Ayako Tsuruta, piano | Artistic Director
Ayako Tsuruta is Artistic Director of the Odyssey Chamber Music Series and Plowman Chamber Music Competition. As the winner of concerto competitions, she has appeared as soloist with the Juilliard Symphony, Eastern Connecticut Symphony and Connecticut Chamber Orchestra, as well as Wallingford Symphony Orchestra in the United States, and with University Symphony Orchestra in Edmonton, Alberta. She has also performed at summer festivals in Aspen, Banff, Ravinia and Tanglewood, Meranofest and Accademia Chiagiana in Italy, and Figueira da Foz in Portugal, as well as recitals in the United States, Canada, Germany, Lebanon and Serbia. Ms. Tsuruta studied with Leena K. Crothers at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, Josef Raieff at Juilliard School, Claude Frank at Yale University, Maria Curcio-Diamand in England, and Marek Jablonski at University of Alberta. She has studied chamber music with Joseph Fuchs, Felix Galimir, Jacob Lateiner, and Harvey Shapiro to name a few. Ms. Tsuruta has taught as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and at the University of Missouri, as well as at the Hartwick College Summer Music Institute and Festival in Oneonta, New York. She is currently on faculty at the New York Summer Music Festival www.nysmf.org. More information:www.ayakotsuruta.com.
Odyssey Artists, Season 9
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Iskander Akhmadullin
Amy Kuhlmann Appold Rachel AuBuchon Bach Collegium Choir Natalia Bolshakova Columbia Handbell Ensemble Sam Copeland R. Paul Crabb Alice K. Dade Patrick Dell! Elizabeth Dingman Stefanie Duff Carol Elliott Lily Farnen Chris Farris Stefan Freund Briana Joy Frieda Dustin Frieda Julia Gaines Siri Heglund Geenen Steve Geibel Anthony Glise Erik Hassell William J. Lackey Mary Manulik Carolina Neves MerrittIan McClaflin (Graduate Duo) |
Peter Miyamoto
Nancy Nehring Neil Ostercamp (Trio Chymera) Chad R. Payton John Perkins Leslie Perna Matthew J. Pierce Emily Riekhof Jason Riley Edward S. Rollins Mark Rudoff Leo Saguiguit (Trio Chymera) Ronaldo Sarmonaho Brady Schach Christine Seitz Paul Seitz Erich Spaeth (Graduate Duo) Brian Tate Maria Duhova Trevor Trio Chymera Ayako Tsuruta The University Percussion Ensemble The Verdehr Trio Charles Wetherbee Michael White Dan Willett Scott Yoo |
Iskander Akhmadullin, trumpet
Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri, Iskander Akhmadullin holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson. Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany. Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire. Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet. Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences. Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Amy Kuhlmann Appold, violin
Amy Kuhlmann Appold, violinist, has performed in major concert halls, venues, and festivals throughout the United States and abroad. As a founding member and first violinist of the Maia String Quartet from 1990-2005, she appeared at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Clark Studio Theatre, the Kennedy Center, the American Academy in Rome and Harris Hall of the Aspen Music Festival as well as numerous major concert series. Her chamber music career has also included world premiere performances and recordings of music by Pierre Jalbert, Jeffrey Mumford, Donald Grantham, and Ingram Marshall among others, as well as collaborations with noted chamber musicians violist Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet, violinist Peter Zazofsky of the Muir Quartet, flutist Samuel Baron and pianist Ann Schein. Ms. Appold has also performed as recitalist throughout the United States and as soloist with the Columbus and Acadiana Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Appold has served on the faculties at the University of Iowa, and at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where the Maia Quartet held positions of Quartet-in-Residence. She received her musical training at the Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, The Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. Currently a resident in Missouri, Ms. Appold maintains a studio of private violin students, performs regularly in the Columbia area. She lives in Columbia with her husband Martin and their two children, Lillian and Stefan.
Rachel AuBuchon, organ
Rachel AuBuchon devotes much of her time to collaborating with instrumentalists, vocalists, and choral groups, finding an unusual balance between lieder and saxophone literature. She currently performs with faculty and students at the University of Missouri. Ms. AuBuchon is an active member of Trio Chymera, a saxophone piano trio, and Mizzou’s New Music Ensemble. Recent performance venues have included two performances at New York’s Weill Recital Hall, the 2008, 2010, and 2012 North American Saxophone Biennial Conference, the 2011 Navy Symposium, the 2012 World Saxophone Congress, the NATS regional conference in collaboration with tenor, Dominic Armstrong (2005) and baritone Kory Bickel (2007), and Baylor University with Leo Saguiguit, saxophone. Ms. AuBuchon graduated with a BM in piano performance from Truman State University, where she studied under David McKamie, and an MM in accompanying at the University of Missouri, where she studied under Dr. Janice Wenger and Dr. Natalia Bolshakova.
Bach Collegium Choir
The Bach Collegium Choir is comprised of some of the finest young vocal musicians in the Columbia area. Its members also perform with University Singers, Show-Me Opera, MU Summer Singers and Choral Union. Each year its members win voice competitions at the state, regional and national level. The ensemble meets once each year to prepare Baroque motets and cantatas, with special emphasis on applying historical performance practice.
2013 members are:
(* = Soloists)
SOPRANO: Melissa Baughman, Anna Bridgman, Rachel Kunce, McKenzie Miller, Rebecca Preston,
Rachel Marschke*, Sarah Sheldon, Catherine Sandstedt
ALTO: Christina Adams, Christine Jarquio, Hana Katsenes, Berthold Schindler*, Christina Casey,
Elizabeth McFarland, Stephanie Michalicek, Sarah McGrath
TENOR: Victor Lee, Nathan Ward*, Tristan Frampton, Todd Oberlin, Evan Babel, Brandon Jones
BASS: D.J. Jordan*, Ben Worley, Steven Hirner, Travis Herd, Scott Mayfield, Sam Wright, Brandon Browning
2013 members are:
(* = Soloists)
SOPRANO: Melissa Baughman, Anna Bridgman, Rachel Kunce, McKenzie Miller, Rebecca Preston,
Rachel Marschke*, Sarah Sheldon, Catherine Sandstedt
ALTO: Christina Adams, Christine Jarquio, Hana Katsenes, Berthold Schindler*, Christina Casey,
Elizabeth McFarland, Stephanie Michalicek, Sarah McGrath
TENOR: Victor Lee, Nathan Ward*, Tristan Frampton, Todd Oberlin, Evan Babel, Brandon Jones
BASS: D.J. Jordan*, Ben Worley, Steven Hirner, Travis Herd, Scott Mayfield, Sam Wright, Brandon Browning
Natalia Bolshakova, piano
Natalia Bolshakova studied at the Moscow Conservatory and the University of North Texas. She has been a prizewinner in many competitions, including the New Orleans International Piano Competition and the Ima Hogg Young Artist International Competition. Dr. Bolshakova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and in Europe. In 1997, she was sited by the BBC Music Magazine as "one of the most promising musicians of the younger generation." In August 2005, she premiered Souvenirs for piano written for her by James Wintle at the Nancyphonies Festival in Nancy, France. Equally successful as a chamber musician, Dr. Bolshakova has been actively collaborating with vocalists and instrumentalists. The Gramophone magazine listed two Crystal Records albums of the trumpeter John Holt with Natalia Bolshakova among the best new recordings from North America in 2005.
Columbia Handbell Choir
CHE performances on two five octave set of Schulmerich handbells. One set is courtesy of First Baptist Church and our second set was purchased from Otis and Lucille Mumaw, who for over ten years served the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR) for the Missouri State Committee plus much more. Thanks to our many contributors CHE was able to dedicate our concerts in loving memory of Otis who passed away in February of 2000. We also use five octaves of Malmark choir chimes. A special thank you to Centenary United Methodist Church in St. Louis, Missouri, who for many years allowed us to use their sixth octave set which has been returned.
Sam Copeland, double bass
Sam Copeland is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in double bass performance. He has performed with the Billings Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, the University of Missouri Philharmonic, as well as performing with the University of Missouri Chamber Soloists as principal bassist. Sam is currently studying bass with former Kansas City Symphony member Sue Stubbs. He has also studied briefly with former New York Philharmonic principal bassist Eugene Levinson at the Èlan International Music Festival. Also a dedicated jazz bassist, Sam is currently studying jazz bass with Kevin Hennessy. He performs regularly with the University of Missouri Concert Jazz Band as well as the Lily Tan Trio.
R. Paul Crabb, conductor
R. Paul Crabb, University of Missouri’s Director of Choral Activities, earned degrees in Music Education, Vocal Performance, and received his Ph.D. in Choral Music Education from Florida State University. His ensembles have performed at state, regional and national conventions and have traveled extensively, performing in Mexico, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Russia, Bulgaria and Australia. Crabb also served as assistant conductor at the Russian/American Choral Symposium for two years where his choir was invited as the resident American choir at the Moscow Conservatory. He served for one year as a visiting professor in Salzburg, Austria, where he taught and worked with the choir of the Salzburg Cathedral. He has taught eighteenth-century music in London, England, and studied sixteenth century polyphony in Italy with the renowned Peter Phillips. More recently he served as Guest Visiting Choral Professor at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary - the first American selected for that position. In 2007 he became the first American conductor invited to lecture in the Choral Department at the University of Vienna’s Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, before performing and lecturing that same year in Italy and Taiwan. In 2008 Crabb accepted the position as Resident Guest Conductor of the Baroque Orchestra of Domenica Cimarosa in Avellino, Italy, where he has conducted performances in the Naples and the Amalfi Coast region for the past several years and recently completed a recording project with the same ensemble. He also accepted a position as the resident conductor for the Dante Music and Arts Festival in Nagoya, Japan during March of 2010. Performances scheduled in 2011 include Rome, Italy and Curitiba, Brazil.
Alice K. Dade, flute
Alice K. Dade was Acting Co-Principal Flute of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra for two seasons. Highlights of her time with the Radio include playing Principal Flute on the Deutsche Grammophon recording titled “Bad Boys,” with bass-baritone soloist Bryn Terfel, as well as performances broadcast on Swedish Television. While with the orchestra, Alice performed in concert tours to Russia, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and various cities in Sweden under conductors Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Daniel Harding. Ms. Del Campo also performed as Guest Principal Flute with the Bergen Philharmonic including tours to Denmark and Germany under music director Andrew Litton. Prior to her time living abroad, Alice was a Fellow of the New World Symphony under Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas. She is featured in the book: Feast For the Senses: A Musical Odyssey by Lin Arison and photographer Neil Folberg. Prose and photography based on Italian renaissance paintings follow chamber music concerts throughout the Umbria region of Italy. Recent chamber and solo appearances include an evening of flute trios presented by Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, with members of Detroit Symphony's flute section. As Principal Flute of San Luis Obispo's Festival Mozaic, music director Scott Yoo, Alice will perform J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 as well as the Poulenc Sextet for Wind Quintet and Piano. Past music festivals include Aspen Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Spoleto USA, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, and Tanglewood Music Center. Alice has also performed with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony. Honored with the “Young Artist Award” upon graduation from Interlochen Arts Academy, Ms. Del Campo attended The Juilliard School where she studied with Robert Langevin, Carol Wincenc and Sandra Church and received both her bachelor and masters degrees.
Patrick Dell!, composer | piano
Patrick Dell! graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Missouri in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education, and recently completed coursework for the Master of Music in Music Education with Distinction from Boston University. He studied piano with Peter Miyamoto and Ayako Tsuruta, and composition with W. Thomas McKenney and Stefan Freund. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by ensembles ranging from various Missouri marching bands to the US Coast Guard Saxophone quartet. A versatile musician, he has appeared as a soloist in Carnegie Hall, yet has been spotted in secluded corners of various restaurants and bars, providing background music for patrons. He has performed nationally as a soloist, collaborative artist, and ensemble member. Since 2007, Mr. Dell has worked as the choir director for the Gasconade County R-1 School District in Hermann, where his students continually enjoy All-State and All-District ensemble placements and his choirs consistently receive I (Superior) ratings. He is sought after as an ensemble sight-singing clinician, and his students' achievements helped his school district earn the 2012 MSBA/MFAA District of Distinction in the Arts Award.
Elizabeth Dingman, oboe
Elizabeth Dingman hails from Kansas City, Missouri, and has been playing the oboe for eight years. She has enjoyed playing oboe and English horn in the pit orchestra for musicals such as The Music Man, My Fair Lady, and Jeckyl and Hyde, the Park Hill High School Symphonic Band, the Missouri All-State Band, the Kansas City Youth Symphony, and the Columbia Civic Orchestra. She has studied previously with Jann Mills and Christina Moll, and currently studies with Dan Willett. Elizabeth is currently a sophomore at the University of Missouri, studying Music Performance and International Studies with an East Asian emphasis. She currently plays with the University Philharmonic Orchestra, and is delighted to be studying abroad next fall in China.
