Sewanee Summer Music Festival 2023 Program Book

SEWANEE SUMMER

MUSIC FESTIVAL

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Bob Askew lives in Sewanee, Tennessee. He is a full-time artist known primarily for his landscape and realistic paintings of scenes from

the Sewanee area. Focusing on depth, light, and color, his watercolor and oil paintings depict honest and creative expressions of what he sees. Askew Art Gallery and Studio in downtown Sewanee features original paintings and gifts of prints, notecards, and embroidered items of his art.

A benefit of living in Sewanee is the ability to enjoy the Perimeter Trail, and the joy in seeing our dogs enjoy a good run. We recently discovered Audubon Lake and this watercolor was the result of this incredible spot we call home.

We are grateful to Mr. Askew for donating his artwork to the festival. If you are interested to learn more about his artwork please visit askewart.com.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We acknowledge with deep respect and gratitude that the Sewanee Summer Music Festival takes place on the ancestral lands of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Yuchi, and Shawnee tribes. We recognize that these Indigenous nations have stewarded this land for countless generations before the arrival of settlers.

We acknowledge the significant historical and ongoing contributions of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Yuchi, and Shawnee people to the cultural, spiritual, and environmental heritage of this region. Their rich traditions, language, and wisdom have shaped the land and continue to resonate within its ecosystems.

We humbly acknowledge the painful legacy of colonization and the injustices that have been inflicted upon Indigenous peoples throughout history. We stand in solidarity with the efforts of Indigenous communities to preserve their cultural heritage, regain sovereignty, and address the social, economic, and environmental challenges they face.

We express our gratitude to the Indigenous peoples of this land and their ancestors for their caretaking and custodianship of this territory. May we all embrace our responsibility to protect and nurture the land, fostering a future where justice, equity, and harmony prevail.

Sewanee Summer Music Festival 2023

I am thrilled to welcome you to the 66th year of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. On behalf of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Music at the University of the South, it is my pleasure to greet you during the most vibrant four weeks of the Sewanee Summer. I look forward to it every year, and I hope you do too. It is a time for all of us—from on the Domain or off—to come together and celebrate fine music and fabulous students.

The Sewanee Summer Music Festival brings an electric charge to Sewanee during the summer that is hard to match elsewhere. That is because it creates the same atmosphere that our undergraduate college creates: a sense of place, a connection between the students and fcaulty around you, and a profound sense that our purpose is important, that we are doing something to make the world a better place.

As a musician of sorts myself, I was thrilled to find the festival here when I came nine years ago. I am still thrilled during this, my last year as Dean. It is one of the gems of the university and I have been happy to support its growth and energy in my time. I know that you will see the same energy that I do and I hope that you will take that news far and wide to help the festival grow and gain in prominence in the years to come. Welcome to the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and to the University of the South.

Terry Papillon

Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Professor of Classical Languages The University of the South

Photo by David Andrews

It is with great pleasure and excitement that I welcome you to the Sewanee Summer Music Festival!

The Sewanee Summer Music Festival has become a cherished tradition, where music transcends boundaries and brings people together in celebration of the arts. For over six decades, this festival has fostered an environment that nurtures creativity, excellence, and the sheer joy of making music. It is a place where emerging young artists and seasoned professionals gather to share their passion, refine their skills, and inspire one another.

I want to extend a special thank you to Dean Terry Papillon for his unwavering support for the Festival during his tenure. He is a champion of this program and we are in his debt.

As you leaf through the pages of this program book, you will discover a wealth of talent, dedication, and creativity that epitomizes the spirit of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. From our gifted young artists to our esteemed faculty, we are proud to showcase a community of musicians who embody the highest standards of musical excellence.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our patrons, sponsors, and donors whose generous support ensures the success of this festival year after year. Without your unwavering commitment to the arts, none of this would be possible. Your dedication helps us to continue providing exceptional musical experiences and educational opportunities to aspiring musicians.

Finally, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to our audience members. Your presence and enthusiasm fill the concert halls with energy and inspiration, creating a shared experience that transcends the boundaries of language and culture. It is your support and passion for music that make the Sewanee Summer Music Festival a vibrant and unforgettable celebration.

On behalf of the entire festival community, I invite you to join us on this incredible journey of music and discovery. Prepare to be captivated, moved, and uplifted by the power of live music, as we celebrate the boundless beauty and transformative force it brings to our lives.

John Kilkenny Executive Director Executive Director Sewanee Music Center Chattanooga Symphony & Opera

Sewanee Summer Music Festival 2023

PERFORMANCE VENUE INFORMATION

The Sewanee Summer Music Festival performs in a range of venues across the Domain during our summer season. Our primary home is Guerry Auditorium on the campus of the University of the South. However, you can find many performances in St. Luke’s Chapel, The University Art Gallery, All Saints’ Chapel, McCrory Hall on the campus of Saint Andrew’s-Sewanee School, Louis Rice Stage at Angel Park, and perhaps even under a tree on the Quad! Regardless, for all of our indoor venues, we ask that you follow the same guidelines.

LATECOMER SEATING

Latecomer seating will be allowed at an appropriate pause in the performances. The usher will open the doors for entry at that time. Please take your seat as quickly as possible to minimize any delays in the concert.

SMOKE-FREE CAMPUS

Smoking is prohibited within 50 feet of any campus building. Prohibited tobacco products include but are not limited to cigarettes, cigarillos, pipes, smokeless tobacco, and e-cigarettes.

