Lander University will host a “Germanic Gems for Piano and Cello” in Barksdale Retail Hall at 7 p.m. March 28. This event is free and open to the public. Faculty members Richard Thomas and Andrew Sheffield will perform music composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul Hindemith and Feliz Mendelssohn.

About the Event:

Richard Thomas is a music faculty member at Lander University and North Greenville University. He is the former chair and professor of music of the Department of Music at Presbyterian College and director of the PC Chamber Orchestra. He also served on the faculty of UNC Wilmington, the Universidad del Cauca and Universidad del Valle in Colombia, the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica of the Dominican Republic and the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. Thomas was String Department Head at Camp Encore-Coda in Sweden, Maine, from 1999-2008.

Among his many credits are being a member of the Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, Sinfónica Nacional of the Dominican Republic and the Dallas Lyric Opera, as well as assistant principal of the South Carolina Philharmonic and principal of the Wilmington Symphony. In addition, Thomas conducted the North Texas Region High School Orchestra in 2025, the South Carolina 2018 Region I High School Orchestra, and the South Carolina Region 3 High School Orchestra in 2020. He has performed and taught in China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Japan, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Venezuela. He studied at DePauw Universityand the University of North Texas before earning a doctorate in musical arts from the University of South Carolina. Thomas was named the Clinton Chronicle “Teacher of the Year” for 2024-2025.

Andrew Sheffield earned his bachelor’s degree in music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and his master’s degree in music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His principal teachers include Frank Weinstock and Robert Weirich, and he pursued additional studies with Eteri Andjapridze and Maurice Hinson and collaborative coaching with Donna Loewy. Having made his concerto debut at age 16 with the Macon Symphony Orchestra, Sheffield has performed extensively as a soloist and a collaborator at the International Festival-Institute at Round Top (Texas), the Kansas City Cello Clinic and the International Clarinet Society’s Clarinet Fest, and in master classes with renowned pianists Richard Goode and David Korevaar. He was a featured artist of the St. Louis Artist Presentation Society.

Until fall 2021, Sheffield was an accompanist and adjunct instructor of piano, musicianship and music theory at Presbyterian College and Newberry College. He directed the Laurens County Academy of Music at PC. A full-time editor with the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, Sheffield continues to pursue music by maintaining a private piano studio, directing music at Cornerstone Baptist Church and accompanying the Laurens County Chorale.

Visit www.lander.edu/events for updates and to confirm event times and venues. For questions, contact the College of Arts and Humanities at 864-388-8323, or email Perrin Rickenbaker at jrickenbaker@lander.edu. For more information, contact music@lander.edu.