UE Piano Series 2000-2001

Kenneth Drake, who is professor emeritus in the piano division of the School of Music of the University of Illinois, was an early exponent of playing repertoire of the classic period on instruments of that period. Using period pianos or replicas, he has played for universities and private colleges, the Cambridge Early Music Society (three seasons), the Smithsonian Institution, Princeton University (short-term residency), Roosevelt University, the Michigan Mozart Fest, the Midwestern Early keyboard Society, and MTNA state, division and national conventions. Mr. Drake's early training was with Eskil Randolph in Freeport, Illinois, followed by study with Jose Echaniz at the Eastman School of Music, Grete Hinterhofer at the Vienna Akademie under a Fulbright scholarship, and Stanley Fletcher at the University of Illinois, from which institution he earned his DMA. His thesis was published by MTNA under the title, "The Beethoven Sonatas as He Played and Taught Them," and later reissued by Indiana University Press, which in 1994 published his "The Beethoven Sonatas and the Creative Experience." Mr. Drake taught previously at the University of Evansville (Indiana) and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he was chairman of the piano department.

Alan Hersh is currently Professor of Music at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. A graduate with honors of the Manhattan School of Music and Indiana University, Dr. Hersh previously served as a professor and administrator at Central Connecticut State University, Slippery Rock State University, and Augustana College, Rock Island before moving to UK in 1986. Dr. Hersh has performed extensively as a recitalist, chamber musician and with orchestras throughout the United States. His performances of Bach's Goldberg Variations have received critical acclaim in numerous performances from Kentucky to California.

"Pianism and sheer control of a miraculous order"
"He begins where most pianists leave off"
"A supervirtuoso"

-The New York Times

Abbey Simon has performed in all the major recital halls of the world and with most of the major orchestras. His extensive discography on the Vox and Philips labels includes the complete works of Chopin and Ravel, the complete Rachmaninoff concertos with the St. Louis Symphony, and several recordings of the music of Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, Grieg, Mendelssohn, and others. At the age of eight, he so impressed Josef Hofmann that he was immediately awarded a scholarship at the Curtis Institute of Music. At nineteen, the young pianist won the Naumburg Competition, and his York debut was given at Town Hall under its sponsorship. Mr. Simon has also been honored with the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal and a citation proclaiming him to be the outstanding American concert artist in Europe. Mr. Simon is on faculty at the Juilliard School and at the University of Houston, and for ten years taught at Indiana University in Bloomington. He regularly serves as adjudicator for the most prestigious international competitions, including the Van Cliburn, Geneva, Sydney, and Leeds.