Ladies and gentlemen, there can be no flash photography during the performances and no video or audio recording of the show. We thank you for remembering to turn off any personal electronic devices that might beep, buzz, ring, or vibrate.
Peck School of the Arts Department of Theatre proudly presents
By The Bog Of Cats by Marina Carr
Director: Michelle Lopez-Rios October 27-31, 2010
Scenic and Properties Designer...................... Sandra J. Strawn Costume Designer.....................................................Jeffrey Lieder Lighting Designer...........................................Stephen Roy White Sound Designer............................................................... Chris Guse Voice and Speech..........................................Michelle Lopez-Rios Violence Director.............................................................Bill Watson Time: The Present Place: Boglands of Ireland UWM Peck School of the Arts 1
CAST (in
alphabetical order)
Character.....................................................................................................................................Actor Mrs. Kilbride..................................................................................................................Mary Buchel Father Willow......................................................................................................Ryan Cappleman Monica Murray........................................................................................................... Jaclyn Green Ghost Fancier...........................................................................................................John Glowacki Xavier Cassidy......................................................................................Nicholas Callan Haubner Carthage Kilbride....................................................................................... Derek Burton Morris Joseph Swane..............................................................................................................Eric Scherrer Hester Swane........................................................................................................Ashley Sevedge Caroline Cassidy............................................................................................Megan C. Stapleton Young Dunne............................................................................................................ Alex Van Abel Josie Kilbride...........................................................................................................Megan Watson Catwoman.....................................................................................................................Sara Zientek Voice of Hester Swane*................................................................................Raeleen McMillion “By the Bog of Cats� traditional as interpreted by Raeleen McMillion. There will be two 10-minute intermissions
PRODUCTION PERSONNEL Stage Management Staff Stage Manager.......................................................................................................Bethany Davey Assistant Stage Manager.................................................................... Paul Matthew Madden Assistant Dramaturg.................................................................................................Ryan Antross Technical Production Staff Technical Director.............................................................................................Christopher Guse Production Shop Supervisor................................................................................Tim Laughner Scenic Artisans..............................................................................Casey Miller, Eric Schallhorn, Theresa Ennis, Ann Volllrath, Christine Isbell, Sarah Olsen Technical Crew.................................................................................Students of 214 Stagecraft Properties Director............................................................................................. Sandra J. Strawn Props Master............................................................................................................. Meredith Roat Properties Artisans.......................................................................Samuele Sirna, Lauren Pekel Master Electrician...........................................................................................Stephen Roy White Assistant LD................................................................................................................... Ann Vollrath Electricians............................................................................... Ross Zentner and Julia Williams Costume Production Staff Costume Director......................................................................................................Jeffrey Lieder Show Supervisor.......................................................................................................... Beccky Rohr Assistant Show Supervisor...................................................................................... Karmen Seib Drapers...............................................................Kari Ehler, Chelsea Findlay, Samantha Rebro Stitchers.................................................................................Emily Peplinski, Karmen Seib, 225 Costume Construction Students Costume Crafts........................................................................ Brent Roberts, Chelsea Findlay Wardrobe Supervisor............................................................................................... Karmen Seib Wardrobe Crew........................................................... 225 Costume Construction Students