Stefanie Duff, soprano
Stefanie Duff, soprano, is completing a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Communication with a minor in Spanish at the University of Missouri, where she studies vocal performance under Jo Ella Todd. She also has studied opera in Salzburg, Austria with Miami Frost School of Music and La Musica Lirica in Italy. She has sang roles of Il Destino from Cavalli’s La Calisto, and Amor from Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and was a chorus member in Verdi’s Rigoletto under the direction of Dr. Joseph Rescigno. She also studied with Brian Leeper of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Italian coach Ubaldo Fabbri, and Dennis Jesse of Louisiana State University. At the University of Missouri, she sang the role of Gianetta from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Fiordiligi from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, was a Grisette in The Merry Widow, and a chorus member in La Traviata. Stefanie received an Honorable Mention in Missouri NATS competition, sings with Pediatric Princesses for Children’s Hospital and performs the National Anthem at various events. Outside of her musical studies, Ms. Duff works for the Office of Visitor Relations as a Mizzou Tour Team Co-Chair and leads several volunteer efforts in Columbia including Rockin’ Against Multiple Sclerosis and the Sean & Jeremy Memorial 5K Race. She is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, an alumnae of the MU Chancellor’s Leadership Class and received the Top Academic Scholarship for Juniors through the Music School. She serves as an officer of Mortar Board National Honor Society and Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, was honored as one of the MU Homecoming 30 Finalists and was named one of the Mizzou 39 Top Seniors.
Carol Elliott, cello
Carol Elliott is principal cellist of the Columbia Civic Orchestra. She has been an Odyssey Chamber Music Series artist since the series began in 2004. Carol has performed in San Antonio, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina and St. Louis, where she was a member of the Muny Opera orchestra. Carol holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Cello Performance from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Northern Illinois University, respectively. As a student at Northern Illinois University, she was coached in chamber music by members of the Vermeer Quartet and played in the Rockford, Illinois, and Beloit-Janesville, Wisconsin symphonies. In 1980, Carol was a fellowship student at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Carol’s cello teachers include Raymond Stuhl, Carleton Spotts, Marc Johnson, Dan Zollars, and Darry Dolezal.
Lily Farnen, violin
Lily Farnen is a 10th grade honor student at Rock Bridge High School. She is a graduate of the Missouri String Project and is a member of the Missouri Symphony Conservatory Chamber Players and the Rock Bridge Orchestra. Lily was accepted to play at the New York Summer Music Festival in Oneonta, NY in 2011 and 2012. She was one of three violinists to receive recognition for excellence and will be returning to NYSMF this summer. Lily received I ratings in violin in the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Missouri Teachers Association Pre-Collegiate Honors State Auditions, the 2011 MYO / MMAMTA Pre-Collegiate Concerto Competition and the 2011 Central Methodist University Music Festival. This is the second year Lily will be performing in the Odyssey Chamber Music Series Baroque concert. Lily began studying the violin at age 8. She is a student of Amy Appold and studies music theory with Ayako Tsuruta. Lily is the daughter of Mark and Eleanor Farnen.
Chris Farris, trumpet
Originally from Moberly, Chris Farris held the position of Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Missouri where he performed with the Faculty Brass Quintet in addition to maintaining a private studio. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Central Missouri and a Master of Music degree in trumpet performance from the University of Missouri. Farris has performed with ensembles such as the Missouri Symphony Orchestra and the award winning Fountain City Brass Band. He has also performed with artist such as Lou Rawls, Art Garfunkel, and The Fifth Dimension. Having completed his masters degree in May 2008, he now teaches instrumental music at Oakland Junior High and Lange Middle School. In addition to teaching, Farris remains active as a performer and private instructor.
Stefan Freund, composer
Stefan Freund received a BM with High Distinction from the Indiana University School of Music and an MM and a DMA from the Eastman School of Music. His primary composition teachers included Pulitzer Prize winners Christopher Rouse and Joseph Schwantner as well as Augusta Read Thomas, Frederick Fox, Claude Baker, David Dzubay, and Don Freund, his father. He studied cello with Steven Doane, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and Peter Spurbeck, among others. He is presently Associate Professor of Composition and Music Theory at the University of Missouri. Previously he was Assistant Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of Music.
Freund is the recipient of two William Schuman Prizes and the Boudleaux Bryant Prize from BMI, five ASCAP Morton Gould Grants, twelve ASCAP Plus Awards, a Music Merit Award from the National Society of Arts and Letters, and the Howard Hanson Prize. He was selected as the 2004 Music Teachers National Association-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year. In 2006 he was awarded the MU Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award. Freund has received commissions from the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the Phoenix Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Verdehr Trio, the Louisville String Quartet, the Prism Brass Quintet, and SCI/ASCAP. His music has been performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Weill Recital Hall, NPR's St. Paul Sunday Morning, the National Gallery of Art, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Art Institute of Chicago. International performances include the Berliner Philharmonie, International Performing Arts Center (Moscow), Glinka Hall (St. Petersburg), Tivoli Theater (DK), Queen's Hall (DK), the Bank of Ireland Performing Arts Centre, and other halls in Austria, Germany, and Greece. His works have been recorded on the Innova, Crystal, and Centaur labels.
Active as a performer and producer of new music, Freund is the founding cellist of the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound and serves on its production board. His cello performances include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, the Hermitage Theatre (RU), the Muzikgebouw (ND), the World Financial Center, and Miller Theatre. He has recorded on the Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, and I Virtuosi labels as well as Sweetspot Music DVD. Since 2004 he has served as the Music Director of the Columbia Civic Orchestra.
Freund is the recipient of two William Schuman Prizes and the Boudleaux Bryant Prize from BMI, five ASCAP Morton Gould Grants, twelve ASCAP Plus Awards, a Music Merit Award from the National Society of Arts and Letters, and the Howard Hanson Prize. He was selected as the 2004 Music Teachers National Association-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year. In 2006 he was awarded the MU Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award. Freund has received commissions from the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the Phoenix Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Verdehr Trio, the Louisville String Quartet, the Prism Brass Quintet, and SCI/ASCAP. His music has been performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Weill Recital Hall, NPR's St. Paul Sunday Morning, the National Gallery of Art, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Art Institute of Chicago. International performances include the Berliner Philharmonie, International Performing Arts Center (Moscow), Glinka Hall (St. Petersburg), Tivoli Theater (DK), Queen's Hall (DK), the Bank of Ireland Performing Arts Centre, and other halls in Austria, Germany, and Greece. His works have been recorded on the Innova, Crystal, and Centaur labels.
Active as a performer and producer of new music, Freund is the founding cellist of the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound and serves on its production board. His cello performances include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, the Hermitage Theatre (RU), the Muzikgebouw (ND), the World Financial Center, and Miller Theatre. He has recorded on the Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, and I Virtuosi labels as well as Sweetspot Music DVD. Since 2004 he has served as the Music Director of the Columbia Civic Orchestra.
Briana Joy Frieda, viola
Briana Joy Frieda is a senior at the University of Missouri where she is pursuing her Bachelors of Music in viola performance. A frequent guest of the Odyssey Chamber Music Series, Briana is currently principal violist in the University Philharmonic as well as in the Columbia Civic Orchestra. The last two years, Briana has placed runner-up and honorable mention, respectively, in the senior strings division of the Missouri Music Teachers Association annual competition. In addition to performing, Briana has a busy teaching schedule as part of the Missouri String Project and the Community Music Program (both through the University) as well as a private studio. Briana is studying with Professor Leslie Perna, and studied previously with members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra: Leonid Gotman and Gerry Fleminger. Following her graduation in the spring of 2013, Briana plans to earn her PhD in musicology.
Dustin Frieda, viola
Originally from Springfield, Missouri, Dustin Frieda is currently working on his masters degree in music education, and studying viola with Leslie Perna. Frieda has received numerous awards and honors while studying at Mizzou including second place in the Missouri Music Teachers Association Competition, and first place in the Missouri Music Teacher’s National Association Competition. Frieda has served as the principal viola in the University Philharmonic, and has played as a member of the Missouri Symphony, Columbia Civic Orchestra, and the Missouri All-Collegiate Orchestra. Frieda has worked five years as a teacher with the Missouri String Project and with the Columbia Public Schools.
Julia Gaines, percussion
Dr. Julia Gaines joined the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1996 and is currently the Assistant Professor of Percussion. She conducts the University Percussion Ensemble, the World Percussion Ensemble, coaches the Graduate Percussion Ensemble, teaches Percussion Techniques and applied percussion lessons for approximately 16-18 music majors. She is also the Faculty Advisor to the MU Percussion Society – a student organization that promotes percussion performance and education on the MU campus and throughout the mid-Missouri region. Dr. Gaines received her DMA degree from the University of Oklahoma, her Master’s degree as well as a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and her Bachelor’s degree from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Dr. Gaines has performed with the Missouri Chamber Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Fox Valley Symphony, and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra. She has been the Vice-President and President of the Missouri Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and is on the Promark Educational Advisory Board. She is currently serving a two-year term on the International Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society. She also has a history in drum corps culminating as a member of the 1989 Santa Clara Vanguard front ensemble. Her most recent notable percussion appearances have been at PASIC 2004 in Nashville, the 2005 International Hawaiian Conference on Arts & Humanities held in Honolulu, and the 12th Annual Puerto Rico Percussion Festival held in San Juan in August of 2005. She recently was named a Big 12 Faculty Fellow and just participated in a Fellowship Exchange at Kansas State University earlier this month. Later this month, she will give her Carnegie Hall debut in NYC. Dr. Gaines is a member of MENC, MMEA, MTNA, PAS and Pi Kappa Lambda.
Siri Heglund Geenen, violin
Siri Heglund Geenen, received her Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Northwestern University and her Master of Music in violin performance and Suzuki pedagogy from the University of Colorado. Siri was the first violinist with the Viardot String Quartet which was the winner of both the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition as well as the Young Musician's Foundation of Colorado Chamber Music Competition. Siri has attended the Congress of Strings, Snowbird Chamber Music Festival, the Chautaqua Music School Festival as well as the Meadowmount School of Music. She has played violin with the Spoletto Festival Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, the Central City Opera Orchestra, the Boulder Philharmonic and the Greeley Philharmonic. Currently Siri lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband Rich and two daughters, Solveig and Linnea. She is the concertmaster of the Columbia Civic Orchestra,which toured Austria March of 2009. Siri also is the first violinist of the Prairie String Quartet, and was a member of Missouri Symphony Orchestra in the Hot Summer Nights Music Festival. Siri maintains an active Suzuki violin studio out of her home in Columbia.
Steve Geibel, flute
Steven Geibel received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, the Master of Music degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and has completed additional graduate study at Florida State University in Tallahassee. His principal teacher was Charles Delaney, and he has performed in masterclasses with Marcel Moyse, Michel Debost, and Robert Willoughby. Professor Geibel has held office in the National Flute Association and performed as soloist at the 15th and 22nd NFA conventions. He is a founding member of the Missouri Quintet, ensemble-in-residence at the University, which made its Carnegie Recital Hall debut in 1989 and performs both in the U.S. and abroad. The quintet completed its third compact disc recording released in 2001. Professor Geibel performs on the Baroque flute as well as the modern flute.
Anthony Glise, guitar
Anthony Glise earned his MM in Classical Guitar Performance at New England Conservatory (Boston) with additional study at Konservatorium der Stadt (Vienna) and diplomas in 19th-Century performance practice from ARCUM (Rome), Accademia degli Studi, “L’Ottocento” (Vigevano and Pieve di Teco, Italy). His primary teachers include Pepe Romero, Christopher Parkening and conductor, Benjamin Zander. Glise also holds language diplomas from the Université Catholique de Lille (France) and the Universität-Wien (Vienna, Austria). He is the only American-born guitarist to win first prize at the International Toscanini Competition (Italy) and the only guitarist ever awarded the “Individual Artist of the Year” by the Missouri Arts Council (2006) with citations from the Missouri State Senate and House of Representatives. Glise has also won awards for composition at Ville Sable-sur-Sarthe (France), ARCUM (Rome), and the Nemzetközi Gitárfesztivál (Hungary). He is author/editor of over 60 musical editions and books for “The Anthony Glise Editions” (Willis Music Company), “The Anthony Glise Urtext Editions” (Mel Bay Publications) and “The Original Compositions of Anthony Glise” (Ævia Publications-France). Glise has premiered his original compositions and performed in New York (including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center), Chicago (Dame Myra Hess Concert Series and other venues), Rome (Santa Maria degli Angeli), Vienna (Vienna International Center), Lille (Nouveau Siècle of the French National Orchestra), and Esztergom (Hungary). His articles have appeared in The Soundboard (US), Guitar International (England), and Gitarre und Laute (Germany), and Glise has acted as Artist-in-Residence and Touring Artist for numerous US state arts councils and similar European programs. To-date, Glise has released nine CDs and DVDs which have consistently received 5-star reviews in magazines including The Soundboard, Guitar Player Magazine, Gramophone, Audiophile (US), Les Cahiers de la Guitare, Le Diapiason (France), Luster (Holland), Gitarre Aktuelle, Gitarre und Laute (Germany), Tarkus (Norway), Classica (Italy), etc. These recordings feature traditional works and original compositions (solo, chamber, choral, orchestral and ballet). His first recording, Overview, was chosen as one of the year’s “Top-5 Classical Releases” by Vienna Life Magazine (Austria), along with recordings by Murray Perahia and Leonard Bernstein. Anthony’s non-classical activity includes work with the avant-garde ensemble, The Nova Project, featuring his original compositions with classical, rock and jazz artists including Ken Sugita (violin, French National Orchestra), Jan Akkerman (former lead guitarist for the Dutch group, Focus), et al. In 2006 Glise was elected to the board of an on-going project of the national French organization, Domaine Musique, to help develop better relations between French composers and feature film directors. He is the only non-French ever invited to that prestigious assembly. Glise directs both the St. Joseph International Guitar Festival (US) and the guitar festival, Six Strings and the Spirit held in Chartres, France. Official Website: www.AnthonyGlise.com
Erik Hassell, violin
Erik Hassell is in his first year as a Masters of Music in Performance, as well as Graduate Teaching Assistant at University of Missouri where he continues to study violin with Eva Szekely. He has won MU’s Emerging Artists competition where he performed in MU's Jesse Hall, Missouri Music Teacher's Association (MMTA) in 2007, 2008 and most recently in Fall 2012 in graduate division, as well as the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA) audition in 2009, where he continued to win Alternate in the West Central Division level in January 2010. At MU, he participates in the University Philharmonic Orchestra where he serves as a rotating Concertmaster, the Columbia Civic Orchestra as Associate Principle second violin, and the Mizzou Chamber Soloists. Mr. Hassell is a native of Kansas City where he has studied with Suzanne Nigro, Maria Maxwell, Dr. John Rutland and Elizabeth Suh-Lane. He has performed in Master Classes for Victor Danchenko, Ida Kavafian, Mathias Tacke, Susan Jensen, and Silvian Iticovici.
