Dr. James March, professor of music, will present a lecture recital titled “Building an English Spinet” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, in the Helen Levitt Art Gallery in Eppley Auditorium.

Dr. James March, professor of music at Morningside College, will present a lecture recital titled “Building an English Spinet” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, in the Helen Levitt Art Gallery in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Ave.

The recital is free and open to the public.

March has been involved with instrument building for more than 40 years. During this lecture recital, he will discuss his most recently completed project, a replica of a bentside spinet originally built in London by Thomas Hitchcock in 1728. The program will include a slide show and a brief performance of works written at the time the original instrument was constructed.

March has performed with symphonies across the Midwest and on several recordings. Centaur released a March Duo recording with his wife, Kathryn, of the Complete Hungarian Dances by Brahms for four-hands. It received a perfect 10 out of 10 rating from critic Jed Distler, who said, “A terrific disc. The James and Kathryn March piano duo’s direct, flexible, forward-moving extroversion gets right to the stylistic and emotional core of these delightful works…the performances are so yummy that they deserve an 11.” 

March has taught at Morningside College for 32 years. He was selected by his colleagues to receive the Wert Faculty Excellence Award in 2016 and by outside evaluators to receive the Walker Faculty Excellence Award in 2010. He holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Iowa in Iowa City and a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.