BY ELAINE SILLS

Special to The Pilot

Fifty-five years of marriage and classical music come together for Vivian and Ralph Jacobson at Weymouth Center Sunday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m. in the Great Room.

The couple will host a concert featuring the music they have loved throughout their marriage. The program, featuring pianist Dimitri Shteinberg, is also a concert to benefit programming at Weymouth because of the Jacobsons' ongoing commitment to bringing the finest performances possible to Weymouth.

They have been strong advocates and supporters of classical music at Weymouth since their arrival in Moore County. They have served for many years on the boards and committees for the N.C. Symphony and Weymouth Center through the music and development committees.

More recently, the Jacobsons have also been vital in the establishment of MetLive and the Carolina Philharmonic.

After hearing Dmitri Shteinberg perform at the October Chamber Music Concert, the Jacobsons knew that he was someone they would turn to for a special concert.

Because of the Jacobsons' love for classical music, Shteinberg, artist teacher at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, will be performing works by J.S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Shteinberg has appeared across North America, Germany, England, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Bulgaria and Israel. His solo performances include the Jerusalem Symphony, the Italian Filarmonica Marchigiana, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Israel Camerata Orchestra and Porto National Symphony under the batons of Massimo Pradella, Roger Nierenberg, Florin Totan and David Shallon, among others.

In the United States, he has appeared with the Richmond, Charlottesville and Manassas symphony orchestras. Shteinberg was a guest artist at the Summit Music Festival, Music Festival of the Hamptons, the "Oleg Kagan'' Festival in Germany, Festival Aix-en-Provence in France, and Open Chamber Music in Cornwall, England. His chamber music appearances include the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Alice Tully Hall in New York, and the Saunders Theatre in Boston.

Shteinberg recorded for the Israeli "Voice of Music'' radio station, NPR, the Bavarian Radio, Summit Records and the Yamaha Disklavier; and collaborated with members of the New York Philharmonic and cellists Han-Na Chang and Natalia Gutman.

Besides solo and chamber music performances, Shteinberg frequently appears with concert-lectures. He also plays harpsichord and period pianos. His interest in new music has led to world premieres and numerous commissions.

Shteinberg is a prize-winner in 20 competitions worldwide, including the first prize in the "Citta de Senigallia'' international piano competition in Italy. In the United States, he won the Naomi Foundation Competition and the Artists International Debut Award, and received the Salon De Virtuosi Fellowship Grant.

A native of Moscow, Shteinberg studied at the Gnessin Special School of Music under Anna Kantor, teacher of Evgeny Kissin. His later teachers included Victor Derevianko and Nina Svetlanova, both students of Heinrich Neuhaus.

Shteinberg holds a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. His former students received scholarships at numerous prestigious schools, including Manhattan School of Music, Eastman, the Oberlin Conservatory and the Hartt School of Music.

He is also on the faculty of the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vt.

A post-concert reception will be hosted by the Women of Weymouth.

Tickets to the concert are $25. Call (910) 692-6261 for more information.