William J. Lackey, composer
William J. Lackey is Assistant Teaching Professor of Composition and Managing Director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) at the University of Missouri. Serving as Managing Director of MNMI, funded by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, he oversees an array of programs intended to position the School of Music as a leading center for the creation and performance of new music. Recently, Lackey was selected as a McKnight Visiting Composer with the American Composers Forum. His music was featured at the Beijing Modern Music Festival, University of Central Missouri New Music Festival, and the Etchings Festival for Contemporary Music (Auvillar, France). The California E.A.R. Unit, New York Art Ensemble, newEar contemporary chamber ensemble, Quixotic Performance Fusion, saxophonist Keith Michael Bohm, percussionist Joby Burgess, clarinetist Alan Hacker, mezzo-soprano Linda Hirst, soprano Rebecca Sherburn, and percussionist Bill Solomon have performed Lackey’s music. In 1998, Lackey won the New York Art Ensemble’s Young Composers Competition (now the Tribeca New Music Young Composer Competition). Lackey received numerous scholarships and fellowships to participate in Troika Ranch’s 2008 Live – I Workshop held at the 3LD Art and Technology Center (New York, NY), Bowdoin International Summer Music Festival, Dartington International Summer School’s 2002 Advanced Composition Seminar (Devon, England), 2001 Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East (Bennington, VT). Lackey holds the M.M. and D.M.A. in music composition from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. While at UMKC, he studied composition with James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Chen Yi, and Zhou Long. Lackey received the B.M. in theory/composition from Christopher Newport University (Newport News, VA) where he studied composition with Jennifer Margaret Barker. For further information on his music, visit www.williamjlackey.com.
Mary Manulik, cello
Mary Manulik is a Suzuki cello and piano instructor. She teaches from her home studio in Columbia. Mary has a B.A. in cello and piano from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she studied with David Littrell and Stephen Swedish. Her M.A. is from the University of Iowa. Her teachers there were Charles Wendt and John Simms. While in Iowa, Mary played with the Cedar Rapids Symphony and taught at the Preucil School of Music and Cornell College. In Columbia, Mary has worked as a piano accompanist and cello instructor at Central Methodist University, plays with the Columbia Civic Orchestra and Odyssey Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of the Thilman Duo for flute and cello. In addition, Mary is the owner of a home-based gluten-free baking business called Senza. She and her husband, Joe, have 3 children, all currently attending college.
Carolina Neves Merritt, violin
Carolina Neves Merritt recently completed her masters in Music degree from University of Missouri, where she studied with Eva Szekely. Born into a musical family, Carolina began playing the violin at age six with Evgeni Ratchev and attended the Carlos Gomes Conservatory in her native city of Belém, Brazil, continuing her studies with Nicolai Khit. Prior to her arrival at MU, she was a member of the Carlos Gomes Youth Orchestra (1996-99) and Teatro da Paz Symphony Orchestra (1999-2000). At MU, she was also a member of the University Philharmonic and Chamber Soloists. Carolina was part of the first violin section in the All-State high School Orchestra (2002) and Collegiate Orchestra (2005), was a member of the International Music Festival in her home town, and in the Missouri Symphony Society Chamber Orchestra. Currently Ms. Neves Merritt performs with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. Carolina has won several competitions that include first place in the MMTA Collegiate Auditions in 2004, the Enos and Ruby McClure String Award in the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs, runner-up (2nd place) for the 2005 MTNA Young Artist Competition and Honorable Mention for MTNA Chamber Competition with Astraios String Trio, winner of the Emerging Artist Showcase, winner of the 2008 MTNA Young Artist State Competition, and winner of the 2010 MTNA Chamber State Competition with Astraios String Quartet.
Ian McClaflin, percussion
Ian McClaflin is a first year percussion performance major at the University of Missouri where he studies with Julia Gaines. He has a Bachelor's degree in music performance from the University of Central Missouri where he studied with Micheal Sekelsky. Ian teaches private lessons and works with many local area high schools. Along with working with local percussion sections Ian also writes for their marching band shows. During the drumline competition season, Ian judges local competitions. Ian has been the winner of the Mid Missouri Percussive Arts Trophy and the PASIC multi percussion competition. He helped create and is a member of the "Grease Monkeys", percussion group that plays at Kansas City's Worlds of Fun. Along with being an active member of the MU percussion studio, Ian is also a member of the Kansas City Chiefs drumline.
Peter Miyamoto, piano
Peter Miyamoto has already enjoyed a brilliant international career, performing to great acclaim in recital and as soloist in Canada, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, China, and Japan, and in major US cities such as Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. In 1990, Miyamoto was named the first Gilmore Young Artist. He won numerous other competitions, including the American Pianist Association National Fellowship Competition, the D’Angelo Competition, the San Francisco Symphony Competition and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Competition. Mr. Miyamoto holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University School of Music, Michigan State University, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. His teachers included Maria Curcio-Diamand, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Marek Jablonski, Aube Tzerko, and Ralph Votapek. Currently Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Missouri, Peter Miyamoto formerly taught at Michigan State University, and the California Institute of the Arts. Since 2003 he has served as head of the piano faculty at the New York Summer Music Festival. Miyamoto has given master classes at major institutions throughout the United States as well as internationally in Canada, China, Greece, Japan and Serbia. Peter Miyamoto has released two CDs of solo piano music, Chopin Ballades and Fantasies and A Schubert Recital, on the Blue-Griffin Label. More information is available on his web site, www.petermiyamoto.com.
Nancy Nehring, viola
Nancy Nehring started out as a piano major at the University of Kansas, but ended up with a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance (with Distinction), and a Master of Music in Viola from the University of Michigan. At Michigan, she was principal of the Contemporary Directions Ensemble and University Orchestra, as well as a member of the Graduate Quartet and the Ann Arbor Chamber Orchestra. Her teachers have included Michael Kimber, Frank Bundra, Nathan Gordon, and Wayne Crouse. A member of the Oklahoma Symphony for six years and Chamber Orchestra of Oklahoma City for five, she has also been assistant principal and principal of the Modesto Symphony and California Symphony, and a substitute with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. She played with the Sacramento Symphony, the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Women's Philharmonic, and the Saskatoon Symphony. Nancy also participated in many summer festivals and orchestras, including the Grand Teton Festival, Aspen, the Colorado Philharmonic (now the National Repertory Orchestra), the Peter Britt Festival, and the Orquesta de la Minería (in Mexico City). From 1999-2006, she was Principal Viola of the Brandon Chamber Players (in Manitoba) and performed with the Jarvis Quintet in Brandon & Toronto. She also sang with das Femmes (a womens’ chamber choir) and worked as Administrative Officer of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition for 4 years. Since 2001 she has been co-dean and administrator of the Quartet Program, a chamber music summer school now based at State Univ. of NY at Fredonia. Nancy was the instructor of viola at Brandon University (BU) for five years and accompanied many BU students, including those of her husband, cellist Mark Rudoff. They moved to Columbus, Ohio in 2008, where Nancy now plays principal for the Central Ohio Symphony, freelances, and accompanies many students.
Chad R. Payton, countertenor
Dr. Chad R. Payton is an Assistant Professor of Music at Delta State University. He teaches private voice lessons, the sophomore aural skills sequence, and the music general education course Experiencing Music. Dr. Payton received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Kansas, and both his Masters and Bachelors degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of Missouri. He has been a teacher of voice for nearly ten years, and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Prior to moving to Cleveland, Mississippi, Dr. Payton taught as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Kansas, where he taught private voice lessons, and team-taught English Vocal Literature. He also served as an Adjunct Voice Instructor at Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri. During his Masters studies, he taught as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Missouri, where he taught private voice lessons and Voice Class for Non-Majors. In the summers, Dr. Payton serves as the General Manager for Seagle Music Colony, the nation’s oldest young artist training program for opera and musical theatre, which is located in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. As General Manager, he serves as an interim voice teacher, and organizes and oversees the daily rehearsal, staging, and performance schedule for six fully-staged productions in eight weeks. Dr. Payton switched to countertenor repertoire in 2005, having made both his Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center debuts as a tenor in Michael Ching’s opera, Corps of Discovery: A Musical Journey. Since then he has found success in both local and regional competitions, including National Association of Teachers of Singing, National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award, and Music Teachers National Association. He is a proponent of oratorio literature, often seen with regional orchestras such as the Quincy Symphony Society in Illinois, the Saint Joseph Symphony, Columbia Civic Orchestra, and the University of Missouri’s Philharmonic Orchestra in Missouri. Frequent oratorio engagements include the Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s B-Minor Mass, St. John’s Passion, and St. Matthew’s Passion, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. Dr. Payton is a commonly featured guest soloist on the University of Missouri Concert Series, Odyssey Chamber Music Series, and is a founding Alto member of Voices of Prometheus, a professional American vocal consort. Dr. Payton’s doctoral dissertation is titled A Performer’s Analysis of Lori Laitman’s Men with Small Heads and Jake Heggie’s Encountertenor, in which he examines two twentieth-century song cycles written specifically for countertenor. Additional research interests include the performance practice of French mélodies, in particular those of Reynaldo Hahn and Henri Duparc. More recently he has appeared as the Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the University of Missouri Concert Series, as well as an international tour with his chamber ensemble, Payton and the Pipes, to Mexico in late December of 2011.
John Perkins, trumpet
John D. Perkins is Associate Professor of Music at Central Methodist University where he teaches studio trumpet and horn, coaches brass ensembles, and teaches music history. He serves as a Recordings Reviewer for the International Trumpet Guild Journal and has several published articles. Prior to relocating to Missouri, Dr. Perkins taught at Shippensburg University, Angelo State University, a San Antonio area school district, and the University of Texas as a Trumpet Teaching Assistant. He has held positions and played with countless orchestras, brass quintets, chamber ensembles, pit orchestras, and solo engagements. Currently he is a member of the Pinnacle Brass Quintet and performs regularly with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, the Odyssey Chamber Music Series, Stephens College musicals, as well as in additional engagements in the mid-Missouri region. This summer will mark his fifteenth year serving as principal trumpet with the Shippensburg Festival Orchestra with whom he has recently shared the stage with renowned artists and conductors such as Sarah Chang, Joshua Bell, Denyce Graves, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Jean-Yves Thibodeau, Stuart Malina, Andre Watts, Frederica von Stade, and Elizabeth Schulze. Perkins' students have been awarded honorable mention in the Missouri Music Teachers Association competition (upper level brass), and his private students have been selected for the International Trumpet Guild Journal Young Artist Award, Missouri All-State Band, Missouri All-State Honorable Mention Band, Missouri Fine Arts Academy, Pennsylvania All-State Band, and various audition-only bands in Texas. Enjoying working with a younger clientele, he regularly adjudicates and teaches high brass master classes to middle and high school students. Perkins earned degrees from The University of Texas at Austin (D.M.A.), The University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.M.), and St. Cloud State University (B.S.).
Leslie Perna, viola
Leslie Perna, violist, has appeared as a teacher, performer and recording artist (Albany, Aquebis, Berklee, Capstone, Centaur and CRI labels) across the Americas, Europe and Asia. After earning a Bachelor of Music degree from Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory and a graduate degree from Boston University, she studied chamber music at the Chautauqua and Blossom music festivals, and with members of the Cleveland, Emerson, Kolisch and Muir quartets. Her performances have been broadcast internationally on radio and television in the Americas and Canada, including National Public Radio, public radio stations across the country, Brazil's Radio and TV MEC, and ABC's Nightly News with Peter Jennings. A respected artist and teacher, Perna has been a faculty member at the Tanglewood Institute, the University of Southern Maine, and Viterbo University, and has directed chamber music programs in Boston, Maine, Cleveland, Atlanta and Wisconsin. Her solo and chamber music recitals include performances in Russia, France, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Boston, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, and Atlanta. Ms. Perna performed throughout Japan as soloist and assistant concertmaster of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of orchestras and summer festivals throughout New England and the Midwest. She has presented master classes and performances at music schools such as Florida State University, Georgia State University, Boston University, Boston College, Boston Conservatory, Berklee School of Music, and Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory. She toured North America and Europe as a member of the Artaria Quartet of Boston, selected to participate in the National Endowment for the Arts "Rural Residency" program, and named one of the ten leading young quartets by the Banff International String Quartet Competition. During the 2003-2005 seasons, she was the violist of the Da Vinci Quartet in Colorado, and faculty at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music and Colorado College. Currently Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the University of Missouri, Perna is violist of the Esterhazy Quartet (ensemble-in-residence at MU) and the Concordia String Trio, renowned for its performances of both standard and neglected repertoire as well as commissions of new music for the string trio genre.
