Martin and Hu to perform viola and piano recital March 18

Spencer Martin and Xiao Hu will present a viola and piano recital Wednesday, March 18, 7 p.m. in the Noble Recital Hall.

The performance is open to the public with no charge for admission.

The program will feature “Suite for Viola and Piano” by Ernest Bloch, “Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano” by Darius Milhaud and “Sonata in B-flat Major for Viola and Piano” by Henri Vieuxtemps.

A former member of the music faculty at the University of Alabama, Martin joined the Luther College faculty in 2002.

Martin has performed and taught at music festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Israel and Europe as both violist and conductor. An active chamber and orchestral musician, he has appeared as guest violist with the Pro Arte String Quartet and the Amelia Piano Trio. 

Martin has served as Principal Violist in the Tuscaloosa Symphony and has frequently performed in the viola sections of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.

Martin’s solo, chamber and orchestral performances have been featured in numerous radio broadcasts including National Public Radio, the Canadian CBC radio network, Minnesota Public Radio and Kansas Public Radio.

In January 2007 Martin made his Viennese debut at the Konzerthaus in performances of Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy” with the Luther College Symphony Orchestra. An avid proponent of Baroque music, Martin received a grant to study for three months during the summer of 2006 in Germany where he worked with Baroque violinist Bernhard Forck and violist Barbara Westphal.

Martin holds the bachelor of music degree cum laude from Butler University, the master of music degree from Wichita State University and the doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Minnesota.

Hu made her New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has since performed widely as a soloist and a chamber musician.

She has performed at the Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, Viterbo University, Wis., Texas A&M University, the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh and at the Searl Pickett Chamber Series in Fond du Lac, Wis.

She was the winner of the Lima Symphony Young Artist Competition, the Kingsville International Piano Competition, and concerto competitions both at the University of Cincinnati and Stony Brook University.

Her main teachers include Gilbert Kalish, Eugene Pridonoff and Robert Spillman. She has studied in master classes with Leon Fleisher and Emanual Ax. Her chamber music coaches include Peter Oundjian, Julius Levine and Mitchell Stern.

Hu joined the Luther piano faculty in the fall of 2002. She performs regularly with her husband, Du Huang, as the Unison Piano Duo. They have generated enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics alike both in the U.S. and abroad. The Duo toured China, performing and presenting master classes in Shanghai, Wuhan and Shenzhen.

Hu holds the bachelor of music degree summa cum laude and the master of music degree from the University of Cincinnati. She holds the doctor of musical arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.