Acclaimed pianist, educator to take part in UB Piano Festival April 17 and 18

Jackson, who earned three degrees from the Julliard School of Music, will kick off the festival with a performance of an eclectic repertoire of European classical works and works by composers of African descent.

The concert, to be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, in Slee Concert Hall, will feature works by Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Howard Swanson and Robert Nathaniel Dett. Tickets are $5 for students and senior citizens; $8 for others.

A professor of music at Howard University, Jackson also will conduct a dialogue with area pre-college-age students at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 18, in Baird Recital Hall.

The dialogue is an extension of his interest in activities such as The Raymond Jackson Scholarship and Mentoring Program for pre-college, gifted African-American pianists and the Raymond Jackson Music Forum for music teachers and students.

In addition, Jackson will moderate a panel discussion, "Black Music: Its Power and Diversity," at 7 p.m. on April 18 in Baird Recital Hall. The discussion will be free and open to the public.

Panel members will include Gary Burgess, UB associate professor of music and director of the Greater Buffalo Opera Company; Buffalo resident and legendary jazz great Al Tinney, and Simeon Chilungu, a cultural anthropologist at Buffalo State College and lecturer in UB's World Languages Institute.

Spearheading a musical mission to gain recognition for often-invisible, African-American classical composers, Jackson has performed on concert stages throughout Europe and North and South America.

The Piano Festival is sponsored by the UB Department of Music, with support from the UB Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Urban Affairs.

Frina Arschanska Boldt, UB associate professor of music, is festival director.