Resident Artists & Faculty
Our faculty are performers and teachers of the highest caliber who work closely with students in ensembles, seminars, and private lessons.
CONDUCTORS
Ligia Amadio, orchestra;
www.ligiaamadio.com
National Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
The Brazilian conductor Ligia Amadio was the first woman to win award in 30 years at the Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting, in 1997. She won the first prize at the II Latin-American Competition for Conducting in Santiago, Chile, in March 1998. She has received the prize "Best Conductor of the Year" in Brazil, awarded by APCA (São Paulo Association of Critics of Art) in 2001.
Ligia Amadio is the chief conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, Rio de Janeiro since 1996, when she was elected by the musicians. Previously Miss Amadio was assistant conductor at National Theater Symphony Orchestra, Brasília. Between October 2000 and December 2003 she was also the chief conductor of Cuyo National University's Symphony Orchestra, Mendoza, Argentina, likewise elected by the musicians.
She began studying piano at the age of five and received her Diploma at the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory of São Paulo. She completed a degree in Bachelor of Conducting and Master Degree in Arts at the State University of Campinas.
Her main conducting teachers in Brazil were Eleazar de Carvalho, Henrique Gregori and Hans-Joachim Koellreutter. She also studied with Ferdinand Leitner, in Siena, Kurt Masur, in São Paulo, Julius Kalmar in Wien, Dominique Rouits in Hungary, Georg Tintner in Czech Republic, Alexander Polishuk and Eugeni Yergemsky in Saint Petersburg, Guillermo Scarabino, in Venezuela and Sir Edward Downes, in the 35th International Kirill Kondrashin Conductors Masterclass, Netherlands.
Her international career begun in 1992. Since then Ligia Amadio has conducted important orchestras in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, French, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, Russia, Slovenia, United States of America and Venezuela (Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón, Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Baden-Badener Philharmonie, Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Peru, Ensemble Contrechamps, Simfoniki RTV Slovenija, Tokio City Philharmonic Orchestra, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Maracaibo, Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado Mérida, The Congress Symphony Orchestra, Silesian Opera Orchestra, Amazonas Filarmônica, Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná, Orquestra Sinf&0circ;nica Petrobrás Pró-Música, Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Cláudio Santoro, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Arpeggione Städtisches Kammerorchester, Orquestra Filarmônica Nacional da Mold´via).
With the National Symphony Orchestra, Rio de Janeiro, Ligia Amadio recorded a CD with compositions of Heitor Villa-Lobos in 1998. In 1999 she conducted the Slovene RTV Symphony Orchestra recording Rachmaninov. Since 2001, with the Cuyo National University's Symphony Orchestra she recorded three CDs with argentinian composers.
Mrs. Amadio produced and presented the broadcast "Music and Literature" at Ministry of Culture's Radio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between 2000 and 2003.
Rich Shemaria, jazz;
New York University, Sibelius Academy (Finland)
NYU Jazz arranging and composition faculty member Rich Shemaria moved to New York City from Southern California in 1985, forming his own big band, the Rich Shemaria Jazz Orchestra. During the early 1990s, he was a participant in the BMI Composers Workshops under the direction of Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam. Rich later moved to Helsinki, Finland where he served as musical director for the UMO Jazz Orchestra, the national radio big band of Finland. While in residence, he toured with Natalie Cole and conducted performances with artists Michael Brecker, Mercer Ellington, Roy Hargrove, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marvin Stamm, Steve Turre, Houston Person, Randy Johnston and Nicholas Payton.
Gary Press, band;
Children's Orchestra Society
Tubist Gary Press is an active freelance musician and instructor in New York City. He performs frequently with such groups as the Key West Symphony, the Gramercy Brass Orchestra and the Harlequin Brass Quintet, of which he is a founding member.
Mr. Press holds the Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, as well as the Bachelor of Music degree and the prestigious Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. He was the winner of Eastman's annual Wind & Percussion Concerto Competition leading to a performance of the Tuba Concerto of Edward Gregson with the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble, with which he has toured and recorded. He has taken top honors in the Pasadena Instrumental Competition and was a finalist in the Manhattan School of Music Concerto Competition.
Mr. Press has served as Principal Tuba with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and the Big Spring Symphony, both in Texas, and has performed with such groups as the Albany and Allentown Symphonies, as well as the Long Island Philharmonic and the Dallas Wind Symphony. He has participated in the Grand Teton, Chautauqua and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals, in addition to the Summit Brass' Rafael Mendez Institute (formerly known as the Keystone Brass Institute). He has performed in such noted performance venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Trinity Church in New York, Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena and The Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, as well as in such exotic lands as Trinidad & Tobago.
He has been an active recitalist, having concertized all across the nation including performances in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. As well, he has been a featured soloist with numerous orchestras and wind ensembles highlighted by performances of the tuba concertos of Ralph Vaughan WIlliams and NY composer Alfred Heller (world premiere) as well as George Kleinsinger's charming children's classic "Tubby the Tuba".
His extensive chamber music experience has included performances with the Performing Arts Institute Faculty Brass, Sam Houston State University Faculty Brass Quintet and the Lone Star Brass Quintet, as well as the award-winning Hudson Brass Quintet which was a First Prize winner in the New York Brass Conference Quintet Competition. He has also performed with jazz notables Lew Soloff, Dick Oatts and Garry Dial.
Mr. Press currently serves on the faculty of the Children's Orchestra Society in Manhasset, NY, where he chairs the Wind and Brass Department and teaches low brass, chamber music, theory and ear training. In the Summer of 2006 he joins the brass faculty of the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival, where he will perform, teach privately, lead masterclasses, and coach chamber music.
