Westport Center for the Arts’ Brown Bag Concert Series presents:
Lawrence Figg, cello & Robert Pherigo, pianist

Join Lawrence Figg and Robert Pherigo for a celebration of masterworks for cello at February’s Brown Bag concert on Friday, Feb. 21. Cellist Figg and pianist Pherigo will present works by Beethoven, Debussy, Fauré and more.

The free (donations accepted) Brown Bag Concerts, sponsored by Westport Center for the Arts, connect musicians with local audiences in an intimate space. They are held monthly from 12:10 to 1 p.m. at the Westport Presbyterian Church, 201 Westport Road, Kansas City.

Born in Dallas in 1963, Lawrence Figg began the cello in fourth grade strings class and was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age 18. After graduating in 1985, he moved to Paris where he lived for five years. He was a member of the Orchestre de Chambre d’Alexendre Stajic, performed a season with Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercomtemporain, and he was a regular recording artist for French radio and television. In 1986, he was a semi-finalist at the Tchaikovsky in Moscow and performed as soloist with several French orchestras during his stay in Paris. In 1991, he won a position as section cellist in the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Alain Lombard and was later appointed the to the position of assistant principal and then principal cello until 1994. Figg has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 1999, and he has been described as a distinguished cellist with beautiful tone and passionate, singing musicianship by the Kansas City Star.

Robert Pherigo is a composer, pianist, tenor and conductor. He was a member of newEar Contemporary Music Ensemble for 15 years, exploring the music of today’s composers. He participated in numerous world premieres and performed at Modern Music festivals in Thailand and China. Pherigo has composed works for, among others, newEar, Kansas City Chorale, Lyric Arts Trio, and the Lawrence Children’s Choir. His arrangement of the well-known Christmas Carol Sing We Now of Christmas is published by Santa Barbara Musical Publishing under the title Sing We Now Noel! Pherigo sang with the Grammy award winning Kansas City Chorale for 10 years. He enjoys playing solo piano recitals, recently performing Charles Ives’ “Concord” Sonata and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 109. His piano artistry can be heard on recordings of the music of Ingrid Stölzel, Narong Prancharoen, and Mara Gibson. Next month he will be featured as one of the composers for Society of Song’s “Hot of the Press” concert on March 27^th. You can get more information by going to the website: thesocietyofsong.com.

Reception will follow with coffee and refreshments provided by Westport Coffee House and Friends of WCA.