RECORDING

Recording is not allowed during any SSMF performance. Professional quality recordings are made during student and faculty performances and most are available online after the festival concludes.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is limited to non-flash still photos of student performances only.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Please silence all electronic devices (pagers, cell phones, PDA’s, watch alarms, etc.) that could interrupt performances.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Cover Artist

Sunday, June 18, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

Libby Larson (b. 1950)

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)

George Walker (1922-2018)

Étienne Perruchon (1958-2019)

Max Reger (1873-1916)

Faculty

Artist Series Faculty Opening Chamber Concert

Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, FP 43

I. Presto

II. Andante

III. Rondo

Nermis Mieses, oboe; Gabriel Beavers, bassoon; Steve beck, piano

Try Me Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII

I. Katherine of Aragon

II. Anne Boleyn

III. Jane Seymour

IV. Anne of Cleves

V. Katherine Howard

Grace Wipfli, soprano; Kathleen Kelly, piano

Selections from L’histoire du Tango: Café: 1930

Donna Shin, flute; Phillip O’Banion, percussion

Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane) for Brass Quintet

I. Invokation

II. Dance I

III. Chorale

IV. Dance II

Peter Bond, Imani Duhe, trumpet; Jason Allison, horn; Joshua Bynum, trombone; Eric Bubacz, tuba

INTERMISSION

Cinq danses dogoriennes

Jason Calloway, cello; John Kilkenny, timpani

6 Pieces for Piano 4-Hands, Op. 94

III. Larghetto

IV. Vivace Amy I-Lin Cheng, Steve Beck, piano

Week 1 Concerts

Will Rowe (b.1992)

Triptych for Solo Clarinet

I. dance-like, playful, capricious

II. wavy, calm, fluid

III. bouncy, rugged, rhapsodic Bixby Kennedy, clarinet

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, Trout Quintet

V. Allegro giusto

Anna Reider, violin; Hillary Herndon, viola; Natasha Farny, cello; Tim Pearson, bass; Amy I-Lin Cheng, piano

Tuesday, June 20, 4:00 pm McCrory Hall, SAS Campus

Aria Showcase OperaFest Sewanee

Thursday, June 22, 4:00 pm McCrory Hall, SAS Campus

Aria Showcase OperaFest Sewanee

Thursday, June 22, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Friday, June 23, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Florence Price (1887-1953)

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)

Final Round: Concerto Competition

Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition Finals

Cumberland Orchestra Gene Moon, conductor

Serenade in E-flat major, Op. 7

Adoration for String Orchestra

Symphony No. 2 in B minor

I. Allegro moderato

II. Scherzo. Molto vivo

III. Andante

IV. Finale. Allegro

Saturday, June 24, 1:30 pm

Student Chamber Music Concerts

Guerry Auditorium, Art Gallery, St. Luke's Chapel

Saturday, June 24, 4:00 pm

University Art Gallery

Saturday, June 24, 5:00 pm

Angel Park

Saturday, June 24, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Jean Francaix (1912-1997)

Composer Showcase Composition Program

Broadway's Best OperaFest Sewanee

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1685-1750)

Faculty Artist Series

Divertissement for Bassoon and String Quintet

I. Vivace

II. Lento

III. Vivo Assai

IV. Allegro

Brittany MacWilliams, Andrii Isakov, violin; Philippe Chao, viola; Natasha Farny, cello; Sam Suggs, bass; Gabriel Beavers, bassoon

Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370 Anna Reider, violin; Sheldon Person, viola; Meghan Berindean, cello; Nermis Mieses, oboe

Jan Koetsier (1911-2006)

Sonata for Horn and Harp, Op. 94

I. Allegro

II. Adagio

III. Rondeau: Allegro Jason Allison, horn; Gaye LeBlanc, harp

INTERMISSION

Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67

I. Andante

II. Allegro con brio

III. Largo

IV. Allegretto - Adagio

Mari-Liis Päkk, violin; Jason Calloway, cello; Amy I-Lin Cheng, piano

Week 1 Concerts

Sunday, June 25, 3:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Sewanee Symphony

Christian Reif, conductor

Anna Clyne (b. 1980)

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

This Midnight Hour

Pohjola’s Daughter, Op. 49

INTERMISSION

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, Pathétique

I. Adagio - Allegro non troppo

II. Allegro con grazia

III. Allegro con vivace

IV. Finale: Adagio lamentoso

SEWANEE PERFORMING ARTS SERIES

2023-2024 Season

Presented by the Sewanee Music Center

This schedule is subject to change.

photo by Kaupo Kikkas

Tuesday, June 27, 4:00 pm

McCrory Hall, SAS Campus

Tuesday, June 27, 7:45 pm

MSSA

Thursday, June 29, 4:00 pm

McCrory Hall, SAS Campus

Thursday, June 29, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Aria Showcase OperaFest Sewanee

Chamber Music Concert Monteagle Sunday School Assembly

Aria Showcase OperaFest Sewanee

Week 2 Concerts

Andre Previn (1929-2019)