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D I R E C TO R ’ S N O T E S Marina Carr was born on November 17, 1964 in County Offaly, Ireland. She attended University College Dublin and eventually became writer-in-residence at the Abbey Theatre and Trinity College Dublin. Her play, The Mai, won the Best New Play in the Dublin Theatre Festival. In 1997, Carr was awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Known for her fierce and haunting plays, Carr often explores themes of violence, incest, ghosts, myths, and death. By the Bog of Cats retells the Greek myth of Medea. Like Medea, Hester Swane is an outsider with extraordinary abilities who has murdered for the benefit of her lover. Also like Medea, her lover has now abandoned Hester in order to marry a younger bride for financial gain. The abandonment of this lover, together with the abandonment of her mother at a young age, leaves Hester in a volatile and tenuous state. It is Irish history and culture, however, that dominate this story. Beginning with the dead black swan being dragged on stage (swans appear throughout Irish folklore as shape-shifters for deities taking on human form), Carr introduces us to a unique world. The characters reside on peat bogs--sacred land preserving centuries of conflict dating back to early Celtic sacrifices. Ghosts walk among humans and sometimes the two interact. Being a Traveller, Hester Swane encounters the racist and xenophobic treatment of these nomadic Irish people who are crassly referred to as a “tinkers.” After surviving the Irish industrial school system, notorious for rampant abuse, Hester fights to hold on to her life on the bog. By the Bog of Cats premiered in 1998 at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. This mainstage production at Ireland’s premiere national theater was the first by a woman playwright in many years. This speaks to Carr’s exceptional talent in fierce and poetic storytelling. Dubbed Ireland’s premier female playwright, Carr’s work continues to be produced at the Abbey Theatre and around the world. Michelle Lopez-Rios
D E PA R TM E N T O F T H E AT R E For more information on our outstanding faculty visit arts.uwm.edu/theatre LeRoy Stoner............................................................................................................................... Chair Administrative Staff Kristy Volbrecht......................................................................................................Office Manager Faculty and Teaching Academic Staff Anne Basting, Ph.D................................................................ Associate Professor, Playwriting Jessica Berlin................................................................................ Lecturer, Stage Management Dick Chudnow........................................................................................................Lecturer, Acting R.H. Graham.......................................................... Associate Professor, Graphics and Design Christopher J. Guse............................Associate Professor, Scenic and Audio Production Joseph Hanreddy............................................................................Visiting Artist in Residence Rebecca Holderness........................................................................Assistant Professor, Acting Anthony Horne...............................................................................Assistant Professor, Theatre Tim Laughner............... Associate Instrumentation Innovator, Scene Shop Supervisor UWM Peck School of the Arts 3
D E PA R TM E N T O F T H E AT R E ( c o n t .) Jeffrey Lieder........................................Associate Professor, Head of Costume Production Michelle Lopez-Rios....................................................... Assistant Professor, Voice & Speech Jessica Maerz, Ph. D...............................Assistant Professor, Theatre History, Dramaturgy Raeleen McMillion...................................................................................Senior Lecturer, Acting Robin Mello, Ph.D..................................................... Associate Professor, Theatre Education Corliss Phillabaum, Ph.D............................................... Professor Emeritus, Theatre History Louella Powell..................................................................................................Lecturer, Costumes Pamela J. Rehberg....................................................................Associate Professor, Costumes Alvaro Saar-Rios........................................................................................ Lecturer, Play Analysis Pamela Schermer..... Associate Professor, Visual Communication for Performing Arts Sandra J. Strawn............................................... Associate Professor, Properties Production, Head of Technical Production James Tasse..............................................................................................................Lecturer, Acting Jenny Wanasek.......................................................................................................Lecturer, Acting William Watson................................................................Associate Professor, Head of Acting Stephen R. White...................................................................Senior Lecturer, Lighting Design Peck School of the Arts Wade Hobgood.......................................................................................................................... Dean Scott Emmons........................................................................................................ Associate Dean Administrative Staff Mary McCoy................................................................................................. Assistant to the Dean Sue Thomas................................................................................................Administrative Officer Randall Holper...................................................................................................Facilities Manager Marketing and Development Staff Ellen Schupper............................................................................................... Director, Marketing Diane Grace.............................................................................................. Director, Development Nicole Schanen............................................................................................ Marketing Specialist Craig Kroeger......................................................................................................Graphic Designer Regan Jacobson........................................................................................................Web Designer Box Office Jan Brooks....................................................................................................... Box Office Manager Charles Hoehnen....................................................................... Assistant Box Office Manager Box Office Staff................................................................Katherine Feekin, Sarah Hernandez Natalie Kubicek, Stephanie Ninnemann Chris Ouchie, April Paul, Samantha Roeming
SPECIAL THANKS San Jose Repertory Theatre Properties Manager, Christopher Kesel; John Gleeson; JosĂŠ Lanters; Bairbre Ni Chiardoha; Tony Horne and our friends at the Center for Celtic Studies.
