FAS: Brass Faculty

DEWBERRY FACULTY ARTIST SERIES Brass Faculty

Sunday, February 20, 2022 7:00 pm Harris Theatre

PROGRAM Out of the Darkness (2021) Consortium Premiere

Frank Gulino

Alan Carr, bass trombone Ina Mirtcheva Blevins, piano Concerto for Trumpet

Harry James Dennis Edelbrock, trumpet Ina Mirtcheva Blevins, piano

Concerto for Tuba I. Declaration

Anthony O’Toole David Porter, tuba Ina Mirtcheva Blevins, piano

Libertango

Astor Piazzolla Arr. Erik Veldkamp Dennis Edelbrock, trumpet Ina Mirtcheva Blevins, piano

Sonata for Horn and Piano

Gina Gillie James Nickel, horn Eunae Ko Han, piano

Dance Party in B-Flat for Unaccompanied Tuba (2020) Michael W. Nickens, tuba

Michael W. Nickens

MEET THE FACULTY ARTISTS Dr. Alan Carr, bass trombonist, is the Director of Brass at George Mason University, effective August 2019.

Previously, he was on the music faculty at Bates College, the University of Maine at Augusta, and Concordia University Wisconsin. Dr. Carr has performed with orchestras throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He has worked with the Alabama, Baltimore, Dubuque, Hartford and Portland Symphony Orchestras, the Juilliard Orchestra, Ensemble Connect at Carnegie Hall, and the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria. As a chamber musician, Dr. Carr has performed and recorded with the American Brass Quintet, the Isthmus Brass Ensemble, and the King’s Brass. He can be heard on several recordings on the Albany, Naxos, Summit and Peer 2 record labels. Dr. Carr performed at the 2016 and 2018 International Trombone Festivals and has also been an adjudicator for the Donald Yaxley International Bass Trombone Solo Competition. He has appeared as a guest clinician at Duquesne University, the Ohio State University and Ohio University and has been a guest soloist with the Concordia University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Madison Area Trombone Ensemble. Dr. Carr is an advocate for new music and enjoys working with composers to generate compositions for trombone. In 2015, he assembled the first-ever bass trombone consortium to commission the Kleinhammer Sonata for bass trombone and piano

by John Stevens. The consortium commission is backed by musicians in the Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Metropolitan Opera, National, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras, among several others. During the summer months, Dr. Carr is on faculty at the New England Music Camp in Maine where he teaches private students, coaches chamber music, and performs with his faculty colleagues. He is also a member of the Southeast Trombone Symposium Professors Choir which comprises trombone artists from major orchestras and faculty performers from across the United States. The STS Choir recently recorded a CD “Legacy” on the Peer 2 Record label. Dr. Carr is a founding director of Peer 2 Records, LLC. Dr. Carr is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory (BM), The Juilliard School (MM), Yale University (AD), and, the University of Wisconsin-Madison (DMA), where he was a Paul J. Collins Distinguished Fellow.

