The Richard Burkhardt Fine and Performing Arts Series will present pianist Dr. Kevin Ayesh as the guest artist for the 43rd Dr. Sharyn Edwards Piano Festival and Competition. Ayesh’s concert opens the festival on Friday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Southeastern Community College.

Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors. SCC students attend free with ID.

As chair of the music department at Blue Ridge Community College (an All-Steinway School), for 28 years, Ayesh taught a variety of music courses, and served as artistic director of the Blue Ridge Concert Series. He currently teaches piano at Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Ayesh received his bachelor of music degree with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin; his master’s and doctorate degrees are from the University of Maryland. His piano teachers were Elinor Aiken, William Race and Nelita True. Ayesh has presented concerts and master classes throughout the United States (in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) as well as in Canada, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Hong Kong. As a North Carolina Visiting Artist for four years, he appeared before thousands across the state. Ayesh is the recipient of many prizes, including the Naftzger Piano Award and the Baltimore Music Club Award. He is winner of both the JCC Baltimore Piano Competition and the Maryland State Music Teachers’ Elizabeth R. Davis Memorial Piano Competition. He was awarded second prize at the Wideman International Piano Competition and won both third prize and the Comp oser’s Prize at the New Orleans Interna tional Piano Competition.

During the past three seasons, Ayesh has been a featured guest artist at the Lindlar International Piano Festival in Germany and presented recitals at Ball State University; Western Kentucky University; Stephen F. Austin University (Texas); Winthrop University (South Carolina); St. Mary’s University of California; the Steinway Society of Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico; the Silk Purse Arts Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia; the St. Paul’s Concert Series in Walnut Creek, California; the GVPC Live! Concert Series in Henderson, Nevada; and the Emerson Avenue Salon Series in McLean, Virginia.