Shepherd School cellist Coleman Itzkoff to be featured on American Public Media program Feb. 25-March 1

Undergraduate cellist Coleman Itzkoff was recently selected to represent Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music as a part of American Public Media‘s (APM) “Performance Today” Young Artist Series. The segments will be broadcast on KUHA Classical 91.7 Feb. 25-March 1 from 10 to 11 a.m. daily.

COLEMAN ITZKOFF

Last month, Itzkoff traveled to the APM studios in St. Paul, Minn., for a series of recording sessions with “Performance Today” host Fred Child. The program’s Young Artists Series invites musicians from the top American conservatories to participate in a weeklong residency, where they perform and discuss their backgrounds, ambitions and what it means to be a musician.

“The overall experience was really great,” Itzkoff said. “The atmosphere of the recording sessions was very laid back and fun, which in turn made the musical experience more successful.”

A student of Shepherd School Professor of Cello Desmond Hoebig, Itzkoff has participated in some of the country’s most prestigious music festivals and competitions, including the 2012 Young Texas Artists Competition, where he took the grand prize. He has been a guest soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Allen Philharmonic, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. Last year Coleman traveled to Washington, D.C., to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

With more than 1.3 million weekly listeners on more than 260 stations around the country, “Performance Today” is America’s most popular classical music radio program. Visit www.classical917.org/kuha.php for the schedule and program information.