Dr. Dennis Edelbrock has performed with The United States Army Band and the Army Brass Quintet since 1975. Since that time, he has also written music used frequently at official state ceremonies at the White House, NBC’s “Christmas in Washington”, country music’s televised show “Nashville Now”, as well as music used in the opening ceremonies for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and Special Olympics. He is also the founder of The National Trumpet Competition and adjunct professor of trumpet at George Mason University and keeps an active performing schedule in the Washington, DC area. As an adjunct professor at GMU, he was awarded the prestigious “Excellence in Teaching Award” in 1996, one of only two faculty members to be recognized that year. He has given masterclasses all over the world including the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories. The Army Brass Quintet entertains at the White House and has toured in thirty-eight states as well as twelve foreign countries. The Quintet has also recorded extensively and has performed on National Public Radio, The British Broadcasting Corporation, NBC’s “Today Show” and Fox television, The Prairie Home Companion, among others. The ensemble has been repeatedly chosen as the first to perform honors for newly inaugurated Presidents and also chosen for Capitol Rotunda State Funeral services for Presidents Reagan and Ford during national telecasts at the capitol. The Quintet has performed in a “live” Russian National TV broadcast in conjunction with the Russian National Orchestra. The National Trumpet Competition, hosted at GMU, is the largest in the world and has provided performing opportunities for over 11,000 students since its inception in 1992. In exhibition concerts, it has featured such artists as Canadian Brass, Grammy Award winners Arturo Sandoval and Chris Botti as well as Doc Severinsen, Maynard Ferguson, Alan Vizzutti, Adolph Herseth, Tim Morrison, Jamey Aebersole Mnozil Brass, Philip Smith among many others. Its website hosts online masterclasses by some of the world’s greatest artists. NTC is supported, in part, by all the major trumpet manufacturers and has a budget of $80,000 per year. In recent years, Edelbrock has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Bolshoi and Kirov ballets, the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, the Royal Spanish Ballet, the Kennedy Center Orchestra with whom he performed the world’s first web-cast as soloist in Handel’s “Messiah”, the Washington Opera, and the National Symphony Orchestra with whom he has recorded. Performances with Classical Brass, of which he is a founding member, have been featured on local live radio broadcasts on NPR and broadcasts from The National Gallery. The Quintet does two national television broadcasts from the National Cathedral on Christmas and Easter mornings.

Additionally, the group has commercially released compact discs including “Honor to Our Soldiers” (American Heritage Society) featuring performances on

original civil ward instruments, “Christmas at the Cathedral” (Nonesuch) which has recently been nationally released, and “Music from America’s Golden Age” with the Columbian Brass Band. Edelbrock has appeared numerous times as a soloist with the Kennedy Center’s Washington Chamber Symphony on NPR. He is an original member of the Washington Bach Consort which holds the honor of being the only American ensemble invited to perform at the Bach Tri-Centennial in a Leipzig Gewandhaus performance which was broadcast on East German State Television. He has performed on screen as a soloist in the video version of “Contact” (Sony Pictures), “Wag the Dog” (Miramax) and was featured on the filmscore of Tri-Star’s motion picture, “Gardens of Stone”. Edelbrock has also been a frequent performer on the “Discovery Channel” sound tracks. A native of Iowa City, Iowa, he is a graduate of the University of Iowa. He completed advanced studies at the Catholic University earning both a Master of Music Performance and Doctor of Music Arts degrees. He devotes as much time as possible to volunteer work with local youth groups and resides in Arlington, VA with his wife Laura, a pianist and choral director, and fifteen-year-old daughter Emma.

Dr. William Davidson (David) Porter is a retired CMSgt from The United States Air Force Band, Washington D.C. During his 24-year career there, he played tuba with The Concert Band, The Ceremonial Brass, and The Symphony Orchestra. He also made appearances with The Airmen of Note, The Singing Sergeants and various chamber groups such as The Dixieland Band, Tower Brass Quintet, and several other chamber ensembles. Having grown up in Tennessee, David graduated from Alcoa High School in 1976 under the tutelage of Roy Holder. David has a B.S. in Music Education from Tennessee Technological University under Professor R. Winston Morris (1980), an M.M. in Tuba Performance from the University of New Mexico under Dr. Karl Hinterbichler (1982) and a D.M.A. in Tuba Performance at George Mason University (GMU) under Dr. Michael Nickens (2017). His other teachers have been Mr. David Fedderly, Principal Tuba, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the late Dr. Milton Stevens, Principal Trombone, National Symphony Orchestra and currently Mr. Gene Pokorny, Principal Tuba, Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Besides the USAF Band, David has performed as Principal Tuba with The New Mexico Brass Quintet and The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and substituted with The Maryland Symphony Orchestra. He is currently Principal Tuba with The McLean Orchestra. His other performing experiences include many solo appearances with the USAF Concert Band and Chamber Series, touring

