George Darden, an internationally acclaimed pianist from Orangeburg, South Carolina, will give his final performance on March 29th at Stevenson Auditorium. The concert will benefit the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center and Historical Society. Darden has had a remarkable career performing around the world but says that the level of support and interest in classical music has declined significantly both in his hometown and nationwide. He hopes his final local performance will help foster more appreciation for this art form.

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Sunday Magazine www.TheTandD.com
Curtain call
acclaimed pianist to give final
hometown performance March 29
By WENDY JEFFCOAT CRIDER
T&D Features Editor
If you go ...
What: George Darden in concert
When: 4 p.m. Sunday, March 29
H
is talent has taken him on a re- Where: Stevenson Auditorium, downtown
markable journey from his quiet, Orangeburg
country home in western Orange- Program: Frédéric Chopin, Richard Strauss,
burg County to grand concert halls Sergei Rachmaninoff, with French and Spanish
across the globe. works
internationally acclaimed pianist george Tickets: $15 for adults; $12 for Orangeburg
darden worked for more than two decades County Fine Arts Center members, seniors and
with the Metropolitan Opera and has made ap- students; $65 and $95 for boxes; $50 (two tick-
pearances throughout Canada and France and ets) for sponsors; $100 (four tickets) for patrons;
in places such as Hong Kong, Rome, Tel aviv $150 (six tickets) for benefactors.
and Moscow. He has worked with renowned Sponsors, patrons and benefactors will re-
singers elisabeth Söderström, Renée Fleming, ceive preferred seating and acknowledgement
Plácido domingo and dozens more. in the program.
On Sunday, March 29,
darden will perform his For tickets, call Beth Thomas at the Orange-
final concert in the Caroli- burg County Fine Arts Center at 803-536-4074.
nas — a benefit for the Or-
angeburg County Fine arts
Center and the Orangeburg it’s a trend, he said, that is reflected
County Historical Society nationwide.
— at Stevenson auditorium. “The arts were flourishing in this commu-
darden, who will officially nity, and today, to try to find a child who’s even
rest his professionally per- studying piano is very difficult,” darden said.
forming fingers on Jan. 1, “They’re not going to sit and be by themselves
Darden 2010, said he has stopped in a room practicing and developing muscles,
scheduling engagements and is busy complet- in the way an athlete has to do.
ing contracts around the world. “That’s not a comment on Orangeburg —
“This is the opportunity for people to enjoy that’s a comment for all over america.”
this kind of music,” said Beth Thomas, execu- abroad, he said emphasis is still placed on
tive director of the Fine arts Center. “This classical music and the discipline and care it
kind of performance, this quality — it doesn’t takes to be a classical musician.
happen here. it won’t happen again. it’s an “We (pianists) spend our lives ... training
opportunity for them to take advantage of it. our muscles to play, to study old repertoire ...
This concert is very exceptional.” we really get down to the nitty-gritty,” darden
in a recent interview announcing plans for said. “Most rock people can’t even read music.
“the last concert,” darden recalled a time They have never had to study music history,
when Orangeburg was a center of culture in music theory, counterpoint — all of the neces-
South Carolina. sary rudiments of music that’s it’s expected
“What Orangeburg had was absolutely phe- that we all know. ... it’s been a lifetime of
nomenal,” as far classical pianists were con- learning and growing.
cerned, he said. “We had ’em here, more than “When you go to the great symphony or-
Charleston, more than Columbia, more than chestra, you see more gray hairs and bald
greenville.” hairs than you do youngsters.”
and there was a waiting list for community Thomas said that’s exactly what makes
concerts, he said. But not any more. darden’s upcoming performance so important.
“The Community Concert association was “That’s why we need this concert here, for
out of new york City, and it was in all the the historical, cultural aspects of this com-
communities across america, and the great munity,” for children to learn to love classical
artists came to perform, and it was the height music, she said.
SPECIAL TO THE T&D of the social scene,” darden said. “When you “i don’t think this concert is going to change
World renowned pianist and Orangeburg native George Darden will give his final performance in try to find something like that today, it’s very
North and South Carolina on Sunday, March 29, at Stevenson Auditorium. difficult.” See DARDEN, C6
BECOMINg A MASTER MuSICIAN
Internationally acclaimed pianist George Darden received his early education at Edisto schools in Cordova and attended In-
diana University, where he was a student of Hungarian-born pianist Bela Boszormènyi-Nagy, and Florida State University, where
he studied with American composer and pianist Carlisle Floyd, a South Carolina native. He is a graduate of Montreat College and
has taught at the University of Houston School of Music, the University of Missouri-Columbia and Tel Aviv’s Israel Vocal Arts Insti-
tute.
Darden made his solo piano debut with the Savannah Symphony in 1963 and retired in 2006 after 21 years with the Metro-
politan Opera in New York City, where he served as assistant conductor, pianist and coach. Prior to his work with the Met, Darden
was associated with the Houston Grand Opera, Texas Opera Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Michigan Opera Theatre, New
Orleans Opera, Greater Miami Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Company of Boston, Augusta Opera, Baltimore Opera, Nevada
Opera Company and in Spain at Valencia’s Puccini Festival.
Darden has been featured on a number of recordings as well as on radio and television programs around the world. In 2000,
he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian award for lifetime achievement and service.
WORThY CAuSES
George Darden’s final concert in North and South Carolina will benefit two Orangeburg organizations.
In addition to offering classes and workshops for adults and children in a variety of visual and performing arts disciplines, the
Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center provides subgrants to local artists and arts-producing organizations through a South Caro-
lina Arts Commission grant; sponsors lectures and book signings; hosts the popular Lunch in the Terrace Garden in May and
October; showcases local artists’ works; presents concerts and recitals featuring local and touring performers; partners with a
number of community activities, including the Orangeburg Festival of Roses and The Sights and Sounds of Christmas, and more.
The Orangeburg County Historical Society, situated on Middleton Street across from the Orangeburg Post Office, is home to
extensive cemetery, birth, marriage and death records; personal papers or scrapbooks compiled and donated by local families;
census records and old city directories and telephone books; records on businesses, banks, schools, civic clubs, fairs and other
community institutions; displays and more. The Historical Society is managed and operated by volunteers and funded through
private donations.