Vocal & Instrumental Chamber Concert OperaFest Artists & Faculty Artists

The trumpet shall sound from Messiah

Richard DeLousia, baritone; Imani Duhe, trumpet

Duets, Op. 63

Ich wollt' mein Leib' ergösse sich Abschiedslied der Zugvögel

Gruss

Herbstlied

Ivy Calvert, Hannah Moreno, sopranos; Liam Dooley, Evan Nelson, baritones

Four Songs for Soprano and Cello

Mercy Stones Shelter

The Lacemaker

Jordan Knapik, Katherine Burns, sopranos; Jason Calloway, cello

INTERMISSION

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Four Hymns

Lord! Come away

Who is this fair one? Come Love, Come Lord

Enening Hymn

Daevyd Pepper, Dallas Gray, tenors; Sheldon Person, viola

Week 2 Concerts

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Morgen

Beim Schlafengehen

Savannah Cathey, Madeleine Gotschlich, sopranos; Lin He, violin

Francisco Mignone (1897-1986)

From Five Songs for Mezzo-soprano and bassoon

Quando na roça

Canto de negros

Cançao da mãe paupérrima Pinhão quente

Camila Montefusco, Anna Gao, mezzo-sopranos; Gabriel Beavers, bassoon

Friday, June 30, 7:30 pm Guerry Auditorium

Jaylin Vinson (b. 2002)

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)

Cumberland Orchestra Jeffrey Grogan, conductor

Scissor-Tailed*

Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

I. Allegro

II. Scherzo

III. Andantino

IV. Marsch

*Sewanee Premiere

Photos by David Andrews

Saturday, July 1, 12:30 pm

University Art Gallery

Saturday, July 1, 1:30 pm

Piano Studio Recital

Student Chamber Music Concerts

Guerry Auditorium, Art Gallery, St. Luke's Chapel

Saturday, July 1, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Jorge Variego (b. 1975)

Faculty Artist Series

Brass Sextet*

Dedicated to Dean Papillon

Peter Bond, Imani Duhe, trumpet; Jason Allison, Caroline Kinsey, horn; Joshua Bynum, trombone; Eric Bubacz, tuba

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948)

Dover Beach, Op. 3

Joshua Conyers, baritone; Andrii Isakov, Lin He, violin; Philippe Chao, viola; Jason Calloway, cello

Aires Tropicales

I. Alborada

II. Son

III. Hanañera

IV. Vals Venezolano

V. Dizzyness

VI. Contradanza

VII. Afro

Donna Shin, flute; Nermis Mieses, oboe; Kathleen Mulcahy, clarinet; Gabriel Beavers, bassoon; Caroline Kinsey, horn

INTERMISSION

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135

I. Allegretto

II. Vivace

III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo

IV. Grave, ma non troppo tratto - Allegro

Anna Reider, Brittany MacWilliams, violin; Sheldon Person, viola; Meghan Berindean, cello

*World Premiere

Week 2 Concerts

Sunday, July 2, 3:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Valerie Coleman (b. 1970)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Sewanee Symphony

Janna Hymes, conductor

Umoja Anthem of Unity

Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major, K. 313

I. Allegro maestoso

II. Adagio ma non troppo

III. Rondo: Tempo di Menuetto Moderato

Donna Shin, soloist

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

The Firebird Suite (1919)

I. Introduction

II. L’Oiseau de feu et sa danse

III. Variation de l’Oiseau de feu

IV. Rondes des Princesses

V. Danse infernale de roi Kachtcheï

VI. Berceuse

VII. Finale

A Musical 4th of July

Tuesday, July 4, 7:30 am

Abbo's Alley

Tuesday, July 4, 7:00 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Tuesday, July 4, 7:45 pm

MSSA

Flag Raising Ceremony

July 4th in Sewanee

Patriotic Celebration

July 4th Band Concert

Patriotic Brass Quintet

Monteagle Sunday School Assembly

Thursday, July 6, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Opera Scenes Scenes from Italian Opera

La Traviata, Act I Scene 3 Brindisi ("Libiamo")

Ivy Calvert (Violetta)

Daevyd Pepper (Alfredo)

Patrick Hansen, pianist; Grace Wipfli, stage director

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

L'incoronazione di Poppea, Prologue

Lisa Esposito (Amor)

Frannie Barrows (Fortuna)

Callie Cooper (Virtu)

Patrick Hansen, pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Don Giovanni, Act II Sextet

Jordan Knapik (Donna Anna)

Richard DeLousia (Leporllo)

Savannah Cathey (Donna Elivira)

Liam Dooley (Masetto)

Anna Kate Lee (Zerlina)

Dallas Gray (Don Ottavio)

Megan Gale, pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)

Il barbiere di Siviglia, Trio

Recit: "Alfine eccoci qua"

Trio: "Ah! qual colpo inaspettato…Zitti zitti piano piano"

Anna Gao (Rosina)

Daevyd Pepper (Lindoro)

Evan Nelson (Figaro)

Megan Gale, pianist; Karma Camp, stage director

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Madama Butterfly, Love Duet "Vogliate mi bene"

Madeliene Gotschlich (Butterfly)

Kameron Loprerore (Pinkerton)

Jennifer Szeto, pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)

La cenerentola, Act II Quartet

Annie Kate Lee (Thisbe)

Ivy Calvert (Clorinda)

Dallas Gray (Ramiro)

Liam Dooley (Dandini)

Xavier Suarez, pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)

Capuleti e i Montecchi, Duet "Si fuggire a noi non"

Jordan Knapik (Juliette)

Anna Gao (Romeo)

Patrick Hansen, pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

L’elisir d’amore, Quartet with Ensemble

Eleen Ooi (Gianetta)