Shuichi Komiyama, orchestra and wind ensamble
www.shuichikomiyama.com
Lynn Adcock, choir
Heather Forsha, choir
Heather Forsha is new to the Hartwick College faculty this year, and will be teaching Aural Skills, private lessons, and playing collaboratively with faculty and students. She has extensive experience teaching piano, and has taught both private lessons and group classes at Concord Community Music School (Concord, NH), The New School for Music Study (currently The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy in Kingston, NJ), Westminster Choir College, Westminster Conservatory (Princeton, NJ), and Summer Sonatina International Piano Camp (Bennington, VT). In addition to her work in the private studio, Heather is a versatile collaborative pianist. She has played with soloists and small chamber groups, as well as choirs, and theater companies throughout New England, and with high school groups in Otsego County, NY. Expanding her choral background, Heather served as the musical director for New Rye Congregational Church (Epsom, NH), where she played service music and directed both adult and children’s choirs.
Heather holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Her teachers include Phyllis Lehrer, Frances Clark, and Louise Goss.
Johannes Wallmann, jazz
http://www.keepitcute.com
STRING FACULTY
- Muneko Otani, violin
- Muneko Otani is currently on the faculty of Columbia University, The Mannes College of Music and the Mozarteum Summer Festival in Salzburg.
She has performed as a soloist with the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra as well as the Norfolk Festival Orchestra. Ms. Otani has held fellowships at both the Banff and Tanglewood Summer Festivals. She received the Bachelor of Music degree in both performance and education from the Toho Academy of Music in Japan, where she studied with Toshiya Eto. She then continued her training at the New England Conservatory, where her principal teachers were Masuko Ushioda and Louis Krasner.
Ms. Otani plays a 1770 J.B. Guadagnini of Parma violin.
- Jennifer Leshnower, violin
- Jennifer Leshnower works with young students nationwide coaching chamber music. She has concertized with members of the Cleveland, Orion and Amadeus Quartets and as a former member of the Thouvenel String Quartet, Ms. Leshnower has performed at the Festival Institute at Round Top and the String Seminar while touring throughout the country. She has participated in the Meadowmount and Aspen Music Festivals as well as the National Repertory Orchestra and has coached with members of the Guarneri, Tokyo and Juilliard Quartets.
Ms. Leshnower trained at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and the Peabody Conservatory with Sergiu Luca and Sylvia Rosenberg.
Ms. Leshnower's violin is a 1655 Jacobus Stainer.
- Michiko Oshima, viola
- For nearly a decade, Ms. Oshima was the violist of the Cassatt String Quartet, which was honored with many awards including the First Prize of the 1997 Slee Beethoven String Quartet Cycle Competition, the Wardwell Chamber Music Fellowship at Yale (where she was a teaching assistant to the Tokyo Quartet members), the 1995 CMA/ASCAP First Prize Award of Adventurous Programming. She has collaborated with David Schiffrin, Abby Simon, Lewis Kaplan and members of the Cleveland, Amadeus, and Concord Quartets among many others. As a member of the quartet, she was frequently invited to give performances and masterclasses at Bowdoin, Round Top and Swannanoa Summer Festivals as well as State University at Buffalo, Syracuse University, Rice University and Interlochen Arts Academy.
Since she left the quartet in summer of 2000, Ms. Oshima has moved her base to Tokyo and appears frequently as a solo and chamber music concerts. She is currently is on faculty of viola and chamber music at Toho School of Music Orchestra Academy. As a dedicated chamber music coach, she has coached several weekend chamber music workshops in Japan. In fall 2002, she joined the Tanner Chamber Ensemble, and she started teaching violin and chamber music at Yokohama International School.
Ms. Oshima holds BA from Toho School of Music, and Performers Certificate from Eastman School of Music. Her teachers include Kenji Kobayashi, Martha Strongin Katz and the Cleveland Quartet.
- Nicole Johnson, cello
- Nicole Johnson has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and Germany. She has appeared in performances with the Vermeer Quartet on their series in Chicago, on the Composers' Guild concerts in New York City and at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Most recently, she was the cellist of the Avanti Ensemble in Blacksburg, Virginia, where she also chaired the cello and chamber music departments at the Renaissance Music Academy.
Ms. Johnson holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School. Her teachers have included Andrés Díaz, Alan Harris and Joel Krosnick.
Ms. Johnson plays an 1806 Nicholas cello.
...hailed as one of America's outstanding ensembles, the Manhattan based Cassatt String Quartet has performed throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East, with prestigious appearances at New York's Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Tanglewood Music Theater, the Kennedy Center and The Library of Congress in Washington, DC, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and Maeda Hall in Tokyo. The group has frequently been heard on WGBH, WQXR and WNYC, and has also presented programs on CBC Radio and Radio France.
Formed in 1985 with the encouragement of the Juilliard Quartet, the Cassatt initiated and were the inaugural participants in Juilliard's Young Artists Quartet Program. Their numerous awards include a Tanglewood Chamber Music Fellowship, the Wardwell Chamber Music Fellowship at Yale (where they served as teaching assistants to the Tokyo Quartet), First Prizes at the Fischoff and Coleman Chamber Music Competitions, two top prizes at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, two CMA/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, a recording grant from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, and two grants received in 2005 from Meet the Composer and the E. Nakamichi Foundation.
The Cassatt celebrates their twentieth Anniversary during the 2005-2006 Season with premieres of works by Libby Larsen for Quartet and Children's Choir at Syracuse University through a commissioning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Jay Reise's Piano Quintet with pianist Marc-André Hamelin at the University of Pennsylvania through a commissioning grant from the Barlow Foundation as well as Schafer Mahony's Piano Quintet with pianist Peter Basquin at New York's Hunter College. Other highlights include educational residencies at Canada's Music at Port Milford and in the Norwalk, Connecticut Public Schools as well as performances at the Syracuse International Film Festival, the Bessie Bartlett Frankel Chamber Music Festival at California's Scripps College and at New York's Kosciuszko Foundation with pianist Roman Markowicz.
