at Huntingdon College in Montgomery for 30 years. He has coached many piano students to state and regional honors and is on the faculty of the International Institute for Young Musicians. At Samford, he continues a senior piano camp that he directed at Huntingdon for seven years.

Barbara Shinn teaches music appreciation, ear training and class piano at Samford, and also teaches pre-college and adult students in her private studio. Her students are consistent winners in solo and concerto competitions throughout the state and the south.

While in Montgomery, the Shinns individually taught two pre-college students who received U.S. Presidential Scholar Awards in consecutive years. The honorees in turn selected their piano teachers to be recognized during ceremonies in Washington, D.C.

 
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.