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Peck School of the Arts Theatre Calendar Mainstage Theatre Series Tickets: $17 general/$12 seniors, faculty, alumni/$10 students. All performances take place in the Mainstage Theatre, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. Lovers’ Quarrels December 8–12 7:30 pm on Wednesday-Saturday; 2 pm on Sunday Director: Bill Watson The Last Days of Judas Iscariot March 9–13 7:30 pm on Wednesday–Saturday; 2 pm on Sunday Director: Rebecca Holderness No, No, Nanette May 4–8 7:30 pm on Wednesday–Friday; 2 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday; 2 pm on Sunday Director: Tony Horne
Labworks Series Tickets: $5. All performances take place in Kenilworth Studio 508, 1925 E. Kenilworth Place As It Is in Heaven October 15 - 24 7:30 pm on Friday - Saturday; 2 pm on Sunday Director: Jenny Wanasek Short Cuts November 5 - 14 7:30 pm on Friday - Saturday; 2 pm on Sunday Director: Raeleen McMillion The Second Best Bed: Shakespeare’s Women Revealed February 25 - March 6 7:30 pm on Friday - Saturday; 2 pm on Sunday Director: James Tasse Aimee and Jaguar April 22 - May 1 7:30 pm on Friday - Saturday; 2 pm on Sunday Director: Joseph Hanreddy
To purchase tickets
Call the box office at (414) 229-4308 or visit in person at the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd. More information at arts.uwm.edu
Coming soon to the Peck School of the Arts! Fine Arts Quartet FREE!
All concerts at 3pm November 14, 2010 Februar y 6, 2011 March 6, 2011
Institute of Visual Arts (Inova) Through December 12, 2010 Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships Exhibition
FREE!
FREE!
Art & Design
Most Wednesdays Artists Now! Lecture Series National and international guest speakers
Dance December 9-12, 2010 New Dancemakers Februar y 6-8, 2011 Winterdances: Égalité!
FREE! FREE!
Film December 17, 2010 Student Film & Video Festival December 18, 2010 Senior Screening
Music November 12, 2010 Symphony Orchestra & Choirs December 3, 2010 Symphony Orchestra & Band
Theatre See page 5
For a full calendar of more than 350 events, visit us online at
arts.uwm.edu
Chamber Music Milwaukee
“Chamber Music by Film Composers” Monday, November 1st, 2010 7:30pm Helen Bader Concert Hall
“Viktor’s Tale” from The Terminal (2004).......................................................John Williams b. 1932 Todd Levy, clarinet Jeannie Yu, piano Suite Bourgeoise (1940)................................................................................Malcolm Arnold 1. Prelude 1921-2006 2. Tango (Elaine) 3. Dance (censored) 4. Ballad 5. Valse (ugo) Caen Thomason-Redus, flute Margaret Butler, oboe Jeannie Yu, piano
Nocturne, “The Crimson Day Withdraws” .................................................... John Williams from Concerto for Horn (2003) Greg Flint, horn Jeffry Peterson, piano Elegy for Cello and Piano.................................................................................. John Williams Stefan Kartman, cello Jeannie Yu, piano
Romance-Impromptu (1948)........................................................................Erich Korngold 1897-1957 Stefan Kartman, cello Jeannie Yu, piano Intermission Souvenirs de Voyage (1967).................................................................. Bernard Herrmann 1911-1975 1. Andante pastorale - Allegro 2. Berceuse 3. Andante tranquillo quasi barcarolla Todd Levy, clarinet The Arcas String Quartet: Ilana Setapen, violin Margot Schwartz, violin Wei-Ting Kuo, viola Peter Thomas, cello UWM Peck School of the Arts 7
PROGR A M NOTES BY TIMOTHY NOONAN John Williams,“Viktor’s Tale” from The Terminal Born in 1932 in New York City, John Williams was a fine pianist as a child, and in his twenties he studied with Rosina Lhévinne at Juilliard. He became a Hollywood studio pianist in the late 1950s, and began composing for television. By the mid-1960s he turned to film composition, and the rest is history: his portfolio of celebrated film scores is enormous, including Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars, E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial, and Schindler’s List, to name but a few. From 1980 to 1993 he was conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding Arthur Fielder. In addition to his film work, Williams has worked extensively in writing concert music. His style, while advanced, maintains an expressive use of tonality. “Viktor’s Tale” is taken from Williams’s score to the film The Terminal (2004). Malcolm Arnold, Suite Bourgeoise The English composer Malcolm Arnold was a gifted trumpeter, playing in his early years with both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Then, in the late 1940s, he turned his attention to composition, working in the areas of both concert music and film scoring. He wrote the score to more than 100 films, sometimes producing as many as six per year; his