Howard Payne University’s School of Education and Fine Arts announces a special guest recital performance featuring Christopher Adkins, principal cellist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday, November 11. The concert, which will feature members of the HPU Department of Music, will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Grace Chapel and is free to the public.

Adkins will collaborate with pianist Dr. Jacob Skiles, assistant professor music, and clarinetist Stephen Goacher, professor of music.

Works to be performed include music by Ludwig van Beethoven, J.S. Bach, Robert Schumann, Maurice Ravel, Antonin Dvôrak, Engelbert Humperdinck, Jules Massenet, Paul Hindemith and Christoph Gluck. This recital is made possible through the generous support of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Principal Chair Endowment Program and in cooperation with the Center for Rural and Small School Music Education.

Adkins received his musical training at the University of North Texas and Yale University, where he studied with the distinguished pedagogue Aldo Parisot. During his tenure at Yale, Adkins held the position of principal cellist with the New Haven Symphony. Upon receiving his Master of Music, he assumed the duties of assistant principal cellist with the Denver Symphony. After two seasons in the Rockies, Adkins’ longtime dream of a major symphony principal chair was realized with the offer of the post with the Milwaukee symphony. In 1987, he returned to his native Dallas, to occupy the principal chair once held by his former teacher, Lev Aronson.

In addition to his duties with the Dallas Symphony, Adkins serves on the faculty of Southern Methodist University. He remains an active recitalist and chamber musician, performing extensively across the region. A member of a large musical family, he has formed the Adkins String Ensemble with six of his brothers and sisters whose performances were praised by the Dallas Morning News as among the 10 best concerts of the year.

As the long-time cellist of the contemporary music group Voices of Change, Adkins was nominated for a Grammy award for the recording “Voces Americanas.”

For more information about the HPU School of Education and Fine Arts, visit www.hputx.edu or call 325-649-8500.