Their ongoing residencies include the University of Pennsylvania and Syracuse University as well as summer residencies at Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Seal Bay Chamber Music Festival.
Recent CD releases include works by Pulitizer Prize-winner Steven Stucky on Albany Records, Quartets by Berlin Prize-winner Sebastian Currier on the New World label, Ezra Laderman's Flute Quintet with Ransom Wilson on Albany Records, and String Quartets by Daniel S. Godfrey on Koch International Classics which The New Yorker magazine recommended as one of the top eleven CD's in 2004.
The Cassatt has recorded for the Koch, New World, Point, CRI, Tadzik and Albany labels and is named for the celebrated American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt.
Permian Basin String Quartet
http://www.samfa.org/Chamber-07-08-pbsq.htm
The Permian Basin String Quartet is the string ensemble in residence with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale (MOSC). The quartet performs regularly in Midland, Odessa, and throughout west Texas. In addition to their duties with the quartet, all four members remain active as performers and teachers. They serve as principal and section players with the Abilene Philharmonic, and the Lubbock and San Angelo Symphony Orchestras.
Teaching is an integral part of the quartet's duties as they each maintain private teaching studios, and serve as adjunct faculty at Midland College. Members of the quartet have furthered their chamber music studies through coachings and master classes with such prestigious ensembles as the Juilliard, Cleveland, Orion, and Takacs quartets. The players are also veterans of reputable music festivals including Tanglewood, Domaine Forget, Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin, and Aspen.
John Madura, a native of Arden Hills, Minnesota, began studying the violin at the age of three and has been playing professionally since he was six years old.
Highlights of Mr. Madura's career include winning the 2004 Texas Tech University Concerto Competition and performing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the TTU Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gary Lewis. He was also invited to perform Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the Caprock Pro Musica Chamber Ensemble in a concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. The following summer, Mr. Madura was selected as a finalist in the Schlern International Music Competition taking place in Schlern, Italy.
Mr. Madura has an extensive history in orchestral performance and has been part of symphony orchestras in Midland, Lubbock, Abilene, San Angelo and Big Spring in Texas and Baton Rouge and Lafayette in Louisiana. He was also Concertmaster of the Natchez Opera Orchestra and was Assistant Concertmaster for the Abilene Opera Orchestra. Mr. Madura has performed with Chamber Music Amarillo and was invited to participate in the Quartz Mountain Music Festival Orchestra. He has performed with major artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Brad Leali, The Smothers Brothers, Mercedes Ellington, Sarah Brightman, Sandi Patty and Smokey Robinson.
Key instructors for Mr. Madura include Dr. John Gilbert at TTU, James Alexander and Kevork Mardirossian at Louisiana State University and Elizabeth Ericksen of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Mr. Madura enjoys teaching, playing the violin in both chamber and orchestral ensembles and is also an avid painter. He is also a new father to a baby girl, Madeline Claire Madura.
Mario Dimitrov, violin, is a native of Sofia, Bulgaria where as a student won several violin competitions including the National Competition for Young Musical Talents and the Concerto Competition with his performance of Mozart Violin Concerto No.5. In 1993 he was admitted to the Summer Academy of Tibor Varga in Sion, Switzerland where he received a performance diploma.
Mr. Dimitrov holds a Master of Music degree and Doctoral Degree /ABD/ from Louisiana State University where he received several awards including the LSU String Scholarship, Louisiana Music Award, the Music Club Award, and the Concerto Competition Award for his performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto for Violin. He was a member of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and he was invited to attend the Hiber Spring Chamber Music Festival in 2004 and International Institute of Round Top in 2005. His teachers were Kevork Mardirossian, Ifrah Neaman, and Stefan Georgiu.
Colin Garner, viola, received undergraduate degrees in viola performance and music education from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a master of music degree in viola performance from the University of Southern California. His principal viola teachers were Donald McInnes, Ralph Fielding, and Erika Eckert. He studied chamber music with members of the Cleveland, Takacs, Juilliard, Cavani, Hungarian, and Manhattan string quartets.
Mr. Garner's music festival experience includes the Music Academy of the West, National Repertory Orchestra, Bowdoin, Encore, Aspen, and the Tanglewood music center where he served as principal violist for the festival of contemporary music orchestra. Prior to his appointment with the Midland/Odessa symphony as principal violist, Mr. Garner performed with the New World Symphony, the Colorado Music Festival, served as associate principal violist in the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and was a member of the Colorado Ballet Orchestra. He also teaches privately, and is an adjunct faculty member at Midland College.
Sarah Wilson, cello, made her Carnegie Hall debut at age 17 as principal cellist of the National Youth Orchestra under the direction of Lukas Foss. Since then Ms. Wilson has performed throughout the Eastern, Southern and Midwest United States as well as Canada, Mexico, Holland, Italy, and Switzerland. Her festival appearances include orchestral, chamber, and solo performances at Zephyr Music Festival in Courmayeur, Italy, International Festival of Domaine Forget in Quebec, Canada, Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine, Killington Music Festival in Killington, Vermont, Brevard Music Festival in Brevard, North Carolina, Texas Music Festival in Houston Texas, and Oberlin at Casalmaggiore in Casalmaggiore, Italy.
A firm believer in the importance of diversifying the musical canon, Ms. Wilson has dedicated herself to performing lesser known works from the Classical repertoire as well as works from the 20th and 21st centuries. To this end she has performed cello works of Leos Janacek, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, James MacMillan, Samuel Ades, and Elliott Carter. Ms. Wilson gave the world premier of "Gemini" for cello and piano, a piece which was written for and dedicated to her by Jacob Gotlib. As principal cellist of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, she collaborated with the new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird.
