Four-hands piano recital Sunday at Northern State

ABERDEEN, S.D. (Press Release) – A husband and wife musical duo will perform an upcoming concert at Northern State University.

Dr. Kenneth Boulton and JoAnne Barry will present a recital of music for two pianos four-hands at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, in the Johnson Fine Arts Center Harvey and Cynthia Jewett Theater.

Featured on the program will be music by Reinhold Glière, Lili Boulanger, Robert Schumann and Samuel Barber.

“We are very excited to present a program that combines some rarely performed gems with one of the true monuments of piano duo literature,” said Boulton, NSU dean of fine arts.

For more than 30 years, Boulton and Barry have presented piano duet and duo concerts throughout the United States and Europe. Enthusiastic advocates of piano ensemble playing, the husband and wife team are in demand for their lecture-demonstrations of four-hand technique and repertoire, particularly works appropriate for student use.

Originally from Seattle, Boulton received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., and master’s and doctoral degrees in piano performance from the University of Maryland at College Park. His recording, “Louisiana – A Pianist’s Journey,” was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo without Orchestra. Boulton started at NSU in 2016 as the dean of the School of Fine Arts.

A native of Alexandria, Va., Barry holds a bachelor’s degree in organ from James Madison University in Harrisburg, Va. She pursued graduate studies in musicology and organ at Radford University in Radford, Va. Following her completion of a Master of Library Science at the University of Maryland, Barry served as an archivist for the Philadelphia Orchestra Association from 1990 to 2004.

The concert is free and open to the public.