A performance by pianist Dr. Roger McVey will close out this year’s Piano and Strings Festival at UALR.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 9, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall of the Fine Arts Building.

All students, parents, and teachers participating in the festival are invited to attend.

The festival is an annual event that brings students in first through 12th grades from across the state to UALR for a day of performance, competition, and networking. Participants may perform as soloists, members of duets, trios, or quartets, and are even invited to perform original works.

McVey has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout the United States, Europe, in Cyprus, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. He is an associate professor of piano at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He has previously taught at the University of Kansas, Mercer University, Georgia College and State University, and Macon State College. He has earned degrees in piano performance from the University of Kansas, Indiana University, and East Carolina University in addition to studying at the Aspen Music Festival and the Chautauqua Institute.

His performance will feature the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Marc Mellits, Gareth Farr, and Johannes Brahms.

For more information about the festival or the performance, contact Naoki Hakutani at 501-683-7230 or nxhakutani@ualr.edu.