Symphony wraps up series with pianists

The Augusta Symphony's final concert of the Columbia County Music Series will end Saturday with a performance by a pair of pianists.

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Ukraine native Marina Lomazov and her husband, Joseph Rackers, will play classical pieces simultaneously on one piano. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center in the Columbia County Library.

"It's going to be quite a wonderful concert we think," said Sandra Self, the executive director of the symphony. "They're very personable. They introduce the works and give you little snippets of information, so that you can really relate to the music and connect with it."

The young couple has been performing together for eight years, and Self said both Lomazov and Rackers are faculty members at the University of South Carolina.

They will play pieces by Gabriel Faure, Georges Bizet, Igor Stravinsky and Wolfgang Mozart. Each composition will last between 10 and 15 minutes, Self said.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $30. Tickets cost $7 for students and military personnel on the night of the concert.

The Columbia County Music Series began in Decem-ber and featured music by The Augusta Virtuosi and Promenade, Wycliffe Gordon and Friends, and Hudson Shad.

Self said each concert was a success.

"We're very pleased," she said. "We're delighted with the audiences, which have been so responsive."

The next set of Columbia County concerts will undergo a change in days, switching to Thursday nights, Self said.

"We're trying to maintain that eclectic theme, and really what we want to do is give Columbia County the best that we can find," she said. "We've been very fortunate so far to present some really phenomenal artists."

For more information, visit www.augustasymphony.org or call (706) 826-4705.