Richard Glazier, Pianist in a Salute to the American Song September 12, 2009

Augustana Arts presents

Richard Glazier, pianist

Salute to the American Popular Song

Augustana Arts and Pro Musicis presents Richard Glazier, Pianist in a Salute to the American Song, with works from Joplin, Rodgers, Kern and Gershwin. Using his piano as a time machine, Glazier starts with Ragtime with stops in Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Hollywood and ending with "Rhapsody in Blue".

One performance only at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, September 12 at Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 East Alameda Avenue, Denver 80246. Tickets are $10 - $18 and available at 303-388-4962 or online at www.augustanaarts.org

Award winning pianist and master story teller, Richard Glazier, is one of today's foremost interpreters of the American Popular Songbook. He has performed in nearly every state of the union, bringing audiences not only the music of the Golden Age of American Popular Song, but fascinating commentary about the composers of the era as well. Weaving stories, film clips and piano performances, Glazier's programs are entertaining, educational and inspiring. For some of his audience, Glazier brings back fond memories, for others he gives an exciting glimpse of our musical heritage.

Glazier's love for this music and the era in which it was written dates back to his first encounter with George Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” when he was 9 years-old. At the suggestion of his Aunt Esther he wrote a fan letter to Ira Gershwin. Amazingly, he answered and they began a three-year correspondence. In 1975, when he was 12 years old, Ira Gershwin invited him to his Beverly Hills home. In his concerts he tells the story of meeting Ira because it literally changed the course of his life.

Trained in the classics, Richard Glazier earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in piano performance from Indiana University School of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He made formal classical debuts in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Rome, and won several major international piano competitions including the Pro Musicis Award and National Federation of Music Clubs Grand Prize.

More information at www.richardglazier.com

"Richard Glazier has Gershwin in his soul." – Michael Feinstein

"Gershwin's piano music finds an exquisite voice in Richard Glazier." – Clavier

Augustana Arts & Pro Musicis presents - Pianist Richard Glazier in a Salute to the American Song - Sat., Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 East Alameda Ave., Denver. $18 Adult / $10 Senior & Student - 303-388-4962 - www.augustanaarts.org