Renowned pianist Dr. Stephen Beus is the guest artist at the Dr. Sharyn Edwards Piano Festival March 16 – 18. He will open the recital on Thursday, March 16 with an artist recital beginning at 7 p.m. in the SCC Auditorium. The recital is open to the public and general admission is $12.

In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first place in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon) and he was awarded the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis).

As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana and Walla Walla Symphonies.

Born and raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Mr. Beus began lessons at age 5 and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics.   Mr. Beus holds degrees from Whitman College, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, and his teachers have included Leonard Richter, Robert McDonald, Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl, and Paulette Richards. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics, Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur Records labels. Stephen Beus is a Steinway Artist and currently teaches at Brigham Young University.

The Dr. Sharyn Edwards Piano Festival, named in honor of Edwards, an acclaimed former Southeastern Community College music faculty member, includes piano competitions and recitals by students in kindergarten through college. The festival is dedicated to meeting the needs of piano students and teachers from the southeastern North Carolina counties of Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, New Hanover, Pender, and Robeson.  Participants from other parts of the state are welcome. The Collegiate Competition Recital is Friday, March 17 at 7 p.m. and the K-12 Student Recital is Saturday, March 18 at 7 p.m. Admission is $5 each for Friday and Saturday or a Festival Pass for Thursday through Saturday is $15.