York College of PA to host guest recital by pianist Maria Thompson Corley on Dec. 2

York College will present a guest recital by pianist Maria Thompson Corley at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 2, in DeMeester Recital Hall, Wolf Hall. The event, made possible thanks to a generous gift from the Boustead Family Foundation, is open to the public free of charge.

Thompson Corley was born in Jamaica and raised in Canada. She has appeared as a solo or collaborative pianist on radio, television, and/or concert stages in North and Central America, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Europe, performing with artists like Metropolitan Opera soprano Priscilla Baskerville, Juno Award-winning clarinetist James Campbell, Grammy-winning clarinetist Doris Hall-Gulati, Grammy-nominated baritone Randall Scarlata, renowned countertenor Darryl Taylor, and members of the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras. Venues include the Smithsonian Museum of African American History, Liszt Academy, Weill Hall, and the Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat, Croatia. 

Dr. Thompson Corley’s debut mini-opera, The Sky Where You Are, commissioned by An Opera Theatre in 2020, is part of the Decameron Opera Coalition’s award-winning online production, Tales From a Safe Distance. The entire series was added to the Library of Congress in 2021. Two of her spirituals have been choreographed by Katlyn Addison, a prima ballerina with Ballet West. She was also the co-recipient of a 2021 Opera America IDEA grant, along with librettist Diana Solomon-Glover, for The Boy from Troy, an “operatorio” about Rep. John Lewis.