Matthew J. Pierce, cello
Matthew J. Pierce graduated in May 2011 with Masters degree at the School of Music in University of Missouri. He first performed in Columbia with the Missouri Symphony Society in 1998. He has spent most of the time since freelancing for a living in New England, where he spent several years as principal cellist of the Plymouth Philharmonic and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, while also contributing regularly to several other ensembles scattered across the region. Originally from Minnesota, Matthew has returned to Columbia as a member of Mizzou's newly formed New Music Ensemble. In addition to his formal studies, he is presently expanding his private studio, developing his line of hardwood mutes for string players, and busily investigating some of the emerging connections being drawn between cognitive science and musicianship.
Emily Riekhof, oboe
Emily Riekhof is a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Columbia studying Music Performance and Spanish. Before studying privately with Dan Willett, she studied under H. Wakefield Foster. She has performed with various groups including the Missouri Youth Orchestra, Columbia Civic Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and the University Philharmonic. She played principle oboist in the Missouri All-State Band in 2010. Ms. Riekhof teaches privately. One of her most enlightening teaching experiences was subbing as band director for New Franklin R-1 School. Besides teaching, Ms. Riekhof spends an exorbitant amount of time in the University Double Reed Room fulfilling various duties, including, but not limited to, cleaning. In 2013, Ms. Riekhof will be studying music performance at Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica through the IFSA Butler study abroad program.
Jason Riley, guitar
Guitarist Jason Riley has some of the most diverse experience in the music business. His formal degree in classical guitar and commercial music including study with Christopher Parkening, The L.A. Guitar Quartet, etc. Contrary to most classical guitarists, Jason’s professional experience has spanned nearly every style and includes composing, teaching, recording and performing. Jason has won competitions and reader’s polls in both the rock and country genres and has opened for such national acts as The Doobie Brothers, REO Speedwagon and The Little River Band. He has also made numerous radio and television appearances. Jason’s CDs include What Is and Shake, Rattle, Shatter with the rock group, Under the Influence, both of which were produced by platinum award-winner, Ken Paulakovich (Offspring, Gloria Estefan). He also released two solo CDs, Notes to Self (a compilation of original compositions) and Outtakes (original arrangements of traditional works). Jason has also been featured on the third CD (Hambone) from Nashville recording artists Pig Farmer. This varied experience has driven Jason to a tremendous recognition in improvisation. His work on-stage not only reflects his understanding of classical form and balance, but shows a highly original combination of this classical/rock/jazz background that very few guitarists can successfully execute in live performance. For more information about Jason Riley see: http://www.JasonRiley.com
Edward S. Rollins, conductor | Executive Director
Edward S. Rollins has served First Baptist Church as Associate Pastor for Music and Administration since 1988. He is the co-founder and current conductor of the nationally acclaimed Columbia Handbell Ensemble, and Executive Director of Odyssey Chamber Music Series. has a BS in Church Music from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and an MCM from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition, he is currently serving as President-elect of the Handbell Musicians of America.
Mark Rudoff, cello
Cellist Mark Rudoff has demonstrated extraordinary versatility as a performer and teacher. Students in the OSU cello studio share participate in an eclectic pedagogy, with influences ranging from legal discourse to sports, liberally spiced with passion and humor. Cello at OSU is about preparing the complete artist with musical, technical, intellectual and personal skills to bring their music to the world.
Applauded by critics as "an exceptionally gifted cellist" and “a charismatic performer,” Mark has performed in solo recitals and with orchestras in Canada and the United States, and his solo and chamber performances have been recorded for broadcast on CBC. A respected chamber musician, he performs with the Galileo Trio, Jarvis Quintet, Chiarina Piano Quartet, and Marble Cliff Chamber Players, and has performed as a guest with groups including the Music Project, Allegri Quartet, Mount Royal Woodwind Quintet, and Thomas and Isobel Rolston and Friends. Equally accomplished in the orchestra sphere, Mark has served as principal cello of the Calgary Philharmonic and Saskatoon Symphony Orchestras, and in the sections of orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic and New York City Ballet, performing under such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Lukas Foss and Aaron Copland. Mark has appeared as guest artist with the Canadian Chamber Choir and at the Winnipeg Symphony's Centara New Music Festival, New Music North, and the Grand Teton Music Festival.
Prior to joining the Ohio State faculty, Mark Rudoff was professor of cello, chamber music and orchestra at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada. He teaches at and serves as Dean of The Castleman Quartet Program in residence at SUNY Fredonia; was artist-in-residence and chamber music instructor at the Mountain View Festival of Song in Sundre, Alberta; and from 2002-05 directed the Winnipeg Youth Symphony. He has delivered presentations on performance and pedagogy at the American String Teachers Association and College Music Society National Conferences, and students throughout Canada and the northern U.S. have enjoyed Mark’s work as an adjudicator and workshop clinician.
Mark earned Bachelor's and Master's of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, graduating with the Edward Steuermann Prize. He studied there with Harvey Shapiro, Lynn Harrell, Lorne Munroe and Joel Krosnick, and was appointed teaching assistant to the Juilliard Quartet. He later held a residency at The Banff Centre for the Arts, pursuing advanced studies with artists including Paul Tortelier, Anner Bylsma, Wieland Kuijken, Siegfried Palm, and Witold Lutoslawski. Mark also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan, where he was appointed to the editorial board of the Saskatchewan Law Review and graduated with distinction in 1990. He enjoys the odd distinction of having published an article about music in the Alberta Law Review, and one with a legal slant in American String Teacher. Among activities in community, Mark has coached youth baseball and bowling, worked as a patient peer counselor for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada, and served on the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.
Major teachers: Harvey Shapiro, Lynn Harrell, Joel Krosnick, Lorne Munroe.
Read more about Mark here: http://music.osu.edu/people/rudoff
Applauded by critics as "an exceptionally gifted cellist" and “a charismatic performer,” Mark has performed in solo recitals and with orchestras in Canada and the United States, and his solo and chamber performances have been recorded for broadcast on CBC. A respected chamber musician, he performs with the Galileo Trio, Jarvis Quintet, Chiarina Piano Quartet, and Marble Cliff Chamber Players, and has performed as a guest with groups including the Music Project, Allegri Quartet, Mount Royal Woodwind Quintet, and Thomas and Isobel Rolston and Friends. Equally accomplished in the orchestra sphere, Mark has served as principal cello of the Calgary Philharmonic and Saskatoon Symphony Orchestras, and in the sections of orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic and New York City Ballet, performing under such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Lukas Foss and Aaron Copland. Mark has appeared as guest artist with the Canadian Chamber Choir and at the Winnipeg Symphony's Centara New Music Festival, New Music North, and the Grand Teton Music Festival.
Prior to joining the Ohio State faculty, Mark Rudoff was professor of cello, chamber music and orchestra at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada. He teaches at and serves as Dean of The Castleman Quartet Program in residence at SUNY Fredonia; was artist-in-residence and chamber music instructor at the Mountain View Festival of Song in Sundre, Alberta; and from 2002-05 directed the Winnipeg Youth Symphony. He has delivered presentations on performance and pedagogy at the American String Teachers Association and College Music Society National Conferences, and students throughout Canada and the northern U.S. have enjoyed Mark’s work as an adjudicator and workshop clinician.
Mark earned Bachelor's and Master's of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, graduating with the Edward Steuermann Prize. He studied there with Harvey Shapiro, Lynn Harrell, Lorne Munroe and Joel Krosnick, and was appointed teaching assistant to the Juilliard Quartet. He later held a residency at The Banff Centre for the Arts, pursuing advanced studies with artists including Paul Tortelier, Anner Bylsma, Wieland Kuijken, Siegfried Palm, and Witold Lutoslawski. Mark also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan, where he was appointed to the editorial board of the Saskatchewan Law Review and graduated with distinction in 1990. He enjoys the odd distinction of having published an article about music in the Alberta Law Review, and one with a legal slant in American String Teacher. Among activities in community, Mark has coached youth baseball and bowling, worked as a patient peer counselor for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada, and served on the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.
Major teachers: Harvey Shapiro, Lynn Harrell, Joel Krosnick, Lorne Munroe.
Read more about Mark here: http://music.osu.edu/people/rudoff
Ronaldo Sarmanho, violin
Ronaldo Sarmanho
began his violin studies with Prof. Paulo Keuffer in Belém, Brazil at the age
of 11 soon developing intense musical activities as violinist of the UFPa
String Orchestra, Theatro da Paz Symphony Orchestra and then joining both the
Early Music Ensemble and the Jazz Group of the State of Pará Federal
University. He had participated in the most distinguished music festivals in
Brazil e. g. Pará International Festival, Londrina Music Festival, Juiz de Fora,
and FEMUSC having masterclasses with great violinists such as Miriam Fried,
Charles Stegeman, Sonja Van Beck, José Castillo, Leon Spierer among others. In
2008, He was invited to join the YOA (Youth Orchestra of the Americas) in an
international tour having the opportunity to share the stage with the conductor
Carlos Miguel Prieto, pianist Nelson Freire, cellist Antonio Meneses. At the
same year he was invited by Alex Klein to participate in the Oferenda Musical
Chamber Music Festival in São Paulo. Ronaldo develops the repertoire of violin
and piano with the pianist Renata Tavernard in a duo called Duo Deno. He earned
his bachelor degree in music in Prof Rucker Bezerra’s class in 2010. This spring,
he earned his masters degree in violin performance with Prof. Eva Szekely.
Brady Schach, trumpet
Brady Schach is the Graduate Trumpet Assistant at University of Missouri. He is a member of the faculty quintet and principal trumpet of the University Philharmonic Orchestra. He received his Bachelor's in Trumpet Performance from Western Illinois University where he was a winner of the University Concerto Competition in 2012.
Christine Seitz, soprano
Christine Seitz, Associate Teaching Professor of Music, joined the faculty at the University of Missouri in the fall of 2008, where she is Director of Show-Me Opera and a member of the Voice faculty. She has been on the staff at Des Moines Metro Opera as a stage director for the Apprentice Artist Program since 2006, and she was the founding Opera Director for the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, directing and producing operas there from 1992 through 2002. She has been a guest director for the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre, the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee (educational outreach productions), the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Luther College. She has created original translations and supertitles for productions at the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, the Pine Mountain Music Festival, the University of Wisconsin Madison, the Dubuque Symphony and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Christine Seitz is an established dramatic soprano, and she recently appeared with the Des Moines Metro Opera, singing the role of Madame Larina in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. She has also sung operatic roles with the Seattle Opera, the Dallas Opera, Madison Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, the Toledo Opera, Kentucky Opera, the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Central City Opera, and in Europe with the Wuppertaler Bühnen and the Stadttheater Bern. She sang the leading role of Anna Clemenc in the world premiere of The Children of the Keweenaw, by composer Paul Seitz and librettist Kathleen Masterson, at the 2001 Pine Mountain Music Festival. She has also sung in concert with the Waukesha Symphony, the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Caramoor Festival, the Germanfest Symphony in Milwaukee, the Cincinnati May Festival and the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Ms. Seitz has sung in numerous recitals in New York City and throughout the Midwest, collaborating with pianists Steven Blier and Jessica Paul, and she has presented voice workshops and master classes in Houghton, Michigan, and the University of California-Irvine.
Professor Seitz was the Opera Director and a member of the Voice faculty at the University of Nevada Las Vegas from 2002 through 2008, after teaching voice at Luther College and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received B.Mus. degrees in both applied voice and music education and an M.Mus. in applied voice from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is the founding Artistic Director of Studio North Opera, a local arts organization in Houghton, Michigan, dedicated to presenting performances of operatic scenes to audiences in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, she was a two-time winner of the Eastern Wisconsin Metropolitan Opera District Auditions.
Christine Seitz is an established dramatic soprano, and she recently appeared with the Des Moines Metro Opera, singing the role of Madame Larina in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. She has also sung operatic roles with the Seattle Opera, the Dallas Opera, Madison Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, the Toledo Opera, Kentucky Opera, the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Central City Opera, and in Europe with the Wuppertaler Bühnen and the Stadttheater Bern. She sang the leading role of Anna Clemenc in the world premiere of The Children of the Keweenaw, by composer Paul Seitz and librettist Kathleen Masterson, at the 2001 Pine Mountain Music Festival. She has also sung in concert with the Waukesha Symphony, the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Caramoor Festival, the Germanfest Symphony in Milwaukee, the Cincinnati May Festival and the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Ms. Seitz has sung in numerous recitals in New York City and throughout the Midwest, collaborating with pianists Steven Blier and Jessica Paul, and she has presented voice workshops and master classes in Houghton, Michigan, and the University of California-Irvine.
Professor Seitz was the Opera Director and a member of the Voice faculty at the University of Nevada Las Vegas from 2002 through 2008, after teaching voice at Luther College and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received B.Mus. degrees in both applied voice and music education and an M.Mus. in applied voice from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is the founding Artistic Director of Studio North Opera, a local arts organization in Houghton, Michigan, dedicated to presenting performances of operatic scenes to audiences in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, she was a two-time winner of the Eastern Wisconsin Metropolitan Opera District Auditions.