best known was written for the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai, for which he won an Academy Award. His concert music is generally conservative, only occasionally serial, and enriched by his facility at composing pleasing melodies. After composing his ninth and last symphony, he retired from composition in the late 1980s. He was knighted in 1993 and died in 2006. The Suite Bourgeoise, scored for flute, oboe, and piano, was composed in 1940. Its five brief movements are cast in a melodious, post-tonal idiom full of rhythmic interest, particularly in the final waltz. John Williams, Nocturne, “The Crimson Day Withdraws” from Concerto for Horn Williams’ Horn Concerto was composed in 2003 on a commission from Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal horn player Dale Clevenger. Williams conducted the premiere in Chicago in November of that year. “The Crimson Day Withdraws” is the fifth and final movement of the work. While it begins and ends quietly, its character is ever-changing, featuring modernist dissonance coupled with jazz-like harmonies. John Williams, Elegy for Cello and Piano This work has its origins with a violinist and mother who tragically lost both her young children, Alexandra and Daniel. Subsequently, she worked with a number of composers, including Williams, who wrote music in their memory. The compositions were then performed at a memorial service in Los Angeles. The Elegy, performed there by Williams and cellist John Walz, is based on a melodic fragment drawn from Williams’s score to the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, a soundtrack in which the celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma played, and so the composer retained the cello’s sonority in scoring the Elegy for cello and piano, later creating a version for cello and orchestra that was first performed in 2002. Williams has subsequently written,“I’m … happy to report that this lovely young woman is recovering from the unrecoverable, has started another gorgeous family, and is playing as brilliantly as ever. Bless her.” Korngold, Romance-Impromptu Of Austrian birth, Erich Wolfgang Korngold began composing as a child. When he was just nine years old, he presented his cantata Gold to Mahler, who praised it highly, recommending that he study with Zemlinsky. His early works also won accolades from Richard Strauss, and the pianist Artur Schnabel loved and often played his Piano Sonata in E, written at the age of 13. He began writing operas in his teens, culminating in his greatest accomplishments in this field, Die tote Stadt and Das Wunder der Heliane. In 1934, Korngold went to Hollywood, where he would pioneer the new field of film scoring, writing the soundtracks for such films as Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood; the latter earned him his second Academy Award. After World War II, 8 UWM Peck School of the Arts
PROGR A M NOTES BY TIMOTHY NOONAN he turned increasingly to the composition of concert music. His Violin Concerto of 1937 was premiered by Heifetz, and Furtwängler gave the first performance of his Symphonic Serenade for string orchestra. The Romance-Impromptu, scored for cello and piano, was conceived for the score to the film Deception (1946), starring Bette Davis, Claude Rains (who plays a composer), and Paul Henreid (who plays the role of a cellist). In the end, though, the work was not used in the film, and thus stands as an independent concert piece. Bernard Herrmann, Souvenirs de Voyage Bernard Herrmann was educated in music at New York University and the Juilliard School, studying composition with Bernard Wagenaar and Percy Grainger. In the 1930s he began composing music for radio programs, many of which were directed by Orson Welles. This relationship led to Herrmann’s first film score, composed for no less a film than Citizen Kane. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, he entered into a partnership with Alfred Hitchcock, and wrote the scores for such classics as Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho. He also composed for television programs such as Rawhide and The Twilight Zone, and late in his career he wrote the score to Taxi Driver (1976), a film that appeared after his death in late 1975. Herrmann was an active composer of concert music as well. Scored for clarinet and string quartet, the three-movement Souvenirs de Voyage was composed in 1967. The first movement begins with a slow introduction featuring a long, touching melody in the clarinet above sustained and muted strings. This gives way to an Allegro moderato full of soaring melodies for both the clarinet and the strings. The slow second movement is a berceuse (lullaby) with a middle section in which the cello and clarinet engage in a lyrical dialogue. And the gentle “love song” (canto amoroso) finale brings the work to a soft and peaceful close.