Hannah Moreno (Adina)

Evan Nelson (Dulcamara)

Dallas Gray (Nemorino)

Patrick Hansen, pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Orlando, Trio "Consolati, o bella"

Eleen Ooi (Dorinda)

Savannah Cathey (Angelica)

Anna Gao (Medoro)

Patrick Hansen, pianist; Grace Wipfli, stage director

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

L'elisir d'amore, Adina/Nemorino Duet

Katherine Burns (Adina)

Kameron Loprerore (Nemorino)

Parick Hansen, pianist; Grace Wipfli, stage director

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

Don Pasquale, Act I Duet

Julia Scannell (Norina)

Richard DeLousia (Dr.Malatesta)

Xavier Suarez pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)

Norma Act II Duet

Savannah Cathey (Norma)

Camila Montefusco (Adalgisa)

Jennifer Szeto, pianist, Dugg McDonough, stage director

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Gianni Schicchi, Aria "Firenze e come bello"

Kameron Loprerore (Rinuccio)

Patrick Hansen, pianist & stage director

Gianni Schicchi, Trio "E bello portentoso"

Callie Cooper (Zita)

Lisa Esposito (Nella)

Frannie Barrows (Ciesca)

Patrick Hansen, pianist & stage director

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Madama Butterfly, Flower Duet

Madeliene Gotschlich (Butterfly)

Camila Montefusco (Suzuki)

Jennifer Szeto, pianist; Dugg McDonough, stage director

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

La rondine, Act II Quartet with Ensemble

Katherine Burns (Magda)

Julia Scannell (Lisette)

Daevyd Pepper (Prunier)

Kameron Loprerore (Ruggiero)

Patrick Hansen, pianist

Dugg McDonough & Grace Wipfli, stage directors

Friday, July 7, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Quinn Mason (b. 1996)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Saturday, July 8, 1:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Saturday, July 8, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Cumberland Orchestra

Tiffany Lu, conductor

A Joyous Trilogy La cathédrale engloutie

Capriccio Italien, Op. 45

Week 3 Concerts

Concerto Lab Orchestra

Faculty Artist Series

Octet, K041

I. Sinfonia

II. Tema con variazioni

III. Finale

Cassie Lear, flute; Kathleen Mulcahy, clarinet; Carl Rath, Student Fellow, bassoon; Peter Bond, Imani Duhe, trumpet; Joshua Bynum, trombone; Student Fellow, bass trombone; John Kilkenny, conductor

Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961) INTERMISSION

Collections from “At the Octoroon Balls” String Quartet No. 1

Lin He, Brittany MacWilliams, violin; Hillary Herndon, viola; Natasha Farny, cello

Robert Patterson (b. 1970)

Spring Songs

I. English Sparrows (Washington Square)

II. April 5, 1974

III. Done With

IV. The Widows Lament in Springtime

V. Spring Rain

Jordan Schreiner, tenor; Jane Stewart, violin; Donna Shin, flute; Kathleen Mulcahy, clarinet; Jason Calloway, cello; Kathleen Kelly, piano; Lucas Vogelman, percussion; John Kilkenny, conductor

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Piano Sextet in D major, Op. 110

I. Allegro vivace

II. Adagio

III. Menuetto, Agitato

IV. Allegro vivace

Jessica Dan Fan, violin; Sheldon Person, Student Fellow, viola; Meghan Berindean, cello; Tim Pearson, bass; Steve Beck, piano

Sunday, July 9, 3:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Sewanee Symphony

David Alexander Rahbee, conductor

Julia Perry (1924-1979)

Anton�n Dvořák (1941-1904)

A Short Piece for Orchestra

The American Suite in A major, Op. 98b

I. Andante con moto

II. Allegro

III. Moderato

IV. Andante

V. Allegro

INTERMISSION

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Menuet Antique

Ibéria

I. Par les rues et par les chemins

II. Les parfums de la nuit

III. Le matin d'un jour de féte

Week 4 Concerts

Tuesday, July 11, 4:00 pm

McCrory Hall, SAS Campus

Tuesday, July 11, 7:45 pm

MSSA

Thursday, July 13, 4:00 pm

McCrory Hall, SAS Campus

Thursday, July 13, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Saturday, July 15, 12:30 pm

Art Gallery

Saturday, July 15, 1:30 pm

Aria Showcase OperaFest Sewanee

Chamber Music Concert Monteagle Sunday School Assembly

Aria Showcase OperaFest Sewanee

Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition Winners Gene Moon, conductor, Sewanee Festival Orchestra

Piano Studio Recital

Student Chamber Music Concerts

Guerry Auditorium, Art Gallery, St. Luke's Chapel

Saturday, July 15, 4:00 pm

Art Gallery

Composer Showcase Composition Program

Photos by David Andrews

Week 4 Concerts

Saturday, July 15, 7:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Arr. Vadim Borisovsky

Faculty Artist Series

Four Pieces from the Music for the film The Gladfly for Viola and Piano, Op. 97

I. Scene

II. Intermezzo

III. Folk Feast

IV. Romance

Sheldon Person, viola; Amy I-Lin Cheng, piano

Gernot Wolfgang (b. 1957)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Low Agenda

Carl Rath, bassoon; Tim Pearson, bass

Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19

Natasha Farny, cello; Amy I-Lin Cheng, piano

INTERMISSION

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 115

I. Allegro moderato

II. Allegro vivo

III. Andante moderato

IV. Allegro molto

Lin He, Jessica Dan Fan, violin; Hillary Herndon, viola; Meghan Berindean, cello; Steve Beck, piano

Please join us in Convocation Hall between the Faculty Artist Series Concert and the Festival Brass Concert for a dessert reception.

