American piano virtuoso Steven Spooner launches the 59th annual Coquitlam District Music Festival with a concert Friday, featuring the works of Haydn, Chopin and Liszt. The recital takes place on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Hyde Creek community church (2145 Nova Scotia Ave.) in Port Coquitlam, where the competition happens until March 21. A Steinway artist, Spooner took first place at both the Hilton Head and the Artlivre Chopin/Liszt international piano competitions. A student of the Paris, Moscow and Tbilisi conservatories - as well as Indiana University - Spooner has several recordings under his belt, including solo and chamber performances. Currently, he serves on the piano faculty at the University of Kansas and the National Board of the American Liszt Society. In his spare time, he adjudicates at music festivals such as the 2010 and 2009 the Coquitlam district competitions. For this year's local festival, the adjudicators are Patricia Tao (junior piano); Cherith Alexander (intermediate piano); Jung Spooner, Steven Spooner's wife (senior piano); Oleg Pokhanovski (strings); Mike Stack (speech); and Renee Bard (vocal). Festival winners will go on to the provincials, to be held in Kamloops. • Tickets for Steven Spooner's concert are $20/$15 at the door or by calling 604-468-2622 or emailing cdmf@telus.net. jwarren@tricitynews.com