ARTIST BIOS Margaret Butler Oboist Margaret Butler grew up in Rhode Island where she began her studies on the recorder and flute. A love for the sound of the Baroque oboe led her to study the modern oboe. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and her Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Margaret participated in the Ban! Summer Music Festival where she was a featured soloist and has also played in Graz, Austria with the American Institute of Musical Studies. She was principal oboist for the Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet and Palm Beach Opera before joining the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 2002. In 2007, she played principal oboe for the Santa Fe Opera Company and participated as a soloist in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. The following Spring she was invited to play as guest principal oboist for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In addition to performing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Margaret is principal
oboist for the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and is on faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Gregory Flint Gregory Flint is associate professor of horn at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and co-director of the Chamber Music Milwaukee concert series. As a performer, he is currently principal horn with the Elgin Symphony, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Present Music of Milwaukee and the Fulcrum Point New Music Project. He often performs with the Milwaukee Symphony, and has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Honolulu Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra. A busy chamber musician, Flint is a founding member of the critically acclaimed Asbury Brass Quintet, hornist with the Tower Brass of Chicago, and has also toured regularly with the Prairie Winds and the Chicago Brass Quintet. Past summers have included solo apUWM Peck School of the Arts 9
A R T I S T B I O S ( c o n t .) pearances in Spain, Costa Rica and South America. Gregory currently spends his summer months in New Mexico as a member of the Santa Fe Opera orchestra. Stefan Kartman Stefan Kartman is currently Associate Professor of Cello and Chamber Music at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. In addition to solo performance, he has performed to critical acclaim as cellist of the Kneisel Trio and the Florestan Duo. He has given performances and masterclasses in conservatories and schools of music worldwide including the Cleveland Institute of Music (USA), the Xiamen Conservatory of Music (China), and the D’Albaco Conservatory of Music (Italy), among many others. An avid chamber music enthusiast, Dr. Kartman has served on the faculties of the Alfred University Summer Chamber Music Institute, the MidAmerica Chamber Music Festival, the Troy Youth Chamber Music Institute, the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and was artistic director of the Milwaukee Chamber Music Festival. His early training in chamber music was with his father, Myron Kartman, of the Antioch String Quartet and during his formal training as a chamber musician, he studied with members of the Guarneri and Juilliard String Quartets and the Beaux Arts Trio. Dr. Kartman received degrees from Northwestern University, The Juilliard School of Music, and his doctorate from Rutgers University. He has been teaching assistant to Harvey Shapiro and Zara Nelsova of the Juilliard School and proudly acknowledges the pedagogical heritage of his teachers Shapiro, Nelsova, Bernard Greenhouse, Alan Harris, and Anthony Cooke. Todd Levy Principal Clarinet of the MSO and The Santa Fe Opera orchestras, two-time Grammy Award winner Todd Levy has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Mostly Mozart, with the Israel Philharmonic, and at the White House; as chamber musician with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, Miami quartets, James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, and Mitsuko Uchida; and as guest principal clarinet with the New York Philharmonic, the 10 UWM Peck School of the Arts