Paul Seitz, composer | viola
Paul Seitz is a composer of opera and music for instrumental and vocal ensembles large and small. Supported by a Creation and Presentation Award by the National Endowment for the Arts, his opera, The Children of the Keweenaw (libretto by Kathleen Masterson), was premiered in 2001 by the Pine Mountain Music Festival. More recently, his music has been heard in 2013 performances by the contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency in collaboration with CORE Dance Company of Atlanta, at the 2012 World Saxophone Congress at St. Andrew’s, Scotland, in 2012 concerts by the Codigo Trio in Spain and the Netherlands, and by Henri Bok, Eleri Ann Evans and Louis Afonso Montanho at the 2012 Festival Musica nas Montanhas in Brazil, by the MU Concert Jazz Band at the 2012 Jazz Education Network National Conference in Louisville, at the 2012 Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, by Clarinetes Bajos at the XVI Curso Internacional de Clarinete in Avila, Spain, in a 2012 world premiere by the University of Missouri's University Singers, in multiple programs presented in the Odyssey Chamber Music Series in Columbia, Missouri, in the 2013 Arnhem Muziek Platform concert series in Arnhem, Netherlands, the 2013 Mizzou International Composers Festival, at the University of Hartford, and in many beautiful performances by his colleagues at the University of Missouri, including two on campus premieres (so far, this year), and the 2013 premiere of La Terra Illuminata, a Sinquefield commission for the Columbia Civic Orchestra and the Columbia Chorale. Recent recordings featuring his music include Martyrs by the Codigo Trio (Netherlands), In a Nutshell (Netherlands) by bass clarinet virtuoso Henri Bok, Dialogues by The Irrelevants (Carrie Koffman, saxophones and Tim Deighton, viola), Tunnel Vision by the MU Concert Jazz Band and Spiritual Planet (Klavier) by the UNLV Wind Orchestra. Paul Seitz received a D.M.A. in Composition from the University of Wisconsin and a M.A. from Columbia University. His primary composition teachers were Stephen Dembski and Fred Lerdahl. He has taught Music Theory and Composition at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and at the University of Texas at Tyler, and Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin, as well as in his current appointment at the University of Missouri. Paul Seitz is also artistic director of New Chamber Music at the Calumet Art Center, presenting new works by composers with ties to Michigan's U.P. in early August of each year. For more information, please visit: www.paulseitz.net.
Erich Spaeth, percussion
Erich Spaeth earned a Bachelor’s of Music Education and a Bachelor’s of Music Performance in percussion from Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) and is currently finishing a Master’s of Music Performance in percussion from the University of Missouri in Columbia. While at SWOSU, he performed with the SWOSU Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Orchestra, and Jazz Ensemble “A.” While at Missouri, he performed with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, and Steel Band. Erich was a member of the 2009 Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps as well as a member of the 2012 Missouri Symphony Orchestra “Hot Summer Nights!” At the University of Missouri, he currently serves as a University Band Graduate Assistant conducting the 2012 Mini Mizzou Volleyball band as well as being the composer and instructor for the Marching Mizzou Drumline. Erich is currently a band director at Gentry Middle School in Columbia, teaching percussion classes.
Brian Tate, percussion
Brian Tate is currently serving as an adjunct instructor for the School of Music at the University of Missouri. He earned both a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master of Music from the University of Missouri. Prior to returning to Columbia, he served as Assistant Director of Bands at Oakville High School and District Percussion Specialist for the Mehlville School District and more recently as Associate Director of Bands for the Poplar Bluff School District. In addition, he has been an active composer, arranger, and adjudicator for band and percussion throughout the Midwest and has taught at every level from elementary to university. In addition to his university duties, he serves as percussion instructor and music arranger for Rock Bridge High School and teaches a large private percussion studio. Tate has performed on recitals throughout North America, has been principal timpanist for the Missouri Symphony Orchestra since 2003, and personnel manager for that orchestra for the 2007 season. In the past, he has served as a percussionist for the St. Louis Wind Symphony, the Mighty Mississippi Concert Band, the St. Louis Chamber Winds, and the Sky Ryders Drum and Bugle Corps.
Maria Duhova Trevor, harp
Born in the Slovak Republic, Maria Duhova Trevor holds a master’s degree in harp performance from the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bratislava, where she studied under Katarina Turnerova and Adriana Antalova. Prior to that, she studied harp performance at the Conservatory of Music in Zilina under Tibor Kovac. She completed her studies there performing the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp with the Slovak Sinfonietta. During her Conservatory studies, she made several recordings of solo harp pieces for the Slovak Radio. From 1996 to 1999, Ms. Trevor was Principal Harpist of the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), with which she toured throughout Europe. In 1999 Ms. Trevor was a featured recitalist at the Seventh World Harp Congress in Prague. Later that year, she won the harp position at the Slovak National Opera, where she played in over thirty opera and fifteen ballet productions. In 2001, she premiered and recorded a new work by David Ott for harp and orchestra, The Angel’s Harp. From 2002 to 2005, Ms. Trevor was a recording harpist for the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, with which she participated in dozens of contemporary music and movie score recordings. In 2003, she joined the Radio Symphony Orchestra on their tour of Japan.
Ms. Trevor has been principal harpist of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra since 2001 and has been featured as soloist in the Ravel Introduction and Allegro in 2002 and the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto in 2004. Ms. Trevor lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband, conductor Kirk Trevor, and their two children Sylvia and Daniel. She collaborates with musicians in solo recitals and chamber music, and appears regularly with the Odyssey Chamber Music Series, Columbia Civic Orchestra, and others. In addition to her position at the University of Missouri School of Music, she is also an adjunct harp instructor at Lincoln University and maintains an active private studio. For more information, visit her web site at www.mariaharp.com.
Ms. Trevor has been principal harpist of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra since 2001 and has been featured as soloist in the Ravel Introduction and Allegro in 2002 and the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto in 2004. Ms. Trevor lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband, conductor Kirk Trevor, and their two children Sylvia and Daniel. She collaborates with musicians in solo recitals and chamber music, and appears regularly with the Odyssey Chamber Music Series, Columbia Civic Orchestra, and others. In addition to her position at the University of Missouri School of Music, she is also an adjunct harp instructor at Lincoln University and maintains an active private studio. For more information, visit her web site at www.mariaharp.com.
Trio Chymera (Leo Saguiguit, Neil Ostercamp, Rachel AuBuchon)
TRIO CHYMERA was formed in 2007 at the University of Missouri and explores music for the combination of two saxophones and piano through original compositions, arrangements, and commissions of new works. The ensemble has given performances throughout Missouri and the United States at the Odyssey Chamber Music Series of Columbia; Baylor University in Waco, Texas; Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg; North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conferences at the University of South Carolina (2008), University of Missouri (2009), University of Georgia (2010), Arizona State University (2012); and the 2011 U.S. Navy Band 34th International Saxophone Symposium in Fairfax, Virginia.
Rachel AuBuchon performs frequently with faculty and students at the University of Missouri as a staff accompanist. Her engagements have included two performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, North American Saxophone Conferences in 2008-10, the 2007 Missouri Music Educators Association Convention, and the 2005 National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Convention. She earned a BM in piano performance from Truman State University under David McKamie, and a MM in accompanying at the University of Missouri under Janice Wenger and Natalia Bolshakova.
Neil Ostercamp has performed throughout the country, appearing at New York’s Weill Recital Hall, and was a two-time national finalist in the MTNA chamber music competition. He is a founding member of Missouri Saxophone Quartet, Trio Chymera, Contreras Saxophone Quartet, and Free Collective. He earned his BS in music education and MM in saxophone performance at the University of Missouri under the instruction of Professor Leo Saguiguit. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in saxophone performance at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he is a student of Steve Stusek and Chad Eby. www.neilostercamp.com
Leo Saguiguit has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and abroad, including Cuba, France, Greece, Sweden, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines. He maintains an active performance schedule as a member of the Athens (Greece) Saxophone Quartet, Chicago Saxophone Quartet, Missouri Saxophone Quartet, and Trio Chymera. He has performed regularly as saxophonist with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra, and Missouri Symphony. He earned music degrees from Emory University and Northwestern University, where he studied with Fred Hemke, Paul Bro, and Jonathan Helton. He is currently assistant professor of saxophone at the University of Missouri.
Rachel AuBuchon performs frequently with faculty and students at the University of Missouri as a staff accompanist. Her engagements have included two performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, North American Saxophone Conferences in 2008-10, the 2007 Missouri Music Educators Association Convention, and the 2005 National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Convention. She earned a BM in piano performance from Truman State University under David McKamie, and a MM in accompanying at the University of Missouri under Janice Wenger and Natalia Bolshakova.
Neil Ostercamp has performed throughout the country, appearing at New York’s Weill Recital Hall, and was a two-time national finalist in the MTNA chamber music competition. He is a founding member of Missouri Saxophone Quartet, Trio Chymera, Contreras Saxophone Quartet, and Free Collective. He earned his BS in music education and MM in saxophone performance at the University of Missouri under the instruction of Professor Leo Saguiguit. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in saxophone performance at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he is a student of Steve Stusek and Chad Eby. www.neilostercamp.com
Leo Saguiguit has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and abroad, including Cuba, France, Greece, Sweden, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines. He maintains an active performance schedule as a member of the Athens (Greece) Saxophone Quartet, Chicago Saxophone Quartet, Missouri Saxophone Quartet, and Trio Chymera. He has performed regularly as saxophonist with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra, and Missouri Symphony. He earned music degrees from Emory University and Northwestern University, where he studied with Fred Hemke, Paul Bro, and Jonathan Helton. He is currently assistant professor of saxophone at the University of Missouri.
The University Percussion Ensemble
The University Percussion Ensemble is formed mostly of percussion undergraduate and graduate students within the School of Music at MU. Directed by Dr. Gaines for the past fifteen years, this ensemble has been selected twice to perform at MMEA (1999, 2011). The ensemble has been part of several new music commissions and actively encourages composers to write for the medium. Varying in size for each piece of literature, the group can be seen playing percussion orchestra music for fifteen or more players as well as chamber music in the form of trios and quartets. This ensemble is an elective for the students and most of them will participate in the class as their schedule allows. With much of the large ensemble percussion repertoire being limited to color and rhythmic punctuation, participating in percussion ensemble often gives the students challenges they have not experienced before when it comes to phrasing, communication, and self-direction. There is not a lot of Christmas music available for the percussion ensemble but when the opportunity does come around, the Richard Gipson arrangements performed tonight are the best way to go. These arrangements are available on CD if you’d like to amplify your current Christmas music collection. (Christmas Bells, Mallets & Drums by the University of Oklahoma percussion ensemble).
2012-2013 UPE members are: Matthew Allen - Shane Batchelor - Kyle Bauche - Andrew Cook - Will Galvin - Shaun Gladney - Alex Gueterman - Nathan Reifsteck - Jared Rivera - Kevin Sanders - Blake Schulte - Matt Stiens -Kyle Lee - Dan Steiner - Abby Rehard - Nathan Smith
2012-2013 UPE members are: Matthew Allen - Shane Batchelor - Kyle Bauche - Andrew Cook - Will Galvin - Shaun Gladney - Alex Gueterman - Nathan Reifsteck - Jared Rivera - Kevin Sanders - Blake Schulte - Matt Stiens -Kyle Lee - Dan Steiner - Abby Rehard - Nathan Smith
The Verdehr Trio
An acknowledged leader in the field of new music, the Verdehr Trio for over thirty years has concentrated on molding and defining the personality of the violin-clarinet-piano trio. The Trio has over the years created a large repertoire by commissioning over 200 new works from some of the world's most prominent and exciting composers--known and unknown, young and old, from this country and abroad. These efforts are entitled The Making of a Medium because, in a real sense, this is what has happened over the years.
A handful of earlier trios by Bartok, Stravinsky, Milhaud, Khachaturian, Berg, Krenek, Poulenc and Ives showed the potential tonal and musical possibilities of this grouping. Now, with more than 230 total works in this genre, the violin-clarinet-piano trio has become a viable chamber music medium whose substantial literature may be recognized together with other major mediums as the piano trio, woodwind and brass quintets and the piano quartet. To round out its repertoire with Classical and Romantic works, the Trio has rediscovered as well as transcribed 18th and 19th century pieces for inclusion in its concert programs.
The Verdehr Trio has performed throughout the world: in seventeen European countries, the former Soviet Union, in South and Central America as well as in Asia, Australia and in almost all of the United States. Among major concert halls where the Trio has appeared are Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Library of Congress, Vienna's Brahmssaal, Sydney Opera House, London's Wigmore Hall, Auditorio de Madrid, Dvorak Hall in Prague, IRCAM Centre in Paris and Leningrad's Philharmonic Chamber Hall. The Trio has also played at various international festivals--the Spoleto Festival, Prague Spring Festival, the Vienna Spring Festival, Warsaw Autumn, the Grand Teton Music Festival and at numerous international clarinet festivals. Recently the Trio received a Creative Programming Award from Chamber Music America.
In addition to trios, the group has also commissioned Trio Concertos from Buhr, David, Ott, Skrowaczewski and Wallace and performed these with Vienna's Tonkunstler Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, Prague Chamber Soloists, Vancouver CBC Orchestra, Grand Rapids and Flint, Michigan Orchestras as well as with the National Orchestra of Spain and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra. Most recently, Double Concertos for violin and clarinet by James Niblock (3 concerti), William Wallace, Dinos Constantinides, Paul Chihara, Ian Krouse and Richard Mills have been completed.
To complement its commissioning efforts the Verdehr Trio has embarked upon three projects to make the repertoire known and accessible to musicians everywhere. The first is a series of CD recordings of the new works written for the Trio: The Making of a Medium CD Series on Crystal Records (click here to purchase). The second and parallel project is The Making of a Medium Video Series consisting of half-hour programs featuring prominent composers and their works written for the Verdehr Trio. These programs include interviews and discussions by the composers as well as a complete performance of the work. Hosted by Martin Bookspan. These DVDs are available through Such Media, Inc. and can be purchased here. Series I includes composers Leslie Bassett, Alan Hovhaness, Karel Husa, Thea Musgrave, Ned Rorem and Gunther Schuller. Series II includes trios by Alexander Arutiunian, David Diamond, William Bolcom, Betsy Jolas, Libby Larsen, Philippe Manoury, Gian Carlo Menotti, Peter Sculthorpe, Peter Schickele, Joan Tower and Robert Mann. Hosted by Peter Schickele and Walter Verdehr.