with Tim Zimmerman and The King’s Brass (2010-2015), with eurobrass (2013present), with Camerata Brass Quintet, The King’s Street Brass Quintet, The McLean Orchestra Brass Quintet, The National Brass Quintet and many other chamber and orchestra ensembles throughout the Washington DC Metropolitan area. His very active teaching career of over 40 years includes collegiate classes and applied teaching, college clinics, high school band camps, sectionals and clinics, middle school and elementary sectionals and clinics. He currently teaches 35 tuba and euphonium students weekly from five different schools in Fairfax County, VA and has had students gain scholarships at over 16 different major universities. He is also on staff at GMU as adjunct Class Brass, Applied Tuba Instructor and Director of the Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble as well as on staff for “The Green Machine”, the 280-member athletic music ensemble at GMU. David has taken the GMU Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble on five trips to perform twice at the 2015 and 2017 Northeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference, Ithaca, NY, once at the 2016 United States Army Band Tuba/Euphonium Conference, Ft. Myer, VA, then to the 2016 International Tuba/Euphonium Conference, Knoxville, TN and last year to the 2018 Mid Atlantic Tuba Euphonium Conference in Greensboro, NC. During the summers, David is on the faculty at the MasterWorks Festival, a Christian performing artist camp at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. David’s professional memberships include the International Tuba Euphonium Association, American Federation of Musicians, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Mu Alpha, National Honor Society, and Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity. His other interests include volunteering as a youth counselor and sound engineer at Fairlington UMC and exercising. David is married to wife, Judy, and they are parents to children Sandra (married to husband Greg with son Micah) and Bill (married to wife Emily with daughter Anna).

Prof. James Nickel joined the National Symphony Orchestra as Third horn in 2008. Before joining the NSO, James held the position of Assistant Principal horn with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2008, and the position of Associate Principal horn with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 1999. He also serves as the Principal hornist with the Arizona Musicfest, and has performed as guest Principal horn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. James enjoys staying active as a chamber musician with the Smithsonian Chamber players, the Eclipse Chamber orchestra, and the 21st Century Consort. In addition to his performance schedule, James is Professor of Horn at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Serving as Director of Campus Life Ensembles and Collaborative Arts, and as an Associate Professor of Music, Dr. Michael W. Nickens (a.k.a. Doc Nix) is most recognized as the leader of the “Green Machine”, which in 2015 was named the #1 pep band in college basketball by the NCAA and commended by the Senate and House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In addition, Dr. Nickens launched Mason’s fife and drum corps and WGI worldchampion drumline, and oversees Mason’s winterguard.

This collection of performing units, known as the “Green Machine Ensembles”, are internationally known for their thrilling, high-energy performances at Mason ceremonies and basketball games, professional sports games and events (Capitals, Nationals, Wizards, and Redskins), community events (Celebrate Fairfax, and the Nike Womens’ Half Marathon), and marching competitions, as well as their popular internet videos that have over 100 million views collectively. Dr. Nickens was named the 2016 Faculty Member of the Year by the George Mason University Alumni Association. He served as a Faculty Representative to the Board of Visitors, Chair of the Faculty of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Chair of the CVPA Diversity Committee, and as a member of the School of Music’s Graduate Committee. Having joined the faculty of Mason’s School of Music in fall 2006, he has taught courses in sight-singing/ear training, popular music in America, improvisatory music, brass methods, applied tuba, composition, chamber music, and jazz improvisation, as well as collaborations with Mason’s School of Dance. In addition, he was a co-founder and co-conductor of the Colonial Athletic Association’s “Breakfast with the Bands” intercollegiate pep band showcase. During summers, he has taught tuba and euphonium, conducting, jazz performance, composition, improvisation, chamber music, large ensemble performance, and theory at the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pennsylvania, the Music, Art, and Theatre (MAT) Camp in Evanston, Wyoming, and the Northern Arizona University Music Camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, and at Mason’s Potomac Arts Academy. He has also coached a professional marching ensemble, “Mix It Up”, at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. Dr. Nickens was born in Washington DC and grew up in the Fairfax County Public Schools in Alexandria, Virginia. He completed his academic degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and the University of Michigan.

