Classical pianist Duncan J. Cumming returns home for a concert at the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. This event is free and open to the public; donations will be accepted at the door for future cultural events.
During his concert, Cumming will perform musical works by Beethoven, Joplin, and Chopin, among others. While in Presque Isle, Cumming will also deliver a children’s musical workshop titled From Bangkok to Bangor at several area schools.
Cumming has served on the faculty of the University at Albany for more than a decade. He has performed concertos, recitals, and chamber music concerts across the United States–in Boston, New York City, Princeton, Washington, D.C., Chicago, St. Paul, Los Angeles, and San Francisco–and around the world, from England, France, and Denmark to the Czech Republic, Russia, and Africa. He has appeared in renowned concert halls including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City, and the Wallenstein Palace in Prague.
Born in Presque Isle, Cumming graduated Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors from Bates College where he studied with Frank Glazer. He later received a full scholarship from the European Mozart Foundation and participated in intense chamber music study and performance at the European Mozart Academy in Prague. Upon his return to America, he studied with Patricia Zander at the New England Conservatory, where he received his Master of Music degree. In May 2003, he graduated with his Doctor of Music degree from Boston University.
From 2002-2008, Cumming was on the faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute as a teacher, chamber music coach, and performer in the position of assistant director and later director of the Young Artists Piano Program. His book The Fountain of Youth: The Artistry of Frank Glazer was published in 2009. In 2010, he was honored with the University at Albany’s College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Two recordings came out in 2011, including a solo recording for Centaur (CRC 3125) including music of Brahms, Debussy, Satie, and Chopin and the chamber music recording A Book of Hours for Albany Records (TROY 1239). More recently, two new recordings were released: Threads of the Heart (TROY 1428), a chamber recording for Albany Records, and a historical instrument recording with Christopher Hogwood for Centaur (CRC 3231) of the music of Carl Maria von Weber on Weber’s own 1815 Brodmann fortepiano.
In 2018, his festival, Youth Movements, was honored with the President’s Award for Exemplary Public Engagement at the University at Albany. He is the pianist of the Capital Trio, ensemble-in-residence at the University at Albany. The trio has performed, lectured, and taught master classes in residencies at Williams College, Crane School of Music, Hartwick College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, SUNY Oswego, Long Island University, Bates College, Clark University, Marshall University, and Cambridge University in England.
He lives in New York with his wife, the violinist Hilary Walther Cumming, and his children Lucy, Mairi, and Bear.
For more information about this performance, contact UMPI’s Community and Media Relations Office at 207-768-9452 or email umpi@maine.edu.