Pickett Named CWU Distinguished Professor for Research, Artistic Accomplishment and Invention

June 9, 2005

Contact: Jessica Rossi (509-963-1493/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail: rossij@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Dr. John Pickett, Central Washington University music professor, is the university's 2005 Distinguished Professor for Research, Artistic Accomplishment and Invention.

Pickett, who teaches piano, music literature and chamber music, is in his 18 years on the university faculty.

A renowned pianist, Pickett was a finalist in the Orleans Competition of Music of the 20th Century in Orleans, France, in 1994. He was invited back to France last year to perform solo recitals in both Paris and Orleans. Pickett has also performed solo and chamber recitals and with orchestra in the U.S., France, Poland, Hungary, Estonia and, this past fall, Scotland.

Performance highlights include a solo recital at the Paris Conservatoire and the Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Szczecin Philharmonic in Poland. Next year, he will perform George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," with orchestra, at Carnegie Hall in New York.

"Teaching piano is a natural extension of my musicianship," he says. "The bond between my performing and teaching is an inseparable one; the two continually create new possibilities for growth."

Also a composer of note, Pickett was a 2004 finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Art Song Competition, involving more than 400 national entries.

Locally, Pickett serves as director of the CWU Sonata-Sonatina festival. The sixth annual festival, completed earlier this year, featured 470 pianists, their teachers and parents.

In addition, he has developed a guest artist chamber music series, which brings in a number of Pacific Northwest and international artists to share their experience with CWU music students and their performance talents with the local community. He is also a regular contributor of songs for the Ellensburg Children's Musical Theatre.

Along with his teaching work at CWU, Pickett has taught master-classes throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada and Mexico. His students have won national recognition in competitions and his lectures address a wide range of stylistic and interpretive areas and concerns. In addition, he has developed a private piano studio that is competitive with all other music institutions in Washington.

"It's exciting to think that I am able to lead students to new discoveries and to create opportunities for them to reach new levels with their abilities," he adds.

Pickett received his bachelor's and master's degrees in piano at The School of Julliard, and his doctorate in piano performance, with a minor in music history and arts administration from Indiana University.

Pickett will receive a commemorative plaque and $2,500 monetary award at the 2005 CWU honors convention on Friday, June 10, at 8 p.m. in McConnell Auditorium.