MACON — The Townsend School of Music welcomes pianist Dr. Ruth Anne Rich for a solo recital on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Fickling Recital Hall of the McCorkle Music Building. Dr. Rich grew up on Mercer’s campus surrounded by music while her parents, Arthur and Helen Rich, built the music department that eventually grew into the School of Music.
Dr. Rich’s concert is being played in memory of her mother, Helen Wall Rich, and in honor of Dr. Carol Goff, who holds the Helen Wall Rich Professorship in Keyboard Studies. The concert is free and open to the public. A reception in Dr. Rich’s honor will follow the recital in the lobby of the McCorkle Music Building.
When asked about her upcoming recital, Dr. Rich responded: “Going home is always special. Mercer was, and is, home.”
Dr. Rich has enjoyed an illustrious career of international performing and teaching throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and has received numerous commendations for her artistry, including a Fulbright scholarship that enabled her to earn the Licence from the Ecole Normale de Musique and the Diplome de Virtuosite from the Schola Cantorum de Paris. She also holds the Licentiate in Piano Performance from the Royal Academy of Music in London. After completing her two years of study in Paris as a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Rich returned to Macon in 1966 to become Artist in Residence at Mercer. She went on to become one of the first American musicians to perform and teach master classes in the conservatories of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Harbin. In 1974, Dr. Rich became Professor of Piano at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory, a position that she held until her retirement in 2000.
