Dr. Wael Farouk has performed on five continents in such venues as the White Hall in St. Petersburg, Schumann's house in Leipzig, and Carnegie Hall in New York.  Between 2014 and 2018, he performed 30 programs featuring the complete solo piano works of Rachmaninoff and Brahms, the complete piano chamber music of Brahms, as well as the complete concertos of Brahms, Rachmaninov, and Beethoven.   Born in Egypt with unusually short hand ligaments, Farouk was given a toy piano by his father at the age of three to help stretch his fingers and it was then that a life-long love of music and of the piano began. Told his disability was too much and that his dreams of being able to play the piano would be impossible to realize, Farouk began practicing relentlessly and, as a result, he started down the path to success at a young age. At age 9, he received the Youngest Egyptian Talent Prize from then-First Lady Susan Mubarak. He made his orchestral debut in 1994 and, the next year, he became the youngest pianist to give a solo recital at the Cairo Opera House.   The New York Concert Review has called Farouk "a formidable and magnificent pianist," for his command of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, a piece that many believed the pianist never would be able to perform due to his hand structure. David Dubal, author of The Art of the Piano, has hailed him as "A wonderful musician and a dazzling pianist."  In 2004, Dr. Farouk was given the honor of playing on Tchaikovsky’s piano—the first pianist to do so since Vladimir Horowitz. Dr. Farouk currently directs the piano program at Carthage College and oversees the Carthage Arts Academy in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He is also on the faculty of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He frequently judges competitions and delivers master-classes. At this concert, he will perform works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Mussorgsky.  The following day he will give a free (non-ticketed) master class to Hartt piano students at 10 am in Milliard Auditorium. Concert tickets from the University of Hartford Box Office may be picked up in person (located at Lincoln Theater on the University campus) or requested by phone at 860-768-4228 or 1-800-274-8587, or ordered online.