Katherine Lewis Viola Recital Thursday, Sept. 25 in Kemp

School of Music viola instructor Katherine Lewis will present a recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in Kemp Recital Hall at Illinois State University.  Admission is free and open to the public.

Lewis will perform three works by American composer Libby Larsen, assisted by pianists Paul Borg and Momoko Gresham, clarinetist David Gresham and mezzo-soprano Deb Austin.  The pieces on the program are "Black Birds, Red Hills," a trio for viola, clarinet, and piano; "Sifting through the Ruins," a piece for mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano based on texts taken from  sites around New York after 9/11; and Larsen's Viola Sonata.

In addition to serving on the Music faculty, Lewis is a master teacher with the ISU String Project.  She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis,, and Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is in the final stages of completion of her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music where she was a Brown Foundation Scholar.

Lewis taught viola and chamber music in the preparatory departments of the Shepherd School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music and Fairmount Fine Arts Center in Cleveland.  She served as principal violist of the Symphony of Southeast Texas and Orchestra X, played frequently with the Houston and New World Symphonies, and is currently a member of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston.  She has participated in the Aspen and Sarasota Music Festivals, the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, the Baroque Institute at Longy, France, and the International Holland Music Sessions.

Recently she was appointed principal violist with the Peoria Symphony.