Pianist/Composer Pickett To Perform

Sat., March 7, 1998

From Staff Reports

After 20 years of giving piano lessons, Spokane Valley piano teacher Marlene Haney still remembers the thrill of playing for a visiting instructor.

Haney studied with Hungarian pianist Bela Nagy, who was invited to Spokane by her teachers, including Margaret Saunders Ott and Yvonne Kovacevich.

“My remembrance of those times as a child was that I was scared to death,” Haney said, laughing.

Yet, Nagy and other guest teachers helped her learn.

So Haney, with fellow piano teacher Mary Simpson, is bringing pianist and composer John Pickett to the Valley.

Pickett has performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Mexico, Canada and Europe.

Pickett will perform in recital at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Berean Bible Church. Tickets are $5. His program includes Chopin, Gershwin and one of his own compositions.

The following day Pickett will give master lessons to some of Haney’s and Simpson’s students.

Fourth-grade test information

Ness Elementary School is holding a meeting to inform parents about the upcoming fourth-grade assessments.

The meeting is Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Ness, 9612 E. Cataldo. It’s open to the community.

The fourth-grade tests are part of Washington’s education reform. The testing will start in April.

Sewer work closing three streets

Parts of Union Road and 19th and 21st avenues will be closed for sewer construction from Monday until next Sunday. These segments of those streets will be open to local traffic only:

Union Road from 21st to 20th avenues

21st Avenue from Union to 19th and from Whipple Road to two blocks east of Whipple

19th Avenue from Union to a block east of Whipple.

The project, called the Glenview sewer project should last for a couple of months, Spokane County engineers said. Other roads could be closed during the project.

Pines interchange cleanup planned

The state Department of Transportation will do cleanup work on the Pines Road freeway interchange between Sunday and next Saturday.

During this work, some lanes on the eastbound I-90 off-ramp, as well as lanes on Pines Road, could be closed.

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