Saturday, July 15, 10:05 pm All Saints' Chapel

Festival Brass Concert

Week 4 Concerts

Sunday, July 16, 2:30 pm

Guerry Auditorium

SYMPHONIC SUNDAY

This concert is dedicated to the memory of Martha McCrory.

Cumberland Orchestra

Gene Moon, conductor

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

John Williams (b. 1932)

Overture to Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

Steve Beck, faculty piano soloist

Star Wars: Suite for Orchestra

I. Main Title

II. Princess Leia's Theme

III. The Imperial March

IV. Yoda's Theme

V. Throne Room & End Title

INTERMISSION

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Sewanee Symphony

Robert Moody, conductor

Selections from Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen

Ging heut Morgen

Richard DeLouisa, baritone

Die zwei blauen Auge

Camilla Montefusco, mezzo-soprano

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Symphony No. 1 in D major Titan

I. Langsam, schleppend - Immer sehr gemächlich

II. Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell, Recht gemächlich

III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen

IV. Stürmisch bewegt - Energisch

Conductor Biographies

GENE MOON

Cumberland Orchestra Weeks 1&4

Conducting all around the world, maestro Gene Moon has graced the podium of orchestras on four continents over the course of his career. Dr. Moon’s career has led him conducting appearances throughout the United States and overseas in Asia and South America. Sought after, nationally and internationally, maestro Moon has led performances with orchestras including the Nacional Orquestra in the Dominican Republic, Saigon Philharmonic in Ho Chi Minh City, Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín, Gangnam Symphony Orchestra and All-State orchestras in Arkansas and Louisiana along with orchestras of the University of Macau Orchestra and Hong Kong Baptist University and many region honor orchestras and festivals around the United States.

Beginning the fall of 2018, Dr. Moon joined the faculty of California Baptist University serving as Director of Orchestral Studies. He is on faculty with the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and work with hundreds of young musicians from all around the world each summer. An avid champion of music education, he dedicates his work to inspire and train future musicians, seen through his countless work with school instrumental programs and youth orchestras, such as the East Texas Youth Orchestra program, which grew from 22 members to 120 members over the course of three years under his artistic direction. Currently, as music director of the Riverside Arts Academy, he oversees a team of instructors and staff that implement music education in the schools amongst a region with a population of 300,000 people.

Dr. Moon’s previous posts include the faculties at the University of Central Oklahoma (Edmond, OK), University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK), the Mid-Del school district and as music director and conductor of the Oklahoma Youth Symphonies. His recent posts have included Director of Orchestral Activities at Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, TX), Artistic Director of the East Texas Youth Orchestras (Tyler, TX), and Music Director and Conductor of the Longview Symphony Orchestra (Longview, TX).

An avid instrumentalist, Moon actively performs as pianist and violist in the collaborative settings of chamber and orchestral music. He holds degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma, New York University and the University of Oklahoma. The list of distinguished conductors Moon has studied with include Jonathan Shames, John Jeter, and, in masterclass, with world-renown conductor, Sergiu Comissiona. His piano studies have been guided by Jan Pokorny Steele, Lee Dai Wook, Dierdre O’Donohue, Ed Gates and noted Van Cliburn medalist, Valery Kuleshov while his viola studies have been with Ralph Morris and Matthew Dane.

CHRISTIAN REIF

Sewanee Symphony Week 1

Newly appointed Chief Conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Christian Reif has established a reputation for his natural musicality, innovative programming and technical command. The 2023/24 season marks Reif’s inaugural season as Chief Conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, a position he will hold through the 2025/26 season. He leads 7 programs with the orchestra including their season-opening concerts and a Swedish tour in March 2024.

Since 2022, Reif has served as Music Director of the Lakes Area Music Festival in Minnesota, a month-long summer festival committed to commissioning new works and to giving free concerts for the community with programming that ranges from opera and chamber music to symphonic performances.

Highlights of Reif’s 2023/24 season highlights also include subscription appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony and Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. Reif will conduct his own arrangement of John Adams’ El Niño with the Cincinnati Symphony, and with the American Modern Opera Company on tour to Stanford University, Yale University, Harriman-Jewel in Kansas City, and at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.

With an equal footing in North America and Europe, Reif has conducted symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, and many others. In Europe, he has performed repeatedly with ensembles including Orchestre National de Lyon, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, and Gävle Symphony Orchestra.

Reif is featured on classical singer Julia Bullock’s debut solo Nonesuch Records album Walking in the Dark where he leads London’s Philharmonia Orchestra as well as accompanies Bullock on the piano. In 2020 during the pandemic, Reif and Bullock recorded a series of at-home virtual “Songs of Comfort”, ranging from Carole King’s classic “Up on the Roof” to Schubert’s Wanderers Nachtlied NPR Music featured the duo in a “Tiny Desk Concert” for their special quarantine edition of the series, and The New York Times highlighted them on their “Best Classical Music of 2020” list.

From 2016 to 2019, Christian was Resident Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, after being the Conducting Fellow at the New World Symphony from 2014 to 2016. He studied conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and at The Juilliard School in New York City.

