Thousand Oaks Philharmonic to sponsor Chopin Project II

The Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, in association with the Music Teachers' Association of California-Conejo Valley Branch, will sponsor the Chopin Project II tomorrow, Fri., Feb. 15 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts PlazaScherr Forum Theatre.

A moderated panel discussion at 6:45 p.m. will precede the 7:30 p.m. program.

The evening is a fundraiser for the Philharmonic, and is a continuation of periodic events with a scholarly perspective, the second featuring composer Frederick Chopin.

The featured soloists are pianists Ornela Ervin, Kyung Lee, Michael Preddy and Michael Williams, the same soloists who played in the first Chopin Project in 2005.

Each artist will perform a variety of selected works from the composer's catalogue, including waltzes, preludes, etudes and nocturnes.

Ervin is a graduate of the Music Conservatory of Albania. Lee has degrees from the Frost School of Music/University of Miami and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC. Preddy holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Houston. For more than 20 years he was the pianist and conductor for the Smothers Brothers. Williams, a pianist/ composer, has degrees in music from Cal State Northridge and Eastman School of Music. He has recorded jazz CDs and composed music for motion pictures and television.

Philharmonic's Executive Director and MTAC President Edward Francis will moderate the panel discussion on the composer. Francis is a pianist and teacher at Pepperdine University and Moorpark College.

The panel includes Wojciech Kocyan, professor of piano at Loyola Marymount University, and a prize winner in the 11th International Chopin Competition; French pianist Francoise Regnat, former Keyboard Area Chair at CSUN, and Russian pianist Dmitry Rachmanov, who has assumed the duties of Keyboard Area Chair upon Regnat's retirement.

Tickets are available in the lobby of the theatre beginning at 6 p.m. the evening of the recital. The cost is $20 adults, $10 students & seniors age 60 and up, and $50 family ticket (two adults/two children).

For reservations and more information, call (805) 376-2485 or visit www.tophil.org.