Music Professor Couple Performing in Abilene Civic Orchestra

HSU piano professors Mark and Lauren Puckett have performed together in Germany and France, but on Sunday, April 30, they will share their talents with the residents of Abilene. The couple will be performing a concerto for two pianos at the Civic Orchestra of Abilene’s final concert of the season. Entitled “Poulenc and Pucketts,” the concerto will begin at 3:00 p.m. in the Abilene Convention Center. Admission is free.

Dr. Robert Tucker, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, praised the Pucketts’ piano playing gifts.

“With their usual professional flair, they will perform with accuracy and breath-taking emotional power on one of the great pieces of music written for two pianos,” he said.

Dr. Mark Puckett called the Poulenc piece entertaining and appealing.

“We think the audience will enjoy it,” He said. “It sounds like a score to a silent film in some ways.  It is very colorful and full of surprises.”

The Pucketts will perform with the rest of the Abilene Civic Orchestra, including students from ACU, McMurry, and Hardin-Simmons.

“The orchestra serves an educational and artistic purpose for this region,” Puckett said. “It give students and other musicians an opportunity to perform some of the great musical works for the community.”

Dr. Mark Puckett is HSU’s artist-in-residence and Steinway Artist. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Canada, Europe, Central America, and Asia. He has also won awards in several international piano competitions, including second prize in the 1990 New Orleans International Piano Competition.

Professor Lauren Puckett is in demand as an adjudicator and has presented symposiums on improvisation to music teachers’ organizations and college groups. She is a nationally certified member of Music Teachers National Association and received the 2008 Teacher of the Year Award from Abilene Music Teachers Association.

Together, the two have recorded a CD titled “Rendezvous” which includes two-piano and four-hand works. They presented a lecture/recital of 20th century compositions at the Texas Music Teachers Association State Convention, performed in Dresden, Germany during Chopin Tour 2005, and recently in Dieppe, France.

They were guest artists with The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, and in 2010, performed Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. They also founded and direct The Abilene Summer Piano Camp, which has taken place yearly on the campus of HSU since 1995. 

The concert will be benefitting the Food Bank of West Central Texas. Attendees are encouraged to bring a can of food to contribute.