Billias and Parker to present ‘Sounds of the Seasons’ The virtual performance, which is free and open the public, will be available to view via Livestream.

By Erica Turman
September 14, 2020

Pianist Anna Billias and baritone Gregory Parker will present a recital entitled “Sounds of the Seasons” on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. The performance, which is free and open to the public for virtual viewing, will be available to watch via Livestream at https://livestream.com/wlu.

The recital will begin with Edvard Grieg’s piano piece, “To Spring,” then the relaxation of summer days will be evoked in the music of William Grant Still and Samuel Barber. Billias will establish an autumnal mood by playing Lü Wencheng’s “Autumn Moon Over the Calm Lake,” followed by Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk’s “Melody.” Piano music of Claude Debussy will mark the transition to winter as Billias plays “Footprints in the Snow” and “The Snow is Dancing.”

Billias is an adjunct instructor and accompanist at Washington and Lee University and was formerly assistant professor and director of piano studies and collaborative performance at Sweet Briar College. She was trained as a concert pianist at the Prokofiev State Academy of Music in Donetsk, Ukraine, and graduated with advanced degrees in both performance and instruction for piano. She completed her doctoral studies at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia.

Parker is a professor of music and chair of the Department of Music at W&L. He has sung in multiple oratorio performances, and as a baritone soloist, he has presented numerous recitals and appeared with opera companies in Alabama, Texas and Missouri.

For more information, visit https://my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center/faculty-recital-parker-and-billias or call the Lenfest Center Box Office at 540-458-8000.