The Verdehr Trio is in residence at Michigan State University. An article about the Trio appears in the new Groves Dictionary of Music and the Trio won an Adventuresome Programming Award from ASCAP and Chamber Music America. www.verdehr.com
A handful of earlier trios by Bartok, Stravinsky, Milhaud, Khachaturian, Berg, Krenek, Poulenc and Ives showed the potential tonal and musical possibilities of this grouping. Now, with more than 230 total works in this genre, the violin-clarinet-piano trio has become a viable chamber music medium whose substantial literature may be recognized together with other major mediums as the piano trio, woodwind and brass quintets and the piano quartet. To round out its repertoire with Classical and Romantic works, the Trio has rediscovered as well as transcribed 18th and 19th century pieces for inclusion in its concert programs.
The Verdehr Trio has performed throughout the world: in seventeen European countries, the former Soviet Union, in South and Central America as well as in Asia, Australia and in almost all of the United States. Among major concert halls where the Trio has appeared are Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Library of Congress, Vienna's Brahmssaal, Sydney Opera House, London's Wigmore Hall, Auditorio de Madrid, Dvorak Hall in Prague, IRCAM Centre in Paris and Leningrad's Philharmonic Chamber Hall. The Trio has also played at various international festivals--the Spoleto Festival, Prague Spring Festival, the Vienna Spring Festival, Warsaw Autumn, the Grand Teton Music Festival and at numerous international clarinet festivals. Recently the Trio received a Creative Programming Award from Chamber Music America.
In addition to trios, the group has also commissioned Trio Concertos from Buhr, David, Ott, Skrowaczewski and Wallace and performed these with Vienna's Tonkunstler Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, Prague Chamber Soloists, Vancouver CBC Orchestra, Grand Rapids and Flint, Michigan Orchestras as well as with the National Orchestra of Spain and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra. Most recently, Double Concertos for violin and clarinet by James Niblock (3 concerti), William Wallace, Dinos Constantinides, Paul Chihara, Ian Krouse and Richard Mills have been completed.
To complement its commissioning efforts the Verdehr Trio has embarked upon three projects to make the repertoire known and accessible to musicians everywhere. The first is a series of CD recordings of the new works written for the Trio: The Making of a Medium CD Series on Crystal Records (click here to purchase). The second and parallel project is The Making of a Medium Video Series consisting of half-hour programs featuring prominent composers and their works written for the Verdehr Trio. These programs include interviews and discussions by the composers as well as a complete performance of the work. Hosted by Martin Bookspan. These DVDs are available through Such Media, Inc. and can be purchased here. Series I includes composers Leslie Bassett, Alan Hovhaness, Karel Husa, Thea Musgrave, Ned Rorem and Gunther Schuller. Series II includes trios by Alexander Arutiunian, David Diamond, William Bolcom, Betsy Jolas, Libby Larsen, Philippe Manoury, Gian Carlo Menotti, Peter Sculthorpe, Peter Schickele, Joan Tower and Robert Mann. Hosted by Peter Schickele and Walter Verdehr.
The Verdehr Trio is in residence at Michigan State University. An article about the Trio appears in the new Groves Dictionary of Music and the Trio won an Adventuresome Programming Award from ASCAP and Chamber Music America. www.verdehr.com
Charles Wetherbee, violin
Violinist Charles Wetherbee has performed throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. He has appeared at the Aspen Music Festival, the Garth Newell Center, the Hidden Valley Festival (CA), the Roycroft Chamber Festival (NY), the Nouvelle Academie International d’Été (Nice, France), the Olympic Music Festival (WA), the MidAmerica Music Festival (OH), and Strings in the Mountains (CO). A native of Buffalo, New York, Charles gave his first performances at age six. He made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Symon Bychkov, and since then has performed with the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovitch, as well as the Japan Philharmonic, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota (Columbia), the National Repertory Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico, the Symphony Orchestra of the Curtis Institute, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Virginia Symphony, among others. In 1988 he toured Asia, including performances in Seoul, Korea, as part of the Olympic Arts Festival. In the same year he also made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall to critical acclaim as a participant in the American Music Competition. In 1990, he traveled to the Persian Gulf to perform for the men and women of the armed services. The Washington Post called Wetherbee “a consummate artist... with flawless technique”. The Virginia Pilot said that he “... gave a performance of great conviction and emotion”. The Columbus Dispatch wrote “... a first rate showman... his double-stops, harmonics, and beautiful sound kept the audience spellbound”.
Charles is an artist dedicated to the music of today, as well as to the great literature of the past. In May of 2007, he was invited to St. Petersburg, Russia, to give the Russian premiere of Grammy Award winning composer John Corigliano’s Violin Concerto, and was subsequently invited back to perform the Beethoven concerto in the famous Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall. Charles has been heard nationwide on the NPR program “Performance Today”, featuring his performance of the Red Violin by Mr. Corigliano with Joanne Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2002, he gave the Latin American premier of the Red Violin, and was immediately re-engaged to return in 2003, for performances of the Szymanowski Violin Concerto. In November 2005, Charles gave the world premiere of the Violin Concerto by composer Jonathan Leshnoff with the Columbus Symphony, and then performed the concerto in Baltimore, MD with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. The Baltimore Sun wrote “This was very classy fiddle playing, with a golden, penetrating tone, sterling technique and strongly communicative phrasing.” Mr. Wetherbee has also performed the Leshnoff concerto in Mexico City, Mexico, with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico; in Kyoto, Japan, with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra; and in Breckenridge, Colorado, with the National Repertory Orchestra. Other world premieres include the Leshnoff Double Concerto for Violin and Viola with Michael Stern and the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, followed by performances in Duluth (MN), St. Petersburg (Russia), Orquesta de Extremadura (Spain), Buffalo (NY), and Boca Raton (FL). Charles will perform the world premiere of the violin concerto by Korine Fujiwara in the National Gallery, Washington, DC, as part of the 100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
A devoted chamber musician, Charles is the first violinist of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, with whom he tours and performs regularly. With Carpe Diem he is featured on many different CDs, and also has recorded with Carpe Diem and guitarist Willy Porter as a member of the mealies. He was a founding member of Opus 3 piano trio, and with Opus 3 performed in the French, German, Austrian, and Dutch embassies, as well as the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center, the National Gallery, the Corcoran Gallery, Strathmore Hall, and throughout the eastern United States. He is also the Artistic Director of the Dercum Center for Arts and Humanities, Keystone, Colorado.
Charles is newly appointed to the violin faculty of the College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Aaron Rosand. Other mentors include Sylvia Rosenberg, Karen Tuttle, and Felix Galimir. As a recording artist, he is represented on Naxos, Seize the Music Records, Weasel Records, Vienna Modern Classics, as well as the Cascade labels, and was also featured on a recording with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra playing Massenet’s Meditation from Thaïs. Mr. Wetherbee has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the Ashworth Artist and the George Hardesty awards. Charles performs on a violin made by Kurt Widenhouse, and bows by Charles Espy and Benoit Rolland. Visit Carpe Diem String Quartet web site, www.cdsq.org
Charles is an artist dedicated to the music of today, as well as to the great literature of the past. In May of 2007, he was invited to St. Petersburg, Russia, to give the Russian premiere of Grammy Award winning composer John Corigliano’s Violin Concerto, and was subsequently invited back to perform the Beethoven concerto in the famous Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall. Charles has been heard nationwide on the NPR program “Performance Today”, featuring his performance of the Red Violin by Mr. Corigliano with Joanne Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2002, he gave the Latin American premier of the Red Violin, and was immediately re-engaged to return in 2003, for performances of the Szymanowski Violin Concerto. In November 2005, Charles gave the world premiere of the Violin Concerto by composer Jonathan Leshnoff with the Columbus Symphony, and then performed the concerto in Baltimore, MD with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. The Baltimore Sun wrote “This was very classy fiddle playing, with a golden, penetrating tone, sterling technique and strongly communicative phrasing.” Mr. Wetherbee has also performed the Leshnoff concerto in Mexico City, Mexico, with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico; in Kyoto, Japan, with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra; and in Breckenridge, Colorado, with the National Repertory Orchestra. Other world premieres include the Leshnoff Double Concerto for Violin and Viola with Michael Stern and the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, followed by performances in Duluth (MN), St. Petersburg (Russia), Orquesta de Extremadura (Spain), Buffalo (NY), and Boca Raton (FL). Charles will perform the world premiere of the violin concerto by Korine Fujiwara in the National Gallery, Washington, DC, as part of the 100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
A devoted chamber musician, Charles is the first violinist of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, with whom he tours and performs regularly. With Carpe Diem he is featured on many different CDs, and also has recorded with Carpe Diem and guitarist Willy Porter as a member of the mealies. He was a founding member of Opus 3 piano trio, and with Opus 3 performed in the French, German, Austrian, and Dutch embassies, as well as the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center, the National Gallery, the Corcoran Gallery, Strathmore Hall, and throughout the eastern United States. He is also the Artistic Director of the Dercum Center for Arts and Humanities, Keystone, Colorado.
Charles is newly appointed to the violin faculty of the College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Aaron Rosand. Other mentors include Sylvia Rosenberg, Karen Tuttle, and Felix Galimir. As a recording artist, he is represented on Naxos, Seize the Music Records, Weasel Records, Vienna Modern Classics, as well as the Cascade labels, and was also featured on a recording with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra playing Massenet’s Meditation from Thaïs. Mr. Wetherbee has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the Ashworth Artist and the George Hardesty awards. Charles performs on a violin made by Kurt Widenhouse, and bows by Charles Espy and Benoit Rolland. Visit Carpe Diem String Quartet web site, www.cdsq.org
Michael White, flute
Michael White studied flute with Byron Hester, principal flutist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1952-1992), and received both the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Houston. He also studied privately in London with Gareth Morris, principal flutist with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Michael began playing professionally in Houston during his sophomore year at the University of Houston and soon became established as a prominent free-lance player. He has played with every major arts organization in Houston, including the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Texas Opera Theater, the Texas Chamber Orchestra, Theatre Under the Stars, and the Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Society. He was principal flutist with the Houston Ballet Orchestra and the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra for 23 years. Michael maintains his professional ties to Theatre Under the Stars and the Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Society and returns to Houston to perform with these groups. In Columbia, Michael enjoys playing with the Columbia Civic Orchestra under the leadership of Stefan Freund.
Dan Willett, oboe
Professor Willett has been a member of the MU music faculty since 1982. A native of Michigan, he earned both bachelor and master's degrees from Michigan State University, where he studied oboe with Daniel Stolper. He has performed in master classes with John Mack, Thomas Stacey, Evelyn Barbirolli, Richard Woodhams, Robert Bloom, and Ronald Roseman. Professor Willett's faculty duties have included teaching the oboe and reedmaking, coaching chamber music, music appreciation, and performing as a member of the Missouri Woodwind Quintet, the ensemble-in-residence at MU. He also is the Associate Director for the School of Music. In addition to regular solo recitals on and off campus, Professor Willett has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, St. Louis Bach Society, and Kammerguild Chamber Orchestra, at the Bach Aria Group Festival, New College Music Festival, Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and the International Double Reed Society Convention. As a member of the Missouri Quintet, he has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, the International Chamber Music Festival in Belem, Brazil, and in other cities including St. Louis, Boston, and Chicago. The Missouri Quintet has recorded on the Cambria label (Quintets Nos. 1 and 2 by David Maslanka), and has appeared on National Public Radio's Performance Today. Professor Willett has also been active as a composer and arranger, having studied composition with Jere Hutcheson at Michigan State University. His woodwind quintet transcriptions have been favorably reviewed by the New York Times, and broadcast nationwide. His original works include assorted chamber pieces, choral works, and Three Settings of Old Tunes for woodwind quintet and band.
Scott Yoo, violin
Scott Yoo began his violin studies at the age of three and performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony at age twelve. He won first prize in both the Josef Gingold International Violin Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and received an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He is the Artistic Director of the Medellín Festicámara, a chamber music program for underprivileged young musicians. Mr. Yoo has appeared as a chamber musician with Bargemusic, Boston Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Kingston, Laurel, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, and Seattle Chamber Music Festivals. Mr. Yoo co-founded the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, and currently serves as the Music Director of Festival Mozaic and Conductor of the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. As a guest conductor, Mr. Yoo has led the Colorado, Dallas, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Utah Symphonies, the New World Symphony, the City of London Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Seoul Philharmonic and Yomiuri Nippon Orchestras. In November he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Yoo He has studied violin with Roman Totenberg, Albert Markov, Paul Kantor and Dorothy DeLay, and conducting with Michael Gilbert and Michael Tilson-Thomas. Mr. Yoo graduated from Harvard University. www.scott-yoo.com
Past Seasons
Mallory Alekna, double bass (Seasons 6, 7, 8)
Mallory Alekna is a graduate of Illinois State University (ISU) with a degree in music education. She studied bass with Dr. Bill Koehler and conducting with Dr. Stephen K. Steele and Dr. Glenn Block. Mallory has performed as principal bassist for Illinois State University’s Symphonic Orchestra, Wind Symphony, and Jazz Ensemble I. She served as Assistant Conductor to Dr. Glenn Block for ISU’s production of Candide. Her recordings include the premiere of David Maslanka’s Symphony No. 8 and Traveler. She is currently teaching middle school and high school band and choir at the Northeast Randolph County Schools in Cairo, Missouri.