Ms. Wilson holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Cello Performance from the renowned Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Now a resident of Midland, Texas, Ms. Wilson serves as principal cello for the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale, guest principal cello of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, and cellist for the Permian Basin String Quartet.
Ms. Wilson performs on an Italian instrument from 1757, attributed to the school of Calvarola.
Alex Berti, double bass;
www.alexberti.com
Miami Youth Orchestra & Children's Orchestra
Venezuelan musician, bass player, composer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. Began his musical studies at the early age of five and at very young age he is admitted in the Youth Symphony Orchestra of his country where he performs the Double bass. Two years later he joins one of the most prestigious Orchestras of Venezuela, The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and while being member of it, he had the opportunity to tour and perform in several of the most important concert halls of the world like: Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall in New York, Royal Festival Hall in London, Teatro de la Ópera in Madrid, UNESCO Hall in Paris, Teatro Colón in Argentina, Heitor Villalobos in Brazil, Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, among many others.
His incredible musical versatility has leaded him to participate in recognized International Music Festivals like Tangle wood, Montpellier, Trinidad. In 1991 he auditioned in the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra and obtained the position for the principal Double bass. This Orchestra performs some of his musical compositions; Concert for Clarinet and Orchestra and Symphonic Overture.
In 1995 Alex is invited to audition in the School of Music of the Florida State University where he is awarded a full scholarship to complete his musical studies in Double bass performance and Composition. Through his extensive musical career, Alex has had the opportunity to share stage with important personalities like: Plácido Domingo, Yo Yo Ma, Montserrat Caballet, Eduardo Mata, Jean Pierre Rampal, Paco de Lucía, Zubin Meta, Arturo Sandoval, among others...
Alex founded the Doral Conservatory Children's Symphony Orchestra and conducted it for four years. At the present, he resides in the city of Miami, is the Principal Double bass of The Miami Symphony Orchestra and is dedicated to the musical education of children and young adults in his own Music Academy. He presently works on his new venture: the "Miami Youth Symphony Project", a non-profit organization that will benefit hundreds of students providing them with a special College Fund for their superior studies.
His extensive trajectory, in the symphonic, jazz and popular music, and his solid musical background, make him an extraordinary performer,conductor, professor and composer.
Dennis Turechek, guitar;
Hartwick College Artist in Residence
Classical guitarist Dennis Turechek has presented many solo recitals and has performed with a wide array of chamber ensembles throughout the Central New York area. He spent a number of years in New York City teaching guitar in many colleges and music schools, as well as studying classical guitar with Albert Elaine, José Tomás and Narciso Yepes. He has released a CD of his original compositions, entitled "Dennis Threchek Plays Dennis Turechek", also on Lil' Pumpkin Records. He has performed with John Davey as a jazz duo for the past wenty years. He teaches guitar ensembles at both Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta, where he offers a jazz history course, and is a fouding member of The Classical Guitar Society of Upstate New York.
BRASS FACULTY
Gary Press, tubist;
Tubist Gary Press is an active freelance musician and instructor based in New York City. He performs frequently with such groups as the Key West Symphony, the Gramercy Brass Orchestra and the Harlequin Brass Quintet, of which he is a founding member. He has performed with such groups as the Albany Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic and the Dallas Wind Symphony and has served as Principal Tuba with the Midland-Odessa and Big Spring Symphonies, both in Texas.
He has toured and recorded with the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble, having also performed the Tuba Concerto of Edward Gregson with this group under the direction of Dr. Donald Hunsberger. He has taken top honors in solo and chamber music competitions across the country.
He has worked with acclaimed conductors including Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yuri Temirkanov, Donald Hunsberger and H. Robert Reynolds in some of the finest concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and The Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.
As a conductor, Mr. Press conducts the wind ensemble at the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival, where he has been on faculty since 2006. He has lead brass ensembles at various schools and festivals nationwide and has been involved in the formation of a wind ensemble program for The Children's Orchestra Society in Manhasset, NY, where he conducted the school's first large mixed wind group.
In addition to his conducting duties at HCSMF, Mr. Press is instructor of tuba and euphonium, a frequent soloist and chamber musician, and regularly leads master classes. He has also served on the faculties of Midland College, The Performing Arts Institute in Kingston, PA, and the Children's Orchestra Society in Manhasset, NY.
Mr. Press holds the Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music, as well as the Bachelor of Music degree and the prestigious Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. His principal teachers have included Toby Hanks, Tommy Johnson and Cherry Beauregard.
Brian Turnmire, trumpet;
President's Own Marine Band
Joined "The President's Own" United States Marine Band in January 2003. Turnmire began his musical instruction at age 6. Upon graduating from Ridgeland High School in Georgia in 1997 where he studied trumpet under Tina Erickson, he attended the University of Georgia in Athens, where he earned a bachelor&039;s degree in music education and studied with Fred Mills. Prior to joining "The President's Own," Turnmire was principal trumpet for the Chattanooga Symphony in Tennessee
Karl Sweedy, trumpet;
U.S. Air Force Band, New World Symphony Orchestra
Karl Sweedy is a trumpeter with The United States Air Force Ceremonial Brass. A graduate of Curtis Institute of Music in Philidelphia, Sweedy earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 2001. During his undergraduate studies, he took First Prize in the National Trumpet Competition, College Division. He was also a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Verbier, Switzerland, and participated in the Pablo Casals Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sweedy has performed with the New World Symphony and the Hacklonfield Symphony, and has worked with James Levine, Bobby McFerrin and Sir Andre Previn. His former teachers include Frank Kaderabek, David Bilger, and Michael Sachs.
