Pianist Marina Hwang, a former graduate student, is coming back to Eastern to perform at the Doudna Fine Arts Center for one of its first special events of the semester.

While at Eastern, Hwang studied under piano instructor Jonathan Bowman and was also a teacher for Eastern’s Community Music Program.

“(Hwang) was such a responsible and dedicated student,” Bowman said. “The over-achieving type. We invited her back so that new and current students can see what they can achieve by studying here.”

Bowman said the pieces Hwang prepared for the performance are difficult.

He said the other performers also in the recital have been working on hard pieces as well and emphasized how challenging each piece is.

“The pieces (Hwang) is working on are Olympic level,” Bowman said. “It takes a lot of moving your fingers and hands and moving them fast.”

Hwang, originally from Korea, studied at Hannam University in Daejeon, South Korea.

She earned her master’s degree in piano performance at Eastern.

Hwang is now a member of the Music Teachers National Association and is currently studying for another master’s degree in collaborative piano at Michigan State University.

Performance piano consists of solo pieces, while collaborative piano is when pianists work with an ensemble of other instruments with singing, dancing and performing.

The performance will take place 7:30 p.m. Friday in Doudna’s Recital Hall. The show is free of charge and open to the public.

“This is not going to be one of those boring or strange classical music concerts. All the music is more than just accessible (and) full of catchy tunes and nice melodies,” Bowman said. “The pieces are all incredibly thrilling and gorgeous. This is the kind of concert everyone walks away from absolutely floating.”

Angelica Cataldo can be reached at 581-2812 or amcataldo@eiu.edu