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ELKINS -- Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church will present "A Musical Menagerie: Peter and The Wolf & Other Animal Tails" on Sunday, featuring famed British pianist and composer Jack Gibbons.
The event will be a fundraiser for the Randolph County Humane Society. Donations will be accepted at the door for admission.
"My program will feature piano music inspired by the animal kingdom," Gibbons said. "Including the pets of one or two great composers, from Mozart's singing starling to Chopin's tail-chasing Marquis to Gershwin's street-wise wire-haired terrier!"
This will be the only performance from Gibbons in the region this season and officials say it is one not to miss. The concert begins at 2 p.m. and will be followed by a reception.
"I'm delighted to be giving this benefit concert on behalf of the Randolph County Humane Society on Sunday," Gibbons told The Inter-Mountain Friday. "As an animal lover myself, and the owner of two dogs and two cats, three of which are rescue animals, I really appreciate the work the RCHS does on behalf of our furry friends.
"A lot of famous composers were likewise animal lovers and wrote music immortalizing their pets -- including Mozart, who taught his starling to sing one of his melodies, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin and many others," he said. "I will be telling stories about the pets of the great composers and playing the music they inspired, as well as playing and narrating Prokofiev's famous Peter and the Wolf musical story. It should be a fun occasion, and I very much hope everyone will come out and support this benefit for a very worthy cause."
Gibbons has been artist-in-residence at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins.
Gibbons has established a remarkable reputation as one of the finest pianists of his generation, and one of the world's greatest interpreters of the piano music of George Gershwin. His concerts are regularly received with standing ovations at New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, where he has appeared annually for more than 16 years. He recently performed at Kaufman Music Center in New York, and has appeared at Pittsburgh's Steinway Gallery and Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Gibbons is also now becoming known as a composer, his music having been performed with great success in New York and London, and recorded by the BBC.
For more information on Gibbons, visit www.jackgibbons.com. For more information on Davis & Elkins College, visit www.dewv.edu.