William Adcock, trumpet;
U.S. Air Force Band, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
Mauricio Soto, French horn;
Principal Horn, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional-México
Born in Montevideo (Uruguay); began on horn at the age of 7 with his father, Juan Soto. He also studied with Howard Katz, Guelfo Nalli, Gordon Campbell (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and William Brown (former Principal horn, New York City Opera).
In 1988 he was invited to join the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland and Germany.
He earned his B.M. (Licenciatura en Instrumentación: Corno) in 1996, from the Universidad del Uruguay and his Masters Degree at the University of Georgia (Scolarship from the Organization of American States), studying horn with Dr. Jean Martin, and playing with the "Bulldog Brass Quintet", coached by Mr. Fred Mills (former-Canadian Brass). He had played Principal horn with Orchestras in Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina and has appeared as soloist in Venezuela, Uruguay, Mexico, the USA and Brazil. In 1998 Mr. Soto won first prize at the Georgia Music Teachers Association Brass Competition and was also the winner of the Concerto Competition at UGA.
Mr. Soto has given master-classes in Mexico and was also invited to present a warm-up class at the 31st International Horn Society Workshop (Athens/GA 1999). In January-2001, a cash award was allocated to him by the International Horn Society (Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Program) to commission a new work for horn and string orchestra. In February-2002, he was invited to Spain, to perform three concerts with the Bilbao Philarmonia. He was also invited to join the New Sousa Band for the 4th of July Concert (2003) at the Brookhaven Amphitheater (N.Y.).
In July 2004, he was invited to join the world famous German Brass ensemble for a concert at the Instrumenta International Music Festival in Puebla.
Currently, Mr. Soto is Principal horn with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (México). During the summers, he teaches at the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival & Institute, serving on the Faculty in the capacities of Brass Ensembles Coach, Horn Private Lesson Instructor and member of the Faculty Brass Quintet (Hartwick Brass)
Iain Hunter, trombone;
Principal Trombone, Querétaro Sinfónica Nacional-México
Iain Hunter, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, began his training at a local music school that held classes on weekends and grew up playing in symphonic bands, symphony orchestras and jazz ensembles. While studying in the United States, he completed degrees from Oregon State University (B.S. Music), and Indiana University (M.M.), where he also received the coveted performer's certificate. In recent years, Mr. Hunter has studied at the University of Southern Mississippi in the doctoral program, served as visiting low brass professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, in Hammond, LA., and completed course requirements for the doctorate of musical arts at the University of Georgia, where he played in the Graduate Brass Quintet under the direction of Fred Mills. A founding member of the Canterbury Brass Quintet, he has recorded several compact discs with them, the latest; "Encounters", on the RIAX label. This group was recipient of first prize in the 1997 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and winner of the New York Brass Conference quintet competition in that year. His teachers include: Warren Baker, M. Dee Stewart, Dr. Marta Hofacre, and Dr. Philip Jameson. While in Georgia Mr. Hunter was adjunct low brass instructor at Truett McConnell College, and brass instructor at North Georgia College and State University. He also performed regularly with the Macon Symphony, freelanced, and taught in the greater Atlanta area. Between 2003 and 2005, Hunter served as principal trombone in the Querétaro Filarmónica in México, and performed regularly in many festivals in Mexico and Brazil. Most recently he was appointed principal trombonist of the Orquesta Sinaloa de las Artes in Culiacán, Mexico.
Willie Clark, tuba;
U.S. Air Force Ceremonial Brass
Willie Clark is a founding member of the professional tuba quartet, "The Tuba 4's". Mr. Clark studied with Fritz Kaenzig at the University of Illinois and has taught in the Central Florida area for ten years. Sing the fall of 1998 Mr. Clark has served on the adjunct faculty for Stetson University. He has also served on the adjunct faculty for Bethune-Cookman College.
As a performer, Mr. Clark has toured the United States, Japan and eighteen countries in Europe. During these travels he performed with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Sam River's RivBea Orchestra, and Keith Brion's New Sousa Band. In 1986 Mr. Clark was featured on the Chicago radio station WBEZ performing, "The Flight of the Bumblebee".
Mr. Clark served as a low brass clinician on the European Tour with the American Waterways Wind Orchestra. He has also been a clinician for Orange County County Band Directors and is a member of FMEA. You can hear Mr. Clark on the newly released Tuba 4's CD, "Tubas Under the Boardwalk". He has also recorded with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra and Electronic Arts.
He is in his second term with the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival and the Bulldog Brass Society.
Gary Press, tuba;
Harlequin Brass Quintet, Children's Orchestra Society
WOODWIND FACULTY
Joanne Grigoriev, flute;
Hartwick College Artist in Residence
Ms Grigoriev received her Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto where she studied with the renowned flutist, Jeanne Baxtresser, former principal flutist of the New York Philharmonic and of the Toronto Symphony.
She attended the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Shawnigan Summer School of the Arts, in Victoria BC for several years, where she studied with the premier Canadian solo flutist, Robert Aitken. She has participated in master classes with master of the French School of Flute Playing, Marcel Moyse. She has toured Europe with the World Youth Orchestra, Canada with the National Youth Orchestra and been winner of numerous scholarships and competitions, including the National Competitive Festival of Music.
She has been heard on Canadian National Radio, as soloist and performing with various chamber ensembles. Currently, Joanne Grigoriev is a free-lance artist performing regularly with the Catskill Symphony Orchestra, the Utica Symphony Orchestra and Orpheus Theater. She is artist in residence at the State College in Oneonta and Hartwick College where she is also coach of the chamber music ensembles.