Astraios String Quartet (Season 8)
Astraios String Quartet was named the First Place winner in the prestigious Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) State Chamber Music Competition held in November 2010. They have represented Missouri to compete at the West Central Division in South Dakota in January 2011. Began as one of the string quartets of School of Music at at University of Missouri (MU), Astraios was coached by Professor Eva Szekely. Previously, Astraios was invited, and has participated in the MU School of Music’s 2009 Mendelssohn Festival. Astraios was originally formed in 2006 at the University of Missouri under the guidance of Amy Appold. Members have been changed over the years; the ensemble continued as String Trio, and it received Honorable Mention at the 2007 MTNA State Chamber Music Competition. Currently, the members consist of Carolina Neves Merritt and Matheus Souza on violin, Dustin Frieda on viola, and Matthew Pierce on cello. For more information, visit their web site: astraiosstrings.com
Bach Collegium Choir (Past Seasons)
* Soloists
Season 8: Bach Cantata BWV 106, 'Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit' [Actus tragicus]
Soprano: Robin Anderson, Melissa Baughman, Kaitlin Foley, Rebecca Preston
Alto: Jenna Ash, Melanie Hagen, Christine Jarquio, Hana Katsenes, Laura Thompson
Tenor: Brian Parrish - Tristan Frampton - Nathan Ward - Todd Oberlin
Bass: Brandon Browning - Ben Donnelly-Strait - DJ Jordan - Nathan Park
Season 7: Bach Cantata, “Nach dir, herr, Verlanget mich,” BWV150
Soprano: Claire Huck, Robin Anderson, Anna Bridgman, Kaitlin Foley*, Mallory Harding, Erica Jackson, Rebecca Preston
Alto: Melanie Hagen, Mary-Kate Matthews, Jana Fox, Laura Thompson, Christina Adams*, Christina Casey, Meaghan Linn
Tenor: Tim Hercules, Brian Parrish, Nathan Ward*, Tristan Frampton, Victor Lee, Andrew Lang
Bass: Ryan Cooper, D.J. Jordan, Joel Schilb, Brandon Browning*, Frank Manda, Ben Donnelly-Strait, Max Vale
Season 8: Bach Cantata BWV 106, 'Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit' [Actus tragicus]
Soprano: Robin Anderson, Melissa Baughman, Kaitlin Foley, Rebecca Preston
Alto: Jenna Ash, Melanie Hagen, Christine Jarquio, Hana Katsenes, Laura Thompson
Tenor: Brian Parrish - Tristan Frampton - Nathan Ward - Todd Oberlin
Bass: Brandon Browning - Ben Donnelly-Strait - DJ Jordan - Nathan Park
Season 7: Bach Cantata, “Nach dir, herr, Verlanget mich,” BWV150
Soprano: Claire Huck, Robin Anderson, Anna Bridgman, Kaitlin Foley*, Mallory Harding, Erica Jackson, Rebecca Preston
Alto: Melanie Hagen, Mary-Kate Matthews, Jana Fox, Laura Thompson, Christina Adams*, Christina Casey, Meaghan Linn
Tenor: Tim Hercules, Brian Parrish, Nathan Ward*, Tristan Frampton, Victor Lee, Andrew Lang
Bass: Ryan Cooper, D.J. Jordan, Joel Schilb, Brandon Browning*, Frank Manda, Ben Donnelly-Strait, Max Vale
Christopher Baumgartner, conductor (Season 8)
Christopher Baumgartner is currently pursuing a Ph. D. in Music Education at the University of Missouri. A native of Ohio, Mr. Baumgartner holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University. While at BGSU, he guest conducted the University Band, the BGSU Men’s Chorus, and PRAECEPTA, an ensemble devoted to the performance of student compositions. He remains active as a conductor, routinely guest conducting university ensembles at Mizzou. As a clinician, Mr. Baumgartner has worked with middle school and high school bands throughout Ohio, and recently in the mid-Missouri area. Mr. Baumgartner’s master’s thesis, A Performance Analysis of Whirlwind and Shadow Rituals, Ticheli Composition Contest Award Winning Works in 2007, won the Distinguished Theses Awardfrom BGSU in 2010. Recently, he was published in Visions of Research in Music Education and Missouri School Music Magazine. Christopher Baumgartner is a member of the National Association for Music Education, Missouri Bandmasters Association, College Music Society, Society for Research in Teacher Education, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and National Band Association.
Andrew Bell, bassoon (Season 8+)
Andrew Bell is a native of Columbia, Missouri. While attending Hickman High School, Andrew studied under Albie Micklich, Gabriel Beavers, and Lecolion Washington of the University of Missouri, as well as filling in for the University’s Philharmonic. Andrew was a member of a Missouri All-State ensemble all four years in high school. After completing his freshman year at the University of Missouri, Andrew completed his Bachelors of Music degree at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. There he studied under William Buchman and Robert Barris. At DePaul, Andrew was a member of the Wind Ensemble, as well as the DePaul Symphony Orchestra, culminating in a performance of the Rite of Spring at Chicago’s Symphony Center under the baton of Cliff Colnot. Andrew has performed in masterclasses with Loren Glickman, Mark Popkin, Daniel Matsukawa, David McGill, Lewis Kirk, among others. Andrew now lives in Columbia, close to family and friends. While remaining an active orchestral bassoonist in the community, Andrew focuses most of his efforts on the advancement of free improvisation and integrating the bassoon in new musical territories.
Stephanie Berg, clarinet (Season 8+)
Stephanie Berg is a December 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri, having earned a Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance. She continues her studies at the University of Missouri, pursuing a Master’s degree in clarinet performance and composition. She performs in the University Philharmonic, University of Missouri’s New Music Ensemble, is principal of the 9th Street Philharmonic, and an auxiliary member of the Columbia Civic Orchestra, playing Bb, A, Eb, and Bass clarinets whenever required. In addition to performing, Stephanie is very active in music composition. This is her fourth year serving as the project manager of the Creating Original Music Program, and she is the 2009 recipient of the Sinquefield Composition Competition, resulting in the commissioned work, Motive and Reflection for full orchestra. She has also received commissions from the 9thStreet Philharmonic and Columbia Civic Orchestra, has had several works performed by the New Music Ensemble, including premieres at the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum and Missouri Botanical Garden, and was accepted to the 2010 Atlantic Music Festival Composition Program.
Yoon Choi, violin (Season 7, 8)
Yoon Choi is a senior at Hickman High School. She has won several competitions, including Alternate in 2010 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Senior Strings competition, Winner in 2010 Missouri Youth Orchestra / Mid-Missouri Area Music Teachers Association (MYO/MMAMTA) Pre-collegiate Concerto Competition, Honorable Mention in the 2009 MTNA Junior Strings, Alternate in 2008 MTNA Junior Strings, and State Representative in 2007 MTNA Junior Strings. She was also the Winner of the 2005 and 2006 Missouri Music Teachers Association (MMTA) String competitions. Yoon has attended the Indiana University Summer String Academy in 2007 and the Missouri Chamber Music Seminar, 2009 - 2011. In 2010, Yoon was selected to participate in the prestigious Quartet Program directed by renowned violinist Charles Castleman at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Fredonia. Yoon has participated in the Missouri All-state Orchestra in 2010 and 2011.
David Colwell, violin (Season 8)
Since his solo debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the age of 14, violinist David Colwell has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, Canada, and the United States, and has been recorded by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. A native of Alberta, Canada, David received his first violin lessons from Dr. Elfreda Gleam and William van der Sloot. After further studies with Ranald Shean and Edmond Agopian, he began his undergraduate education in 1997 at the University of Alberta where he studied with Dr. Martin Riseley. In September of 2001, he entered the studio of Peter Oundjian and Ani Kavafian at Yale University School of Music and was awarded the Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts degrees in 2003 and 2005 respectively. In 2009, he was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale. David is grateful to the Winspear Fund for its generous support of his studies from 2001-2005. As a winner of a Johann Strauss Foundation Scholarship in both 1998 and 1999, David was afforded the opportunity to study at the Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria with Igor Oistrakh, Michael Frischenschlager, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and Igor Ozim. In the summers of 2004 and 2005, he studied and performed at the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. In June of 2005, David made his formal Ravinia Festival debut at the Martin Theater. As a member of the Mondrian Piano Quartet, David participated in the Banff Centre's Chamber Music Residency in the summer of 2007. Other memorable performances have included chamber music collaborations with Edgar Meyer, Timothy Eddy, Paul Katz, Barry Shiffman, Henk Guittart, Pekka Kuusisto, Ismo Eskelinen, and Ralf Gothóni. Since 2006, David had been a member of the performance faculty at the University of Virginia's McIntire Department of Music and has served as concertmaster of the Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestra and first violinist of the Rivanna String Quartet. In April of 2011 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Violin at SUNY Fredonia School of Music and joined the faculty in the Fall of 2011.
Edward Dolbashian, conductor (Season 8+)
Edward Dolbashian has been Director of Orchestras and Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Missouri since 1985. He is also currently Music Director of the Alton Symphony, in Alton, Illinois, the Clayton Symphony Orchestra in Clayton, Missouri, and the Compton Heights Concert Band of St. Louis. Under the leadership of Professor Dolbashian, the University Philharmonic has received numerous awards and invitations to perform throughout the state including four appearances at the Missouri Music Educators Association Conferences in 1987, 1992, 2001, and 2005. In 1996, the Philharmonic was awarded the prestigious honor of performing at the biennial meeting of the Music Educators National Conference in Kansas City. Most recently, in April 2006, the University Philharmonic was again selected to perform at Music Educators National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. As Music Director of these organizations, Mr. Dolbashian presents over thirty concerts a year throughout Missouri and Illinois, covering a range of repertoire from Mahler to Sousa. His concerts feature a wide variety of renowned artists, including the late, legendary baritone William Warfield, violinists Philip Quint, David Halen, Xiang Gao, and jazz greats Doc Severinsen, and Peter Nero, and Arturo Sandoval. His guest conducting activities have included concerts with the Festival Orchestra of the International Festival of Music in Belem, Brazil, the Londrina Symphony, in Londrina, Brazil, the Missouri Chamber Orchestra, the Gateway Symphony Orchestra, and, several performances with the St. Louis Philharmonic. Mr. Dolbashian is also an accomplished oboist. His professional performing career began at age seventeen with a solo debut performance at New York City's Town Hall. Before moving to Missouri, Mr. Dolbashian was a member of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra for ten years, and, served as oboist of the Hartford Symphony Woodwind Quintet. In 1982, he joined the Hartford Chamber Orchestra as principal oboist, and served for three years. Mr. Dolbashian's formal musical training began at the renowned High School of Performing Arts in New York City as an oboe and piano major. He holds degrees in oboe performance from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, and in orchestral conducting from Yale University where he studied under Otto Werner-Mueller. Further conducting study included several summers at the Pierre Monteux Conducting Seminar under Charles Bruck, the Boris Goldovsky Opera Conducting Seminar, the Herbert Blomstedt Conducting Seminar, and the Tanglewood Festival under Leonard Bernstein, Gustav Meier, and Seiji Ozawa.
Darry Dolezal, cello (Season 1, 8+)
Professor Dolezal's concert career has taken him to most major cities in the United States as well as several musical centers abroad. From 1991 to 1995 he toured North America with the Artaria Quartet of Boston, named one of the world's ten best young string quartets at the 1992 Banff International String Quartet Competition. His solo and chamber music performances have been broadcast on CBC radio and television in Canada, the ABC Nightly News with Peter Jennings, TV Cultura in Brazil, Minnesota Public Radio, WFMT in Chicago, and WGBH in Boston. His performances can be heard on Centaur, Albany, CRI and Capstone Records. Professor Dolezal is interested in contemporary music and has premiered more than one hundred works, including several commissions and dedications. He co-founded the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival in Vermont and served as its artistic director for two years. As a teacher, he has presented master classes in many universities and conservatories in the U.S. and abroad. He has received several awards and grants, including a Rural Residency Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Professor Dolezal attended the University of Kansas, where he earned his bachelor's degree in cello performance with highest distinction and received the coveted Presser Award. He studied cello and chamber music at the Aspen and Roundtop Music Festivals and earned a master's degree from the Peabody Conservatory. Professor Dolezal's principal teachers have been Raymond Stuhl, Edward Laut, and Yehuda Hanani. His chamber music coaches and mentors include members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, and American string quartets, and such notable musicians as Leon Fleisher, Eugene Lehner, Menachem Pressler, and Leonard Shure. Professor Dolezal came to the University of Missouri from Viterbo College. He has been a visiting Artist/Lecturer at Boston College, Boston University, Florida State University, Georgia State University, the University of Kansas, and the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory. At MU, Professor Dolezal is cellist in the Esterhazy Quartet, ensemble-in-residence at the University, teaches cello and a low strings techniques class, and coaches string chamber ensembles. He is also the founder and director of the MU Cello Choir.
eighth blackbird (Season 8)
Tim Munro, flutes • Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets
Yvonne Lam, violin & viola • Nicholas Photinos, cello
Matthew Duvall, percussion+ • Lisa Kaplan, piano
See their week-long residency schedule at MU HERE.