JEFFREY GROGAN

Cumberland Orchestra Week 2

Jeffrey Grogan is an internationally-known conductor and teacher who has spent over 25 years dedicated to the pursuit of his craft and the nurturing of young talent. Mr. Grogan has served as adjudicator, conductor, and clinician for many prestigious national and international festivals including the Honor Orchestra of America sponsored by Music for All; the Association for Music in International Schools Orchestra (Singapore); the National Orchestra Cup at Lincoln Center; and the Honors Performance Series Orchestra and Band at Carnegie Hall. Upcoming international festival appearances include conducting at the Harpa Concert Hall in Iceland; in Bangkok, Thailand; and at Australia’s Sydney Opera House.

Mr. Grogan has also conducted numerous all-state orchestras and bands throughout the U.S. including his home state of Texas, among others. Mr Grogan is currently serving as Director of Orchestral Activities at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University and Artistic Director of the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras. Recent work includes conducting at the Musikverein in Vienna, Sydney Opera House, Harpa Concert Hall in Iceland, and in Bangkok and Singapore. Grogan serves as a Master Educator for the Yamaha Corporation of America and also on the Advisory Committees of the Midwest Clinic and Music for All. For several summers, he was invited by the LA Philharmonic to conduct alongside Gustavo Dudamel at Disney Hall, a part of the Youth Orchestras of Los Angeles National Festival. Following his passion for performing and helping to create new music for orchestras, he has collaborated with many composers such as Omar Thomas, Amanda Harberg, Lowell Liebermann, Michael Colgrass, Eric Whitacre, Steven Stucky, and Scott McAllister – as well as soloists Richard Stolzman, Stefan Hoskuldsson, Julian Schwarz, and the Canadian Brass. Grogan worked in studio and on several projects with violinist and composer Mark O’Connor. Grogan recorded O’Connor’s March of the Gypsy Fiddler with the Ahn Trio and New Jersey Youth Symphony on OMAC Records, which is played on classical music radio throughout the country. He previously served eleven seasons as Education and Community Engagement Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and as Conductor and Artistic Director of the NJSO Youth Orchestras, the InterSchool Orchestras of New York and the New Jersey Youth Symphony. He was founding Artistic Director of two El Sistema inspired program in New Jersey, CHAMPS and the Paterson Music Project. Grogan taught for over a decade at the University of Michigan, Ithaca College, and Baylor University. He is also the former Associate Director of Bands and Marching Band Director at the University of Michigan and Baylor University.

JANNA HYMES

Sewanee Symphony Week 2

Versatility, passion and innovation are the hallmarks of American conductor Janna Hymes. Renowned for her inspiring performances, musical depth and energetic presence both on and off the podium, she has developed a reputation as an exciting, detailed communicator. Praised by the press as “an architect, a builder in sound, a conductor with an overall view who never misses details”, Ms. Hymes is Artistic Director of Indiana’s Carmel Symphony Orchestra (CSO) since 2017. A popular guest conductor, Hymes continues to expand her relationships with orchestras nationwide. Hymes becomes Artistic Director of the Sedona Symphony in 2023.

In May 2019 Ms. Hymes stepped down from her post as Music Director of the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra. During her tenure, she led the orchestra on its first international tour at the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts and introduced several performance and education initiatives that are now part of the orchestra's season. Recent performance highlights include guest engagements with the Venice Symphony (FL), and Roanoke Symphony Orchestra (VA).

Among the orchestras that Ms. Hymes has guested with are the Houston, Indianapolis, Oregon, North Carolina, Portland Symphony Orchestra (ME), as well as the San Francisco Women’s Philharmonic, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Florida Orchestra. Internationally, she has led the Costa Rica National Symphony, the Delta Ensemble of Holland, the National Orchestre de Lyon, Besancon Chamber Orchestra, and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico.

Ms. Hymes' previous posts include Music Director of the Maine Grand Opera, Associate Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony, Resident Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony, and Music Director of the Columbus Women’s Orchestra. She has served as Assistant Conductor of the Canton Symphony Orchestra (OH) and the Teatro Massimo Opera House in Palermo, Italy, and as a frequent guest of the Messiaen Academy in Zwolle, Holland. Ms. Hymes also founded and served as Music Director of the Maine Pro Musica Orchestra, a professional orchestra in Mid Coast Maine that she launched in 2008.

Janna Hymes is a Fulbright scholar, recipient of a 1999 Geraldine C. and Emory M. Ford Foundation Grant, and a prize winner of the 1998 International Conducting Competition in Besancon, France. She studied under such prominent conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Gustav Meier, Otto WernerMueller and Gunther Schuller, and holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. She also studied at the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, the Festival at Sandpoint (ID), and the Conductor’s Guild Institute.

Conductor Biographies

TIFFANY LU

Cumberland Orchestra Week 3

Conductor Tiffany Lu is Assistant Professor and Director of Orchestra at the University of Florida, and also serves as Interim Music Director of the Pierre Monteux School and Music Festival in Hancock, Maine. In the 2022-2023 concert season, she will guest conduct with Symphony New Hampshire and Elgin Symphony Orchestra. From 2020-2022, she was Director of the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Professor of Orchestral Conducting at Sewanee University of the South. Prior to her current appointment, Lu served for five seasons as Associate Conductor of the Pierre Monteux Music Festival.