Keri E. McCarthy, Oboe and English horn
http://libarts.wsu.edu/musicandtheatre/Bios_Faculty/McCarthy.htm
Keri E. McCarthy currently teaches as Assistant Professor of Oboe and Music History at Washington State University, and at Hartwick College Summer Music Festival. Having returned to the United States after teaching oboe and music theory at Mahidol University in Thailand, Dr. McCarthy is continuing to cultivate an international reputation as a chamber musician, soloist, and clinician. She recently premiered works by Sean Shepherd and David H. Johnson at the International Double Reed Society Conferences in 2006 and 2007, and soloed with the Washington-Idaho Symphony in fall 2007. Her 2008 season includes an international summer tour premiering newly-commissioned works from composers across Southeast Asia.
In 2004 she completed her Doctorate in Music Literature and Performance at Indiana University under the tutelage of Linda Strommen, Roger Roe, and Ted Baskin, having previously completed her Master’s degree with Ronald Roseman at the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree at Ithaca College where she studied with Mark Hill and Paige Morgan.
Keri currently performs as the solo English hornist of the Washington-Idaho Symphony and has held oboe and English horn positions with the Evansville Philharmonic and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with the New Haven, Binghamton, Syracuse, Spokane, and Louisville Symphonies, and the Nashville and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestras.
Enid Blount-Press, clarinet;
Alaria Chamber Ensemble, Mannes College of Music
Enid Blount Press, clarinetist, has a diverse musical career in New York City, playing solo works, new music, and orchestral concerts. She has performed in Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Recital Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and at the Knitting Factory, among other venues. Ms. Press has played several concerti with orchestras and played extensive chamber music tours in Germany, Italy, and France. Enid holds a Master of Music Degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Southern California, a Bachelor's Degree from Oberlin Conservatory, and also studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Active as a private instructor, she enjoys teaching classes in the New York Pops' Salute to Music program, The Town School, as well as at Mannes College of Music Extension Division. Ms. Press is also pleased to be on the faculty of the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival for her 8th year this summer.
Lynn Hileman, bassoon;
http://www.wvu.edu/~music/faculty_staff/lhileman.htm
West Virginia University
Lynn Hileman is an active freelance musician in western and central New York. She is currently the principal bassoonist of the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, and has also performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Syracuse and New Haven Symphony Orchestras. In addition to orchestral playing, Lynn also has a strong interest in period instruments as well as experimental and contemporary music, and has performed with such groups as New Music New Haven, June in Buffalo, and Ossia, as well as Eastman Musica Nova, with whom she performed Sofia Gubaidulina's Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings and Wuorinen's Bassoon Variations. She is co-director and curator of A\V, an art gallery and performance space in Rochester, New York that specializes in interdisciplinary and multimedia works that blur the lines between art, sound, and space. Lynn is on the factulties of Hamilton and Houghton Colleges, Binghamton University, and the Hochstein School of Music and Dance, and holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Yale University, and the Eastman School of Music.
Mark Engebretson, saxophone;
http://home.earthlink.net/~mark.engebretson/index.html
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Mark Engebretson attended the University of Minnesota, graduating Summa cum Laude in 1986. He pursued composition and saxophone studies in Bordeaux, France on a Fulbright Fellowship and then pursued Masters studies at Northwestern University. He subsequently lived as a freelance musician in Stockholm, Sweden and spent three years living in Vienna, Austria, where he performed with the Vienna Saxophone Quartet and received commissions from the Austrian Ministry of Culture. Returning to Northwestern in 1995, Engebretson received the Doctor of Music degree in 2000. He has taught at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Florida and at SUNY Fredonia. He joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the fall of 2003 as Assistant Professor of Composition.
Dr. Engebretson's works have been performed in concerts, festivals and venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Wien Modern (Vienna), Gaida Festival (Vilnius, Lithuania), Hörgänge Festival (Vienna), Filharmonia Hall (Bialystock, Poland), Ny Musikk (Bergen, Norway), Théâtre la Chapelle, (Montreal), Indiana State University New Music Festival (Terre Haute, IN), ISCM Festivals (Tirana, Albania and Baku, Azerbaijan), World Saxophone Congresses (Pesaro, Italy, Montreal) and Stockholm Radio. He has received numerous commissions from the Austrian Ministry of Culture as well as from STIM (Sweden) and the American Composers Forum Composers Commissioning Program.
As a performer, he was a member of the Vienna Saxophone Quartet from 1992-1999. In addition to performances all over the world with the quartet, he has performed in many countries as soloist with orchestra, in recital and as a chamber musician, particularly with Susan Fancher, Swedish percussionist Anders Åstrand and the Chicago-based ensemble MeloMania!.
Dr. Engebretson's teachers in France were Michel Fuste-Lambezat (composition) and Jean-Marie Londeix (saxophone). At Northwestern University he studied composition with M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros, Marta Ptaszynska, Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim and saxophone with Frederick Hemke.
Susan Fancher, saxophone;
http://home.earthlink.net/~fanch/index.html
Red Clay Saxophone Quartet
Susan Fancher's efforts to develop the repertoire for the saxophone have produced dozens of commissioned works by contemporary composers, as well as published transcriptions of music by composers as diverse as Josquin Desprez and Steve Reich. Her career has featured hundreds of concerts internationally as a soloist and as the member of chamber music ensembles, including the Red Clay, Amherst, Vienna and Rollin' Phones saxophone quartets. A much sought after performer of new music, she has worked with a multitude of composers including Terry Riley, Charles Wuorinen, Philip Glass, Hilary Tann, Friedrich Cerha, M. William Karlins, Ben Johnston, Ed Campion, Perry Goldstein, Olga Neuwirth, David Stock, Michael Torke, Robert Carl and Paul Chihara, just to name a few.