Dr. Ina Mirtcheva Blevins is a May 2014 graduate of George Mason University with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance. She has been a piano student of Dr. Anna Balakerskia for many years. Her doctoral dissertation research focused on the life and music of Isaac Miknovsky; Dr. Linda Monson served as her dissertation advisor and mentor. Having earned her Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Piano Performance from George Mason University, she subsequently earned a Master in Instrumental Collaborative Piano at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied piano and chamber music with James Tocco and Sandra Rivers. She has performed in numerous recitals as a soloist and with chamber music ensembles at venues including The Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, Werner Recital Hall, Prosels Castle, and The Lyceum. She has also performed internationally in Italy, Holland, Poland, Bulgaria, and Canada. In 2003, Ms. Mirtcheva was a Mason Concerto Competition winner and performed with the George Mason Symphony Orchestra. She has also participated in the Interharmony International Music Festivals in Soesterberg, Netherlands, in their 2003 and 2004 seasons, and in The Berkshires in 2007. In August 2009, she won the Schlern International Competition. In the summer of 2010, she performed in Poland as part of the Mozart Plus Festival, and in Vipiteno, Italy, at the Orfeo International Music Festival. Dr. Mirtcheva currently teaches keyboard skills and is a member of the applied piano faculty at Mason, as well as a faculty member of the Mason Community Arts Academy.

Dr. Eunae Ko Han, Term Assistant Professor in Collaborative Piano at Mason, has previously served as an adjunct opera coach and collaborative pianist in vocal studies at George Mason University since 2014. As a new full-time artist faculty member in Collaborative Piano at Mason, Dr. Han focuses on performing and coaching for the vocal and instrumental areas. In addition, she organizes and coaches collaborative piano assignments within the Dewberry School of Music. Dr. Han received her D.M.A. in Collaborative Piano at the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP), studying under Rita Sloan, who founded and directs the collaborative piano program at the Aspen Music Festival. Her doctoral dissertation was on innovations in French chamber music and melodie – through a collaborative pianist’s perspective – exploring the role of piano in accompaniment. Dr. Han also earned her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from UMCP and her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from George Mason University. While studying at UMCP,

she held positions as the pianist for the University Symphony Orchestra, the accompanist for the Chamber Singers and the Maryland choir, and the pianist coach for the UM Opera Studio. Additionally, Dr. Han received the McCoy Award for Collaborative Pianist and First Place in the Ulrich Competition at UMCP. She also received a rave review from the Washington Post for her performance of Mozart’s opera, The Impresario, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. As part of the “Songfest” in Malibu, California, under the tutelage of Martin Katz, she premiered pieces by distinguished composers including Jake Haggie and John Harbison. Dr. Han has extensive experience as an accompanist and a chamber musician, performing in numerous concerts and recitals throughout the United States, Korea, China, and Japan. She frequently plays in the U.S. Air Force Chamber Music Series recitals and has traveled abroad to perform with choral, vocal and instrumental chamber groups in Mexico, Thailand, Cuba, Costa Rica, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. She actively performs as a collaborative pianist for both vocal and instrumental recitals throughout the Greater Washington Metropolitan area, as well as in New York. In 2017, she founded the Kalos Trio (along with violinist Yoojin Baik and cellist Hyunji Choi) and organized the Benefits Concert for the Homeless at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, performed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as part of the Angel’s Concert Series at the Church of Holy City in Washington, DC, and performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

See the full listing of the Dewberry School of Music’s wonderful faculty at music.gmu.edu/faculty-staff/

DEWBERRY SCHOOL OF MUSIC SPRING 2022 FACULTY ARTIST SERIES Sunday, February 13 3:00 PM Christopher Jewell, bassoon Emily Foster, oboe

Sunday, February 27 3:00 PM Julianna Nickel, flute Eunae Ko Han, piano

Sunday, February 20 3:00 PM Kathleen Mulcahy, clarinet Sophia Kim Cook, piano

Sunday, March 6 3:00 PM Glenn Smith, composition

Sunday, February 20 7:00 PM Brass Faculty

Sunday, March 6 7:00 PM Anna Balakerskaia, piano & Friends

Free tickets available at music.gmu.edu

George Mason University School of Music For more information and a complete listing of concerts and recitals, visit the web site at music.gmu.edu George Mason University is a registered All-Steinway School