Pianist Behzod Abduraimov Cancels Spivey Hall Debut Recital Due to Illness; Brazilian Pianist Arnaldo Cohen Will Perform in Last Concert of 25th Anniversary Piano Series

Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall (www.spiveyhall.org), the Southeast’s premier recital hall renowned internationally for its superior acoustics and the excellence of its classical, jazz and world music artists, has announced the cancellation of this week’s recital by pianist Behzod Abduraimov. Abduraimov, who was scheduled to debut at Spivey Hall on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., had to cancel due to illness; Brazilian pianist Arnaldo Cohen has agreed to return to Spivey Hall to close out the 25th Anniversary Season as the last performance in the Piano Series.

A pupil in his native Brazil of Jacques Klein (a disciple of the legendary American pianist William Kapell), Cohen was the first prize winner of the 1972 Busoni International Piano Competition. Long in demand internationally, he has performed with the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, the Chicago Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is a frequent recitalist at major music venues and festivals, including the 2016 Savannah Music Festival.  An acclaimed recording artist, Cohen was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London before moving to the United States, where he currently holds a full professorship at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and since 2013, has been artistic director of the Portland Piano International series in Oregon.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution calls Cohen “a big pianist, a large man with a roaring, muscular tone, digital precision and individual interpretations. He is debonair at the keyboard, and he is wise.”

For his May 7 Spivey Hall recital, Cohen will perform Ferruccio Busoni’s transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne in D minor, the Variations on a Theme of Handel by Johannes Brahms, and the four highly virtuosic Scherzos by Frédéric Chopin.

Tickets are priced at $50 and are available for purchase now from the Spivey Hall Box Office by calling (678) 466-4200 and online at www.spiveyhall.org. Students with valid ID and educators receive a 50% discount, and Clayton State University students receive $10 tickets (limit two per Laker ID).

With free parking and close proximity to Atlanta, Spivey Hall’s 392-seat auditorium is the perfect option for an intimate music experience. For full program details for all performances, tickets or more information, call the Spivey Hall Box Office at (678) 466-4200, or visit www.spiveyhall.org.

Arnaldo Cohen’s Spivey Hall performance is made possible through the generosity of Spivey Hall Friends Concert Sponsor Michael Koch, MD.