ADA, Okla. – Duo Cantabile, cellist Simona Barbu and pianist Nariaki Sugiura, will be performing at East Central University on Nov. 20 at 3 p.m. in the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Duo Cantabile are musicians and university professors. They have traveled extensively and given performances, clinics, lectures, and master classes at prestigious institutions around the world, including Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim (Germany), Zoltan Kodaly EZI Kecskemet (Hungary), Xinghai Conservatory of Music (China), National Taipei University of Arts (Taiwan), University of Antioquia (Colombia), and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
Simona Barbu began her musical studies at age seven and gained public attention as a member of the leading string quartet of the Conservatory of Timisoara in her native Romania. Ever since, she has traveled to Asia, South American, Europe, and the United States as a soloist, chamber musician, clinician, and orchestra musician. She has collaborated with several world class musicians and has been an active orchestral musician.
Dr. Barbu has served as the string faculty at Mississippi State University for four years. In 2011, she was appointed Professor of Cello and Burgum Endowed Chair at the University of North Dakota, where she currently teaches.
Nariaki Sugiura has performed solo recitals and concerto engagements in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia at a variety of prestigious concert halls. He has appeared as soloist with the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra, Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, University of Antioquia Symphony Orchestra, Peking University Affiliated High School Concert Band, and many others. His arrangements for chamber ensembles and piano ensembles have been frequently performed.
Dr. Sugiura has become one of the leading piano pedagogues of his generation. He has given piano master classes at Academy of Music Gheorghe Dima (Romania), Leo Weiner Music Academy (Hungary), Shenyang Conservatory of Music (China), National Kaohsiung Normal University (Taiwan), Ewha Womans University and Sunhwa Arts High School (South Korea), Universitas Pelita Harapan (Indonesia), St. Paul’s College (Hong Kong), and many other institutions around the world. Previously, he taught at DePauw University and Indiana University.