January 25, 2017

Due to popular demand, virtuoso French-Canadian concert pianist André Laplante returns as the guest artist of the third Annual UCF Piano Day.

Laplante will perform a solo recital on Saturday, January 28 at 7 p.m. in the UCF Visual Arts Building Auditorium. General Admission is $25 or $10 with valid UCF I.D. The recital is free to UCF music and theater students, performing arts faculty/staff with valid I.D., and children under age 12. Parking is free.

Tickets are available online. They are also available from the UCF School of Performing Arts Box Office by phone at 407-823-1500 or in person Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m.

Laplante will also conduct a master class on Sunday January 29 at 11:30 a.m. in the Rehearsal Hall. This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.

UCF Piano Day is designed for UCF students and Central Florida’s classical piano students, teachers and enthusiasts. Piano students are able to interact with international concert pianists in one-on-one instruction and witness extraordinary talent in live performance.

On October 2014, Laplante performed a mesmerizing piano recital and taught a master class at the first annual UCF Piano Day. It was an eye-opening experience for UCF students and audience members alike. Subsequent events have featured internationally renowned artists from Germany, Denmark, and Canada.

Over the last decade, Canadian pianist André Laplante has firmly established himself as one of the great romantic virtuosos. He garnered international attention after winning prizes at the Geneva and Sydney International Piano Competitions, then capturing the silver medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Critics have compared him with Ashkenazy, Horowitz and Rudolph Serkin, placing him in the elite circle of virtuoso pianists who do not hesitate to take risks. Yun-Ling Hsu, UCF music professor and director of Piano Day, was a student of André Laplante in the graduate school of music at the Ohio State University.

For more information about this event, contact Yun-Ling Hsu at Yun-Ling.Hsu@ucf.edu or call 407-823-1529.