Susan Fancher has performed in many of the world's leading concert venues including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the Amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institution, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Vienna's Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Filharmonia Hall in Warsaw, Orchestra Hall in Malmö, Sweden, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and at ISCM festivals in Albania and Bulgaria, the Gaida Festival in Lithuania, June in Buffalo, Hörgänge an Wien Modern Festivals in Vienna, and on CBS Sunday Morning. Tours have taken her to Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and throughout the US.
Susan Fancher has recorded over 10 CDs available on the Philips, New World Records, Lotus Records Salzburg, Extraplatte and Innova labels. The most recent additions to her discography are a solo CD entitled Ponder Nothing on the Innova label, which features her composer-approved arrangements of music by Steve Reich and Ben Johnston, and a recording as soprano saxophonist with the Amherst Saxophone Quartet and the Arcata String Quartet on New World Records of Forever Escher by Paul Chihara. Her many radio recordings as well as live broadcasts have been heard on Swedish, Austrian, Canadian and American radio stations.
Susan Fancher is a regularly featured columnist for the nationally distributed Saxophone Journal. She holds the Médaille d'Or from the Conservatoire of Bordeaux, France, and the Doctor of Music in saxophone performance from Northwestern University, for which her dissertation topic was the saxophone music of Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988). Her principal teachers were classical saxophone masters Frederick Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix and Michael Grammatico, and Chicago jazz legend Joe Daley. Susan Fancher is a clinician for the Selmer and Vandoren companies and teaches saxophone at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
VOCAL & MUSICAL THEATRE FACULTY
Johana Arnold, soprano;
Hartwick College Artist in Residence, Folger Consort
Johana Arnold sings regularly as a soloist with the Folger Consort in Washington, D.C. For many years, she was a member of the Western Wind Vocal Ensemble in New York City, where she also performed with the Ensemble for Early Music, Concert Royal, and the New York Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.
Ms. Arnold has sung with Western Opera and Michigan Opera Theaters and with ensembles including Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, and Meredith Monk. She has concertized and sung in operas in Europe, Asia and South America.
Ms. Arnold now lives outside of Delhi, New York with husband Kim Paterson (pianist and accompanist) and enjoys a lively career combining musical theater, acting and singing with groups including Orpheus Theater, the Catskill Symphony and the Catskill Choral Society. She teaches voice at Hartwick and continues to concertize. Ms. Arnold has recorded with Nonesuch, Musical Heritage, Bard, CRI and Western Wind labels.
Mary Anne Ross, soprano;
Hartwick College Artist in Residence
Mary-Anne Ross, an active soloist in liturgical music, has performed as soloist with a wide array of music groups: choral, chamber and orchestral, including appearances with the Catskill and Albany Symphonies, Catskill Chamber Players and Capitol Chamber Artists. Her recitals of songs and arias have been featured in concerts throughout the northeast, including the Cooperstown Concert Series.
She has presented works by Virgil Thomson, Michael Tippett, George Walker, John Cage, Tom Johnson and Yehudi Wyner in the presence of or in collaboration with the composers. A Juilliard graduate, her voice teachers include Josephine Antoine, Belle Soudant, Alice Howland, Helen Boatright and Cynthia Hoffmann.
She is known for presenting concerts of sacred music of varying periods and genres, and is especially fond of the American Moravian composers and the works of J.S. Bach, receiving a highly favorable review of Kantate 51 from Will Crutchfield in the N.Y. Times. In 2004, she formed a trio, Serendipity, with two talented teenagers, presenting vocal chamber music accompanied by flute and harp.
A member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) she is a member of the voice faculty at Hartwick College and the Hartwick Summer Festival and Institute.
KEYBOARD & PERCUSSION FACULTY
Kim Paterson, piano;
http://www.catskillklezmorim.com/bios.html
Hartwick College Artist in Residence
Kim Paterson is an adjunct instructor of Piano at both SUNY Oneonta (since 1993) and Hartwick College (since 1994) He has served as Music Director for Theater productions by Mask and Hammer (SUCO), CAPP (Hartwick), Orpheus Theater, Catskill Theater Works, and Franklin Stage Company. He is a member of the Catskill Klezmorim, and a member of the Catskill Symphony.
Mr. Paterson is a 1976 graduate of SUNY Purchase, where his teachers included Dennis Helmrich, Samuel Sanders, and Gilbert Kalish. He now lives in Delhi, NY with his wife Johana Arnold, and their daughters Barbie and Becki.
Johannes Wallmann, jazz
http://www.keepitcute.com
Erik Entwistle, piano & music history;
Longy School of Music
Currently on faculty at Boston's Longy School of Music. Previously was a teaching fellow at Harvard University.
Recorded a CD of the works of Bohuslav Martinu with Michelle Zukovsky, principal clarinettist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Summit Records and has just completed recording the complete piano works of Martinu for the same label.
Rich Shemaria, jazz
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=146517588
New York University, Sibelius Academy (Finland)
NYU Jazz arranging and composition faculty member Rich Shemaria moved to New York City from Southern California in 1985, forming his own big band, the Rich Shemaria Jazz Orchestra. During the early 1990s, he was a participant in the BMI Composers Workshops under the direction of Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam. Rich later moved to Helsinki, Finland where he served as musical director for the UMO Jazz Orchestra, the national radio big band of Finland. While in residence, he toured with Natalie Cole and conducted performances with artists Michael Brecker, Mercer Ellington, Roy Hargrove, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marvin Stamm, Steve Turre, Houston Person, Randy Johnston and Nicholas Payton.