Metropolitan Opera, and frequently for Seiji Ozawa and Ricardo Muti in Japan. He has performed world premiere concerti or chamber works by composers such as John Harbison, Joan Tower, Peter Schickele, Paquito D’Rivera, Morton Subotnick, and Marc Neikrug and performs on the new release of Marc Neikrug’s Through Roses chamber work with violinist Pinchas Zuckerman, actor John Rubenstein and the composer conducting. He has recorded the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas for Avie, and three educational book/CD’s of clarinet competition works for G. Schirmer/ Hal Leonard, and a new edition/CD of the Bernstein Clarinet Sonata for Boosey and Hawkes/Hal Leonard. He performs exclusively on Vandoren reeds, mouthpieces, and ligatures, and Selmer Signature clarinets. He is also on the faculty of UW-Milwaukee and is co-director of Chamber Music Milwaukee. Jeffry Peterson Peterson is best known for his work in the field of collaborative piano and has performed throughout the United States with such celebrated singers as Yolanda Marculescu, Erie Mills, Evelyn Lear and Kurt Ollmann. Peterson performs regularly on UWM’s Chamber Music Milwaukee series; other notable performances include a recital with soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams at the Mateus Festival in Portugal and performances with Erie Mills, soprano, and James Tocco, pianist, at the John Downey Festival in London. Recording credits include collaborations with Yolanda Marculescu-Stern, an album of American flute music with Robert Goodberg, and the Something to Sing About choral anthology for G. Schirmer. His CD with the renowned soprano Erie Mills, Always It’s Spring (VAI audio), includes three songs by John Downey. Songs of Love and Longing, with soprano Valerie Errante, was released on Albany Classics in 2008, and Skyborn Music, with the Milwaukee Choral Artists, will be released on the Gothic label in fall 2009. Peterson is professor of piano at UWM and often performs with the UWM voice faculty. He founded UWM’s Vocal Arts Series. He chairs the graduate program in vocal accompanying and recently introduced a new Bachelor’s degree in Collaborative Piano at UWM.
A R T I S T B I O S ( c o n t .) Caen Thomason-Redus Thomason-Redus is Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee and enjoys traveling the world performing and teaching. Solo appearances in recent years include the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the National Flute Association Convention, and UWM’s major ensembles.Recital programs vary greatly and include everything from virtuosic baroque sonatas to contemporary African American music for solo flute. At UWM, Caen is particularly active in chamber music through the faculty artist series Chamber Music Milwaukee and his own series of recitals. You can hear him on The Flute Collection and the Moyse Collection of Flute Classics, two sets of recordings and anthologies published by Schirmer. Prior to arriving in Milwaukee, Caen spent two years performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as their Minority Fellow and now performs often with professional orchestras such as the St. Louis, Milwaukee and Kansas City symphonies. Caen began playing Muramatsu flutes in 2003 and is a Muramatsu Artist.
Caen’s previous teaching activities include faculty positions at Wayne State University and the Sphinx Preparatory Academy, both located in downtown Detroit. He is professionally active with the National Flute Association, Early Music Now, the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, and several other arts organizations. Jeanie Yu Yu is an award-winning pianist who is equally at home with chamber music, collaborative arts, and solo performances. She has performed as soloist with the Flint Symphony, Portland Symphony, Marina del Rey-Westchester Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Des Moines Brandenburg Symphony, the Xiamen Symphony Orchestra(China), Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. She is an avid chamber musician who is an associate member of the Rembrandt Chamber Players in Chicago. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the Juilliard School, and her Doctorate Degree from the Peabody Conservatory.