Over seven years, Lu developed a diverse portfolio of work in the D.C. region and Delaware. She held the position of Assistant Conductor with the Prince Georges’ Philharmonic (MD) from '19-'22, was Music Director of the Wilmington Community Orchestra for five seasons, and also Assistant and then Associate Conductor with Washington, D.C.’s Capital City Symphony from ‘15-’22, creating groundbreaking and creative programming. She was also selected as Conducting Fellow for the Allentown Symphony in 2019 and 2020. Other positions have included Music Director of the University of Maryland Repertoire Orchestra, cover conductor and principal librarian at the 2016 and 2017 National Orchestral Institute, and conductor with the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program and Annapolis Symphony Academy. Lu has guest-conducted the Symphony New Hampshire as well as the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra; and acted as cover conductor with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Symphony New Hampshire, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Georgetown University Orchestra, and Cornell University Orchestra. Recently, she also served as lead producer on two recordings by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra as well as one with the Smithsonian Chamber Players.

Lu maintains an active profile as an orchestral violinist, chamber music collaborator, and private violin teacher. Her doctoral research focused on new models in the orchestral education of undergraduate string players. She also co-hosts a podcast, The Classical Gabfest. Her primary conducting mentors have included Michael Jinbo, Jim Ross, and Jeffery Meyer.

DAVID ALEXANDER RAHBEE Sewanee Symphony Week 3

David Alexander Rahbee is currently Senior Artist in Residence at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle, where he is director of orchestral activities and chair of orchestral conducting. He is recipient of the American-Austrian Foundation's 2003 Herbert von Karajan Fellowship for Young Conductors, the 2005 International Richard-Wagner-Verband Stipend, a fellowship from the Acanthes Centre in Paris (2007), was first prize winner of The American Prize in conducting for 2020, in the college/ university division, Gold Star recipient of Music & Stars Awards for Best Video Conductor in 2021, and Gold & Platinum winner in the 2022 LIT Talent Awards.

Rahbee has appeared in concert with the Seattle Symphony, RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Kammerphilharmonie Berlin-Brandenburg, Chattanooga Symphony, and many other orchestras around the globe.

At the University of Washington, he is music director of the UW Symphony and founder of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestras. At the Pierre Monteux School and Music Festival he served as Conducting Associate (2014-2016) and Guest Conducting Faculty (2021 & 2022), and has been resident conductor of the Atlantic Music Festival.

Rahbee was an assistant at the Vienna State opera from 2002-2010. As part of his fellowship and residency at the 2003 Salzburg Festival, he was assistant conductor of the International Attergau Institute Orchestra, where he worked with members of the Vienna Philharmonic, and assisted Bobby McFerrin. He participated in masterclasses with prominent conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Masur, and Jorma Panula, and counts Nikolaus Harnoncourt to be among his most influential mentors. From 1997-2001, Rahbee was conductor of the Fidelio Chamber Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts. From 1997 to 2000, he served as assistant conductor of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (formerly Hingham Symphony) in Massachusetts.

Rahbee's principal conducting teachers were Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux School, where he spent several summers. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in violin and composition from Indiana University, a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory in orchestral conducting, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Montreal in orchestral conducting. His arrangements of various music for brass are published by Warwick Music. His articles on the music of Gustav Mahler have appeared in journals of the International Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft, among others, and he has also presented at the Colorado MahlerFest symposium. He is co-author and co-editor of Daniels’ Orchestral Music, 6th edition (released June 30th, 2022), and Daniels Orchestral Music Online (updated monthly).

ROBERT MOODY

Sewanee Symphony Week 4

Robert Moody is in his seventh season as Music Director of The Memphis Symphony Orchestra and eighteenth season as Music Director of Arizona Musicfest. Under his artistic leadership, the Memphis Symphony has also enjoyed exponential growth in programming, recording, new commissions, and endowment growth to over $25 million. AZ Musicfest has become the premiere Winter Music Festival in North America, boasting a festival orchestra roster comprised of players from the world’s greatest orchestras. He assumed the position of Principal Opera Conductor for the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra in 2022.

In the 2022-23 season, Moody conducts the Louisiana Philharmonic, Yakima Symphony, and Winston-Salem Symphony; and in Europe, the Philharmonic Baden Baden. In the 2021-22 season, Moody debuted with the Sacramento Philharmonic and conducted a gala program with Renee Fleming and the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra. He also returned for engagements with the Pacific Symphony (CA), Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and the three major orchestras of South Africa in Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town.

Moody has previously conducted many of the major orchestras of the world, including Chicago Symphony at Ravinia, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Toronto, Dallas and Houston Symphonies, Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotá, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Prior to his position in Memphis, Moody was Music Director for both the Portland Symphony (Maine) and the Winston-Salem Symphony (North Carolina). He previously held conducting positions with the Phoenix Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera, Brevard Music Center, New York City Youth Orchestra, and Landestheater Linz.

Moody collaborated with the Canadian Brass for their Bach and Legends albums, and he was the conductor for the album Fourth World, highlighting the music of Native American recording artist R. Carlos Nakai (available on the Canyon Record label). The Winston-Salem Symphony released their live 2009 performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; a DVD recording of the same by the Arizona Musicfest followed in 2012.