Michelle Yip, collaborative pianist;
www.michelleyip.org
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
Winner of various chamber music prizes, Michelle Yip, has performed all over North America, Europe, and Asia. As the pianist for the Alpha Trio and Hemiola Trio, Ms. Yip was the winner of the 2003 Ohio String Teacher's Association Chamber Music Competition, semi-finalist of the 2002 National Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and received scholarship to the prestigious Banff Chamber Music Residency in 2002. Most recently, in August 2005, Ms. Yip performed chamber music in Badaling, China at the Great Wall String Academy and in October 2005, she made her debut in Beijing, China at the Musicacoustica 2005 Electronic and Electroacoustic Music Festival held at the Central Conservatory of Music performing Taiwanese composer Dr. Tseng Yu-Chung's piece Imaginary Landscape (2004/2005) for piano and live electronics. Currently, Ms. Yip is the recipient of the 2005-2006 Fulbright Fellowship and is residing in Beijing working on a project to explore, perform, and research current Chinese Contemporary Composers' works for chamber music.
Not only a performer of standard chamber music repertoire, Ms. Yip has been active in both contemporary solo and chamber works as well as baroque chamber music: most recently, in May 2005, she debuted Flashbacks (2005) for solo piano by composer Matthew Planchak at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music; Ms. Yip performed contemporary chamber pieces in the Music '04 Festival of New Music hosted by the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music performing contemporary chamber pieces; in 2003, Ms Yip appeared as the Guest Chamber Artist for the Capitol Chamber Artist Series in Albany, New York performing Mozart's String Quartet in g minor on a fortepiano; in the same year, she was the harpsichordist of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 with the Cincinnati Baroque Orchestra in Cincinnati, Ohio and harpsichordist for the J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the Lucca Festival Orchestra in Italy.
An active producer of classical music productions, Ms. Yip has been dynamically involved in the Linton Series Chamber Music Peanut Butter Jam Sessions, a music series that exposes chamber music to children from ages 3-9 years of age, and served as concert manager for the 2003 Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca in Italy. In 2004, she was the co-producer of a Chamber Music Residency event in Cincinnati featuring the Grammy-nominated Cuarteto Latinamericano. This residency included an outreach concert, a master-class for high-school chamber music groups, and compositional reading master-class sessions of works composed by young aspiring composers at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Ms. Yip has made several solo appearances with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra performing Mozart's Concerto in C minor, K. 497 and the Lucca Festival Orchestra in Italy performing J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. She has also been conducting extensive research on the piano works of Mexican composer, Manuel M. Ponce (1882-1948), to which she has given lecture recitals entitled "Eclecticism in the Selected Piano Works of Manuel M. Ponce" and "Chamber Work of Mexican Composer, Manuel M. Ponce." in which she debuted Ponce's Piano Trio Romantico in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ms. Yip, native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico, a Masters of Music degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and currently is ABD in her Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) degree program in piano performance with a cognate in chamber music under the guidance of Frank Weinstock at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her teachers include Anton Nel, James Tocco, William Grubb, Lee Fiser, and Maribeth Gunning
Luc Decker
Luc Decker began his musical studies on violin at age four before switching to the drums in high school. He attended Indiana Univeristy where he studied jazz performance with David Baker, Steve Houghton and Steve Davis and classical percussion with Tom Stubbs, Anthony Cirone and Wilbur England.
In 2006 Luc received a scholarship to begin a masters degree in jazz performance and composition at NYU where he studied and played with John Scofield, Jean-Michel Pilc, Kenny Werner, Billy Drewes, Ralph Lalama, and Ron McClure. He also studied privately with Antonio Sanchez, and Ari Hoenig and composition/arranging with Rich Shemaria.
Luc has performed with many local and international musicians including Kenny Werner, Chris Potter, and Lennie Picket. He teaches at NYU.
Anders Astrand
www.andersastrand.com
COMPOSITION, EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC & TECHNOLOGY FACULTY
Mark Engebretson, saxophone;
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Mark Engebretson attended the University of Minnesota, graduating Summa cum Laude in 1986. He pursued composition and saxophone studies in Bordeaux, France on a Fulbright Fellowship and then pursued Masters studies at Northwestern University. He subsequently lived as a freelance musician in Stockholm, Sweden and spent three years living in Vienna, Austria, where he performed with the Vienna Saxophone Quartet and received commissions from the Austrian Ministry of Culture. Returning to Northwestern in 1995, Engebretson received the Doctor of Music degree in 2000. He has taught at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Florida and at SUNY Fredonia. He joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the fall of 2003 as Assistant Professor of Composition.
Dr. Engebretson's works have been performed in concerts, festivals and venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Wien Modern (Vienna), Gaida Festival (Vilnius, Lithuania), Hörgänge Festival (Vienna), Filharmonia Hall (Bialystock, Poland), Ny Musikk (Bergen, Norway), Théâtre la Chapelle, (Montreal), Indiana State University New Music Festival (Terre Haute, IN), ISCM Festivals (Tirana, Albania and Baku, Azerbaijan), World Saxophone Congresses (Pesaro, Italy, Montreal) and Stockholm Radio. He has received numerous commissions from the Austrian Ministry of Culture as well as from STIM (Sweden) and the American Composers Forum Composers Commissioning Program.
As a performer, he was a member of the Vienna Saxophone Quartet from 1992-1999. In addition to performances all over the world with the quartet, he has performed in many countries as soloist with orchestra, in recital and as a chamber musician, particularly with Susan Fancher, Swedish percussionist Anders Åstrand and the Chicago-based ensemble MeloMania!.
Dr. Engebretson's teachers in France were Michel Fuste-Lambezat (composition) and Jean-Marie Londeix (saxophone). At Northwestern University he studied composition with M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros, Marta Ptaszynska, Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim and saxophone with Frederick Hemke.
Matthew Planchak,
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
