Join us July 1st  to celebrate Celebrate Canada Day with a special concert performed by Lethbridge pianist Jesse Plessis. The program will feature two nationalistic masterpieces by Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin, composed late in the master’s life, alongside two modern Canadian works by Arlan Schultz and Ann Southam.

Pianist and composer Jesse Plessis obtained a Master of Music degree (Performance and Literature) in 2013 from Brandon University where he studied piano with Megumi Masaki and composition with Patrick Carrabre. His Bachelor of Music degree is from the University of Lethbridge where he studied piano with Deanna Oye and composition with Arlan Schultz and Rolf Boon. Additional studies followed with Hardy Rittner at the Banff Centre and Norma Fisher at the London Masterclasses. He is currently the artistic director of the Centric Festival, Lethbridge’s summer classical music festival.

Having been described as having a “deft hand at crafting textures that pulse with life” (Winnipeg Free Press), he has been awarded prizes both in piano and composition and has performed as a guest artist with several western Canadian ensembles. Jesse has performed across Canada and Europe – recent performances include those with New West Theatre, at the Casalmaggiore Festival in Italy, the Dark Music Days Festival in Iceland, and at the Banff Centre. In addition to his activities as a performer, Plessis is a committed educator: he has been on faculty at the University of Lethbridge and gives masterclasses and private lessons regularly. A sometime conductor, Plessis has directed performances with the Brandon University New Music Ensemble, the Brandon University Orchestra, and several musical theatre productions.

To hear some of Jesse’s compositions and piano recordings, take a look at his Soundcloud page at https://soundcloud.com/jesse-plessis and for more information on the Centric Festival please visit http://centricfestival.wix.com/2015.

This is the third in a series of five Emerging Artist Concerts  during 2015 generously sponsored by: