Thrilling Pianist Jade Simmons Returns to Tuscaloosa April 13th as Stillman College Guest Artist

April 12, 2012 - PRLog -- According to Sergio Mims of Ebony/Jet Magazine: "Among the new generation of classical music artists, few are making the huge impact and receiving the kind of acclaim that pianist Jade Simmons has been of late." Known for innovative programming and riveting performances, Simmons will perform a solo concert featuring works from her sophomore recording project, #PaganiniProject, due out later this year. Her favorite composer, Rachmaninoff, as well as three jaw-dropping versions of variations on legendary violinist Nicolo Paganini's infamous Caprice in A Minor will be highlights. Check out this video of Jade's rendition of Rachmaninoff's popular Prelude in C-sharp Minor below.

The concert will be held Friday, April 13th at 7pm in the Wynn Fine Arts Center on the Stillman College campus and will conclude with Jade's signature "Meet the Artist" Q&A that invites the audience to probe further regarding the repertoire and the artist herself. On Saturday, April 14th, also at 7pm, Jade will judge young pianists from various parts of the Southeast in the finals of the school's annual Zelpha Wells Piano Competition. Both events are free and open to the public.

Since her last visit to Stillman in 2008, Jade has released her critically acclaimed debut album, Revolutionary Rhythm, on the eOne Music label. She has served as the face of the live webcasts for both the world-famous Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Ft. Worth, TX and the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Music Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia where she announced the competition, gave live commentary throughout and interviewed iconic figures in the arts like Menahem Pressler, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Van Cliburn and even esteemed journalist and Ft. Worth native Bob Schieffer. An advocate of arts in education, Jade has been the Artist-in-Residence at the University of Chicago, with the Mississippi Symphony and Georgia Tech University. Her 2011 ended with a performance at the White House.

Jade's Stillman College concert is free, open to the public and will be a rare opportunity to hear the exciting pianist in an intimate setting. Learn more about the artist on the all new Jade Media, the multimedia hub for pianist Jade Simmons featuring tour and project updates, videos and pictures galore. http://www.jademedia.org
http://youtu.be/kJa51nQUxW8



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Jade Media is the umbrella organization for the artistic endeavors of pianist Jade Simmons including Jade Media Concerts, Emerge Already! and the Impulse Artist Series.