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Performers
Thomas Austria is proud to perform in the Fourth Friday Concert Series. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Piano Performance at UNC Greensboro. Born and raised in Wilmington, Thomas Austria was musically inclined from a young age. He nurtured this curiosity through private lessons with music teachers in and out of school. Thomas received a letter of recognition after attending UNCG’s Piano Camp in the summer of 2017. Thomas also attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts through high school as a bassoon major under Saxton Rose, while continuing piano lessons with Dimitri Vorobiev. Thomas would also gain experience in an orchestral setting performing with the Winston Salem Youth Orchestra.
Thomas was fortunate to receive a full-tuition scholarship at UNCW. He returned to Wilmington to continue studying piano with Barry Salwen and Barbara Furr. During his time, he consistently performed in the school’s honors recitals, performed a junior recital in Spring 2025, and has participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Petronel Malan, Jialin Yin, and William Hueholt. Thomas was also the first recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Thursday Morning Music Club for university music majors. In the fall of 2024, Thomas won the Richard Deas Concerto Competition and performed with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra in their February 2025 concert. Additionally, Thomas also has contributed as a bassoonist for the UNCW Symphonic Band as well as the Wilmington Symphonic Winds.
Richard Reid grew up in rural Michigan and showed an early interest in the piano. When in high school the family moved to East Lansing where Richard was able to study with faculty members in the music school at Michigan State University. His performing career started in high school where he played widely in the area. He played to his largest audience ever while in high school playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to an audience of over 4,000 at the Lansing Civic Center! Richard attended Oberlin College as a piano major, winning the concerto competition in his senior year playing Prokoviev’s Concerto #3. On completing a Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin Richard was awarded a scholarship to study at the Juilliard School where his principal teacher was pianist Beveridge Webster.
After earning a master’s degree at Juilliard, Richard was recruited to the music faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, LA. During this time, he continued what became his lifelong task of expanding his piano repertoire (a lifelong mission of exploration) and playing style. Following his time in Louisiana Richard was recruited to participate in the North Carolina Visiting Artist program for 4 years with residencies in Lexington, New Bern and Pinehurst. Following his work for the NC Visiting Artist Program, Richard was recruited by the music faculty at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC.
During these early years other honors included Teaching Assistant to pianist Walter Hautzig, fellowship recipient at the Yale Summer School of Music and Art(summer, 1977), fellowship recipient at Tanglewood (Berkshire Music Center), full scholarship to the Chautauqua (New York) Summer School of Music and Art(summer 1970) and summer attendance at the National Music Camp (1966-68). His principal teachers included Walter Hautzig, Beveridge Webster, Artur Dann, Joseph Evans and Ozan Marsh.
Richard has played with many symphony orchestras including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony, New Orleans Philharmonic, Kingsport Symphony Orchestra (Tennessee), National Orchestral Association (New York), Oberlin Orchestra, Spartanburg Symphony Orchestra (South Carolina), Fort Myers Symphony Orchestra (Florida), Mount Clemens Symphony Orchestra (Michigan), Colorado Philharmonic and Lansing Symphony (Michigan). There were also debut appearances in New York City, London and Brussels.
Reid has also become involved in an aggressive recording project triggered by his acquisition of a new Steinway Concert Grand (model D) in 1999. In addition to commercial recordings for Connoisseur Society, Laurel Records and others Richard has recorded the piano repertoire fairly extensively with stops including Goldberg Variations of Bach, assorted works of the Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, Granados, Prokofiev and has lately been involved in the project or learning, memorizing and recording the 32 Sonatas of Beethoven. With the advent of Internet-based recording the Beethoven cycle will be (eventually) available on the internet. He has most recently been involved in the project of video recording the 32 Beethoven Sonatas with only 8 to go! Richard’s music videos are all available free of charge at www.youtube.com/user/swimortree/videos and date back to 2013.
Founded in June, 2003, the Fourth Friday Concert Series, formerly know as the 4th Friday Mix, stands as one of our area’s longest-running concert series. We remain committed to providing free and inclusive concerts that welcome musicians with a passion for sharing their talents. All attendees, including children capable of listening attentively, are warmly welcomed. Fourth Friday Concerts typically feature 2-4 performers or performance groups, although special occasions may showcase a single performer or group for the entire concert.