A R C A S Q UA R T E T B I O S Ilana Setapen Since her solo orchestral debut at age 15 with the Amarillo Symphony, Ilana Setapen has been flourishing as a violinist with a powerful and original voice. She is the newly appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Assistant Concertmaster of the Grant Park Festival Orchestra in Chicago. Ms. Setapen has won top prizes in many competitions, such as the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the Pasadena Showcase Competition, the Kingsville International Competition and the Amarillo Young Performers Competition. At the age of 21, she became concertmaster of the Riverside County Philharmonic in Los Angeles. She has also been concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, the Colburn Orchestra, the American Youth Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the USC Thornton Symphony. Solo appearances have been with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Riverside Philharmonic, the Pasadena Pops, the American Youth Symphony, the Idaho Falls Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the
Amarillo Symphony, among others. She has participated in numerous festivals such as the New York String Seminar, Aspen Music Festival, ENCORE School for Strings, and the National Repertory Orchestra. Also an avid chamber musician, she was for two years the first violinist of the awardwinning Calla Quartet in New York. Solo and chamber music performances have brought her abroad to France, Brazil, Holland, England, Monaco, and Italy. She has also performed in Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Disney Hall. Ms. Setapen grew up in Amarillo, Texas. She studied with Robert Lipsett both at the University of Southern California and at the Colburn Conservatory. She received her Master of Music Degree from the Juilliard School as a student of Donald Weilerstein and Ronald Copes. She performs on a 1624 Brothers Amati violin on loan from Frank Almond. Margot Schwartz A native of Oakland, California, violinist Margot Schwartz is currently a member UWM Peck School of the Arts 11
A R C A S Q UA R T E T B I O S ( c o n t .) of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with the Berkeley Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Northwestern University Chamber and Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestras. As a chamber musician, in which capacity she has performed extensively on both violin and viola, she was a winner of the Yale School of Music’s Chamber Music Competition and has performed at New York’s Bargemusic and at the Kennedy Center. Margot has performed orchestrally in over twenty countries, as well as on a substitute basis with some of the nation’s top orchestras, and has taught violin at the Music Institute of Chicago and Homestead High School in Mequon. Her summer plans this year include performances in the San Francisco Bay Area, Brainerd, Minnesota, Bellingham, Washington, and Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Margot holds a Master’s degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Ani Kavafian, and a Bachelor’s degree which she earned cum laude at the Northwestern University School of Music, where she was a student of Roland and Almita Vamos. Wei-Ting Kuo Wei-Ting Kuo was born in Taiwan, where he began his viola studies at the age of 9. He quickly gained recognition after winning the first prize in the Taiwan Viola Competition and attracted critical attention as the first violist to win the first prizes in the Hsing-Tien-Gong String Competition, the Young Artist Showcase String Competition, and the National Taiwan Normal University String Competition. He was awarded and recognized as the ‘Most Potential Young Musician’ by the members of the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra. He attended the Taos Music Festival in 2008 and recently was selected as a finalist for the 2008 Primrose International Viola Competition. In 2009, Mr.Kuo was a prizewinner of the Tokyo International Viola Competition and also received a special Prize for the best interpretation. In 2009 he also attended the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Currently Mr. Kuo is the Assistant Principal Violist in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
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Peter Thomas Originally from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, where he started to play the cello in 1986 at age five, Peter Thomas was born into a family of musicians. He graduated from the ASTEC Suzuki Education Program in 1999 studying under Dr. Lawrence Leviton and went on to win numerous scholarships and competitions as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Mr. Thomas received his bachelor of music degree in 2003, having studied with Tanya Remenikova and Joseph Johnson, Principal Cello of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 he earned a master of music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the guidance of Stephen Geber, Principal Cello (retired) of the Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Thomas was appointed to the cello section of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2005, and won the position of Assistant Principal Cello of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra in March 2006. In October 2007, Thomas moved to Miami Beach and joined the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, where he performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto as the NWS 2008 Concerto Competition winner. As of November 2008, Mr. Thomas resides in Milwaukee after winning a section cello position in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician and experimental collaborator, Thomas can be heard with his string quartet, the Arcas Quartet, and his classically infused indie-rock band, I’m Not A Pilot, in the Milwaukee area and on many local radio stations. Thomas is also a dedicated teacher and his students have won competitions and scholarships in Ohio, Florida, Oregon, and Wisconsin. During the summer, Thomas performs with the Sun Valley Symphony in Idaho and he will be performing Saint-Saens’s Cello Concerto No.1 with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra in April 2011.