Celebrated Pianist and Cellist to Perform for Diehn Concert Series

Lambert Orkis and David Hardy

Pianist Lambert Orkis and cellist David Hardy will perform on campus for the Diehn Concert Series at 8 p.m. Monday, March 24.

The program, in Chandler Recital Hall of the Diehn Center for the Performing Arts, is in conjunction with the 27th Annual Harold Protsman Classical Period Piano Competition.

A multi-Grammy Award nominee, Orkis has a discography comprising works of the classical, romantic and modern eras on many labels. His distinguished career includes appearances with cellists Lynn Harrell, Anner Bylsma, Daniel Müller-Schott and Han-Na Chang; violinist Julian Rachlin; and violist Steven Dann.

He has performed with the Vertavo, Emerson, American, Mendelssohn, Curtis and Manchester string quartets. As a soloist he has made appearances with conductors including Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Kenneth Slowik, John Mauceri, Robert Kapilow and Leon Fleisher. Orkis has been principal keyboardist of Washington's National Symphony Orchestra since 1982, and has performed chamber music with the orchestra's principal cellist, David Hardy, since 1983.

One of the leading orchestral cellists in the United States, Hardy began studying at the age of 8 and graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore in 1980. He made his debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the age of 16 and eventually became a member of the orchestra. In 1979 he won a certificate at the Geneva International Cello Competition. His teachers at Peabody were Stephen Kates, Bert Senofsky and Laurence Lesser.

He was associate principal cello of the National Symphony Orchestra, appointed by the star international cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

Tickets for the Diehn Concert performance are $15 for general admission and $10 for students. Tickets can be purchased online at oduartstix.com, or by calling 683-5305 during regular box office hours.