ATHENS — The UGA Performing Arts Center will present award-winning pianist Charlie Albright at 8 tonight in Ramsey Concert Hall.

The 21-year-old pianist won the coveted 2010 Gilmore Young Artist Award and the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and makes his recital debut this season in New York.

Albright was awarded the Virtuoso Prize at the 2009 Vendome Prize International Piano Competition in Lisbon, Portugal. He was a prize winner at the 2008 Harvard Bach Society Orchestra's Competition, the 2007 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, the 2006 Eastman Piano Competition, and the 2005 International Institute for Young Musicians Competition.

At age 18, he performed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma at a ceremony at which Sen. Ted Kennedy received an honorary degree from Harvard University. He again performed with Ma in a program commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights featuring Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison.

A native of Centralia, Wash., Albright began piano lessons at age 3. He earned an Associate of Science degree at Centralia College while he was also in high school and is currently in the Harvard College/New England Conservatory of Music joint program, pursuing a bachelor's degree as a pre-med and economics major at Harvard and a Master of Music degree in piano performance at the New England Conservatory of Music.

He has been named the Artist in Residence for Harvard University's Leverett House for 2011-2012.

The UGA Performing Arts Center is planning an educational residency with Albright in conjunction with his recital, offering arts education programs for elementary and high school students in Clarke, Oconee and Barrow counties.

The recital will be recorded for national radio broadcast on American Public Media's "Performance Today."