2006 press releases

U.S Piano Virtuoso Nina Drath Performs with Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra

June 16, 2006

Classical music lovers enjoyed American pianist Nina Drath performing Leonard Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, on Friday, June 16, at 8:30 p.m. The concert was free and took place at l'Eglise Saint Joseph des Pères Jésuites in Monot. Nina Drath's visit to Lebanon was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Department of State's CultureConnect program. The performance by Nina Drath is a component of the U.S. Embassy's “Prints and Piano” theme for the month of June and embodies its commitment to a reinvigorated U.S. Embassy presence on Beirut’s cultural scene.

Nina Drath was born in Katowice, Poland and began her piano studies at age three. She gave her first recital at age nine. She received her Master's degree in piano performance from the Academy of Music in Warsaw. She is currently president of the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Texas. She was a prize winner in both the Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition in Spain in 1976, and the International Piano Competition in Sengallia, Italy in 1979.

Ms. Drath has performed and given master classes in Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Mexico, Spain and the United States. She has played concerts throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe, including a performance with the Warsaw Radio Symphony, Krakow Symphony and Arthur Rubenstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Lodz, Poland. She has recorded several compositions by Fryderyk Chopin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Texas composer, Peter Petroff.

In addition to her performance with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Drath presented a series of workshops and master classes at the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory for Music. She also offered a private concert at the residence of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey D. Feltman, on June 14th, 2006, for a select audience from Lebanon’s political, economic and social circles.

Ms. Drath’s cultural program embodies the strong commitment of the United States to artistic and people-to-people exchanges between Lebanon and the United States. In addition to support for a “made in Lebanon” program of economic, political and institutional reform, the U.S. is committed to supporting Lebanon’s diverse and dynamic cultural life. During the past three years, the U.S. Embassy has sponsored exciting events including improvisational jazz, modern dance, independent filmmakers, classical piano and gospel singing. To support the training of aspiring Lebanese musicians, the U.S. Embassy donated a collection of piano scores to the Conservatoire National Superiere de Musique last year. This year, through U.S. sponsorship also, American composer and jazz virtuoso Katherine Cartwright will spend the month of June at the Conservatoire as a Fulbright Senior Specialist, offering workshops and lectures and performing two public concerts.