Hailed as “friendly, unpretentious, idealistic, and highly skilled” by the New Yorker, eighth blackbird is widely lauded for its unusual performing style – often playing from memory with theatrical flair – and for its efforts to make new music accessible to wider audiences. Since its founding in 1996, the sextet has actively commissioned and recorded new works; recent commissions include a concerto from Jennifer Higdon and pieces from Steve Reich, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Steven Mackey, David Lang, Stephen Hartke, and Bruno Mantovani. The group’s CD strange imaginary animals won two Grammy Awards in 2008, including one for Best Chamber Music Performance.
Now celebrating its 15th season, eighth blackbird showcases music by the two most recent Pulitzer Prize-winning composers in its 2010-11 recording and performing repertoire, featuring new and recent works (written expressly for the ensemble) by both Jennifer Higdon and Steve Reich. Headlining the group’s season is its new politically-driven two-part program "PowerFUL/less", tackling Stravinsky's provocative statement questioning the value, meaning and power of art. The ensemble will curate and perform in Park Avenue Armory’s new “Tune-In” contemporary music festival in New York City. Other highlights include a return to Zankel Hall; performances at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art; a tour of Higdon’s new concerto On a Wire with several high-profile orchestras; Reich festivals on both sides of the Atlantic – at Carnegie Hall and at London’s Barbican Hall; a return to the Library of Congress for a concert that includes the world premiere of a new work by Stephen Hartke; and a new CD featuring Reich’s prize-winning Double Sextet on Nonesuch, which was released in September 2010.
Last season eighth blackbird made its debut at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, playing the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Grazioso!, and presented a new version of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire. The ensemble premiered Slide, a new music-theater piece by Rinde Eckert and Steven Mackey, at the Ojai Music Festival (where eighth blackbird acted as Music Director for the 2009 season), and it held a week-long residency at the Curtis Institute of Music. Highlights of past seasons have included performances in South Korea, Mexico, the UK, the Netherlands, and at nearly every major chamber music venue in North America. eighth blackbird was honored in 2007 with the American Music Center’s Trailblazer Award and a Meet The Composer Award, and the group’s numerous competition wins include the Grand Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award. The sextet has been profiled in the New York Times and featured on CBS News Sunday Morning and Bloomberg TV’s Muse. eighth blackbird has recorded for the Cedille, Nonesuch and Naxos labels, and is represented by David Lieberman Artists' Representative.
Yvonne Lam, violin & viola • Nicholas Photinos, cello
Matthew Duvall, percussion+ • Lisa Kaplan, piano
See their week-long residency schedule at MU HERE.
Hailed as “friendly, unpretentious, idealistic, and highly skilled” by the New Yorker, eighth blackbird is widely lauded for its unusual performing style – often playing from memory with theatrical flair – and for its efforts to make new music accessible to wider audiences. Since its founding in 1996, the sextet has actively commissioned and recorded new works; recent commissions include a concerto from Jennifer Higdon and pieces from Steve Reich, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Steven Mackey, David Lang, Stephen Hartke, and Bruno Mantovani. The group’s CD strange imaginary animals won two Grammy Awards in 2008, including one for Best Chamber Music Performance.
Now celebrating its 15th season, eighth blackbird showcases music by the two most recent Pulitzer Prize-winning composers in its 2010-11 recording and performing repertoire, featuring new and recent works (written expressly for the ensemble) by both Jennifer Higdon and Steve Reich. Headlining the group’s season is its new politically-driven two-part program "PowerFUL/less", tackling Stravinsky's provocative statement questioning the value, meaning and power of art. The ensemble will curate and perform in Park Avenue Armory’s new “Tune-In” contemporary music festival in New York City. Other highlights include a return to Zankel Hall; performances at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art; a tour of Higdon’s new concerto On a Wire with several high-profile orchestras; Reich festivals on both sides of the Atlantic – at Carnegie Hall and at London’s Barbican Hall; a return to the Library of Congress for a concert that includes the world premiere of a new work by Stephen Hartke; and a new CD featuring Reich’s prize-winning Double Sextet on Nonesuch, which was released in September 2010.
Last season eighth blackbird made its debut at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, playing the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Grazioso!, and presented a new version of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire. The ensemble premiered Slide, a new music-theater piece by Rinde Eckert and Steven Mackey, at the Ojai Music Festival (where eighth blackbird acted as Music Director for the 2009 season), and it held a week-long residency at the Curtis Institute of Music. Highlights of past seasons have included performances in South Korea, Mexico, the UK, the Netherlands, and at nearly every major chamber music venue in North America. eighth blackbird was honored in 2007 with the American Music Center’s Trailblazer Award and a Meet The Composer Award, and the group’s numerous competition wins include the Grand Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award. The sextet has been profiled in the New York Times and featured on CBS News Sunday Morning and Bloomberg TV’s Muse. eighth blackbird has recorded for the Cedille, Nonesuch and Naxos labels, and is represented by David Lieberman Artists' Representative.
Michael Hill, horn (Season 8+)
A native of Spring, Texas, Michael Justus Hill is currently a senior studying horn performance at the University of Missouri. He is an avid chamber music performer and was selected to perform as fourth hornist during the Missouri Symphony’s 2009 summer festival. Michael has successfully competed at solo competitions sponsored by the 2008 Missouri Music Teachers Association, the 2009 Music Teachers National Association of Missouri, the 2010 International Women’s Brass Conference and the 2010 Mid-South Horn Workshop. Michael recently advanced to the national level of the 2011 Music Teachers National Association and competed in Milwaukee in late March.
Susan Jensen, violin (Season 8+)
Susan Jensen has concertised throughout the United States, Europe and Asia as a respected performer and proponent of new music. As an active chamber musician and recording artist (Orfeo and RCM labels) in the Los Angeles area for over a decade, Ms. Jensen held key posts with the critically-acclaimed contemporary music group XTET, the Southwest Chamber Music Society and was a tenured member of the Los Angeles Opera, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and associate concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, Ms. Jensen garnered extensive motion picture and television credits, as well as performances on record projects for Jeff Lynne, Brian Wilson, Laurence Juber, Aerosmith, Bill Medley, and many others. Thereafter, Ms. Jensen joined the Colorado-based Da Vinci String Quartet; a position including an active touring schedule, a statewide subscription concert series, a faculty appointment at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music and an artist residency at Colorado College. In 2006, Ms. Jensen relocated to Boston, Massachusetts where she has performed with the Boston Ballet, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra and various chamber music ensembles. Ms. Jensen is a graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and the LaSalle and Tokyo string quartets. A student of Eudice Shapiro, Ms. Jensen received a M.M. at the University of Southern California where she was an Alpert Merit Scholar, as well as the recipient of the George Kast Award. Ms. Jensen plays a 1697 G.B. Rogeri violin.
Sarah Lucas, oboe (Season 8)
Sarah Lucas is a second-year master’s student at the University of Missouri pursuing an M.A. in Music History. Ms. Lucas is a native of Clinton, Missouri, where she taught oboe lessons and directed the Clinton Community Band. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri. While at Central Methodist, she participated in numerous instrumental and vocal chamber ensembles, as well as Chorale, Conservatory Singers, the Marching Eagle Band, Concert Band, and Jazz Band. Ms. Lucas served as drum major and student music festival coordinator, and toured with both the Chorale and Concert Band as a featured soloist. In 2010 she was awarded the Alpha Chi National Honor Society Sledge Fellowship for her research and lecture recital on Telemann’s Methodical Sonata in E minor. At the University of Missouri, Ms. Lucas is the graduate teaching assistant for music history and has played oboe and English horn in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the University Philharmonic. She has also participated in chamber groups and the Columbia Civic Orchestra. She has studied oboe with Meribeth Risebig and Dan Willett.
Grace Lyden, piano (Season 8)
A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Grace Lyden began piano studies at age five, and went on to study piano with Beverly Hoff, Jerri Niver, Karen Johnson and James Johnson. Ms. Lyden currently studies piano with Dr. Peter Miyamoto at the University of Missouri, where she is double majoring in Journalism and Piano Performance. Over the summer, she studied with Eugene Pridonoff at the Brevard Music Center. She performed in the MU Emerging Artist Showcase of 2011 and plays for the MU Concert Jazz Band, as well as university classical and jazz chamber ensembles. Ms. Lyden won Honorable Mention at the SAI Scholarship Competition in February 2011 and attended the International Society of Improvised Music conference in Michigan later that semester with the MU Creative Improvisation Ensemble. She has also been the accompanist for the Missouri Symphony Children's Choir since coming to MU. After being named the 2003 KVNO Classical Kid, Ms. Lyden went on to win second prize in the 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 Omaha Music Teachers Association (OMTA) Young Artist’s Piano Competitions, first alternate in the 2005, 2006 and 2009 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior and Senior Performance Competitions, and first prize in the 2008 MTNA Senior Performance Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2008 Orchestra Omaha Concerto Competition and won 3rd prize in the 2010 Nebraska Federation of Music Honors Scholarship Competition. In 2008, her piano trio, the Trio DePaz, won 2nd prize in the Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music competition. She participated in Nebraska All State Music ensembles for three years in a row as a saxophonist and jazz pianist, and she served as drum major for her high school marching band for two years.
Erica Manzo, clarinet (Season 8+)
Erica Manzo joined the faculty at the University of Missouri in 2004 as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music. Her duties include/have included teaching applied clarinet, clarinet methods, courses in music theory and ear training, and serving as Coordinator of the Community Music Program.A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Dr. Manzo holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory from Baylor University, a Master of Music degree in Music Theory from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. Her principal clarinet instructors were Richard Shanley, Bil Jackson, and Richard MacDowell. She has also performed in masterclasses with Andrew Crisante, F. Gerard Errante, Loren Kitt, and Robert Spring. Dr. Manzo has appeared as a solo recitalist at three International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest conferences (Kansas City in 2008; Porto, Portugal in 2009; and the University of Texas at Austin in 2010). She also presented a solo recital at the prestigious University of Oklahoma’s Clarinet Symposium in 2008. At the ClarinetFest in Porto, she premiered a piece written for her by Barton Cummings, entitled Diversions for Clarinet and Band. She has also performed with the Acadian Wind Symphony, the Missouri Quintet, the Missouri Symphony Orchestra since 2004, and in 2006 was a guest lecturer at the College Music Society's Great Plains Chapter Annual Conference. Her transcription of Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet, Op. 44, for clarinet quartet and piano is published by Alea Publishing. Dr. Manzo maintains a large, private clarinet studio in Columbia, MO. She also actively serves as a clinician, adjudicator, instructor in the Columbia Public Schools, and a recitalist throughout Missouri. In addition, she serves as Executive Secretary of the Missouri Music Teachers Association. Dr. Manzo is a member of the College Music Society, International Clarinet Association, and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.
Nollie G. Moore, tenor (Season 8+)
Nollie G. Moore was named director of Music Activities at Columbia College in 1999 and in 2001 joined the faculty as a full-time instructor of music. In addition to directing the three choirs his teaching responsibilities include private voice, music theory, and music history courses. Moore is also an active soloist in opera and oratorio. Recent performances include Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly and Carmen. His more recent appearance also includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Columbia Chorale led by Alex Innecco at the Missouri United Methodist Church.
Marcia Spence, horn (Season 7, 8+)
Marcia Spence is an accomplished musician whose musical career has spanned three continents, taking her throughout the United States, Europe and South America both as performer and conductor. A native of Colorado, Dr. Spence entered college as a piano major but later began serious study of the horn in her freshman year. She holds a master of music degree from the University of Colorado, a master of business administration degree from American University, and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of North Texas. She spent fourteen years as a member of military bands, including assignment with The United States Air Force Band, in Washington, D.C. Her military career culminated with the position of Commander/Conductor of the 531st Air Force Band in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Spence has performed professionally with the Colorado Mahlerfest Orchestra, Waco Symphony, Oklahoma City Symphony, the Denton Bach Society Orchestra, the Wichita Falls Symphony Dallas Wind Symphony, Breckenridge Chamber Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Missouri Chamber Orchestra, Missouri Brass Consortium, and the St. Louis Cathedral Brass Choir. In 1997, she won second place in an International Solo Competition for brass instruments sponsored by the International Womens' Brass Conference. Dr. Spence has recently been appointed editor for the International Horn Society Manuscript Press for a three year term. Dr. Spence joined the MU faculty in 1995. Her duties include teaching applied horn (including natural horn), high brass techniques, conducting the Mizzou Horn Choir, coaching student ensembles and performing with faculty ensembles. In 2000, she was selected by the Arts and Science Student Government to receive the Purple Chalk award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Spence currently maintains a busy schedule as a teacher, soloist, recitalist, clinician, adjudicator, music editor and free-lance performer.
Eva Szekely, violin (Season 8+)
Professor Szekely has concertized throughout North America, Europe, and South America. She has appeared on the Musique en Seine series in France and the Lambach Festival in Austria. In Brazil, she has been a regular guest artist at the internationally acclaimed Chamber Music Festival of Pará and the Londrina Music Festival, and has presented concerts and masterclasses in all of that country's major musical centers. She has premiered works written and dedicated to her by distinguished contemporary composers including, among others, James Willey, Chester Biscardi, Erich Leitner, and Roberto Escobar. She has been heard on national radio and television broadcasts in the United States and abroad and has recorded for CRI and Albany Records. Professor Szekely received her bachelor of music and master of science degrees in violin performance from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of Ivan Galamian. She studied chamber music with Franco Gulli, Zoltan Szekely, and members of The Juilliard Quartet. She teaches violin and is first violinist of the Esterhazy Quartet, ensemble-in-residence at MU. She currently holds the Catherine P. Middlebush Chair in Fine Arts.
