Gustavus Adolphus College

Long-time professor of music at Gustavus Adolphus College, John McKay, returns to Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall Saturday, September 20, to present the first recital of the new school year at 7:30 p.m. Included in this performance are works by Haydn, Brahms, Chopin and the world premiere of a new work by Mortimer Barron.

John McKay will present a program which includes Haydn’s Sonata in E flat major, “Genzinger,” Brahms’s Eight Piano Pieces Opus 96, Chopin’s Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, and the world premiere of Mortimer Barron’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Composer Barron, who lives in Providence, R.I., was commissioned by John McKay to compose this work, depicting each of the six wives of Henry VIII.

Following his retirement from teaching in 2004, McKay has remained an active recitalist. He has soloed with the Mankato Symphony Orchestra and was the founder and artistic director of the Minnesota Valley Sommarfest for seventeen years. In July 2000, John and Sara McKay were honored by the Minnesota State Arts Board for their service to music in the community.

This concert is free to the public and is part of a tour of 10 cities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa made possible in part with the assistance of a McKnight Fellowship grant awarded by the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council with funds provided by the McKnight Foundation.