A South Carolina native, Moody holds degrees from Furman University (voice and cello) and the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his conducting degree with Donald Neuen. He is a Rotarian and has served on the boards of AIDs Care Services, Winston-Salem YMCA, WDAV Classical Radio, and the Charlotte Master Chorale. Moody and his partner, organist Jimmy Jones live in Memphis with their two dogs and one cat. Moody is an avid runner, swimmer, history buff, “Jeopardy!” addict, and snow-skier.

SEWANEE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL FACULTY

Violinist Jessica Fan of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra since 2002, is an active soloist, educator, and chamber and orchestral musician. A native of China, she was admitted at age 10 to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Ms. Fan holds degrees from Central Conservatory of Beijing and University of Miami School of Music. While pursuing her Master Degree at University of Maryland, she studied with Arnold Steinhardt. She is on the faculty of NSO Summer Music Institute in Washington DC, and Sewanee Summer Music Festival while maintaining a robust private Studio. As the first ever Asian musician in the United States Air Force Strings in Washington DC

from 1997-2001, Ms. Fan performed for President Clinton, Bush, and numerous foreign dignitaries and recorded the compact disc Album Wintertime as the featured soloist. She frequently performs with the Baltimore Symphony, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, and is a member of the Global Chinese Symphony Orchestra which performs annually at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. As a chamber musician, she can be heard regularly on Kennedy Center Millennium Stage and Washington DC Embassy concert series and gives solo recitals and master classes throughout China. She currently performs on her Neapolitan instrument made by Francesco Versella in 1880.

Violinist LIN HE made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in November 2014, after a performance there earlier that year with principal players from the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra in orchestral setting. He's 2022-2023 season of concerts include Magnard Sonata for Violin and Piano in multiple venues; chamber recitals as the violinist of Caladium Piano Trio; violin soloist of the Vivaldi/Piazzola Four Seasons with the Rapides Symphony; solo recitals and masterclasses at multiple universities across the U.S.; and series of concerts and masterclasses in mainland China and Taiwan. He has presented recitals at universities across the United States and China. As an orchestral player,

Andrii Isakov, violin

Ukrainian violinist, Andrii Isakov, has performed numerous solo and chamber music recitals in China, Italy, the United States, Poland, Croatia, and Ukraine. He has appeared as a featured soloist with the National Ukrainian Philharmonic Orchestra, CCM Philharmonia Orchestra as a winner of the concerto competition, and many other reputable ensembles. As an avid chamber musician, Isakov has collaborated with world-renowned artists such as the Ying Quartet, Vladimir Panteleyev (Leontovych String Quartet), and Roberto Cani. Mr. Isakov is a laureate of diverse national and international competitions, including the Lewisville Lake Symphony International Competition for Strings

Mr. He has performed with the Shanghai Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and New World Symphony. He is a regular addition to the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. He is now serving as the Associate Professor of Violin at the Louisiana State University School of Music and the Associate Concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony. Mr. He received his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of Zvi Zeitlin. Other major influences include Steven Staryk, Sylvia Rosenberg, Kyung Sun Lee and Paul Kantor. His CD release from Centaur Records of French Sonatas for Violin and Piano with pianist Gregory Sioles and Caladium Piano Trio received favorable reviews.

and Harp, Cremona International Competition for Strings, Croation National Violin Competition, and many others. Teaching and pedagogy have always held a critical role in Mr. Isakov’s career. Mr. Isakov has worked as a graduate teaching assistant of Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus at the University of Cincinnati CCM for two years. Currently, he is a Violin Faculty at Starling Preparatory String Project and Associate Faculty at Cremona International Music Academy and Festival. Mr. Isakov is a founder, artistic director, and a Violin Faculty of the Fiorito International Music Festival and Competition. Isakov’s students are recognized winners of international competitions.

Jessica Dan Fan, violin

Lin He, violin

Brittany MacWilliams, violin

Brittany MacWilliams has a rich and diverse career both as performer and educator. She made her professional performing debut at age ten with the Louisville Orchestra and went on to win numerous competitions including the Music Teachers National Association competition. Since then, Ms. MacWilliams has performed extensively as a soloist and concertmaster in such diverse locales as Istanbul, Beijing, Salzburg, Munich, Lisbon, and New York. She has had solo engagements with such orchestras as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, and Munich Hochshule Orchestra. Ms. MacWilliams can be heard as soloist on two critically acclaimed compact discs of Giornovichi Violin Concerti for the Arte Nova Classics/BMG label. Ms. MacWilliams is a passionate educator and has a

varied teaching background. She has been a professor of violin and viola at the University of Louisville School of Music for fourteen years. She has also been the Director of the UofL String Academy, a program for talented and dedicated pre-college students, and is founder and director of Leadership and Performance for Strings at the Oldham County Schools Arts Center. She has previously taught at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Xavier University. She served as director and a member of the violin faculty of the Starling Preparatory String Project at the University of Cincinnati for twelve years. MacWilliams has been a member of the SSMF faculty for ten years. In 2001, Ms. MacWilliams was the first winner of the prestigious Dorothy Richard Starling Teaching Fellowship.

Mari-Liis Päkk, violin (orchestra sectionals & chamber music)

Estonian violinist Mari-Liis Päkk has appeared around the world as soloist and chamber musician. A laureate of international competitions including Heifetz (Vilnius), Wieniawski (Poland), and Dombrowski (Riga), she has been heard in concert throughout Europe and across the U.S. Ms. Päkk has performed as soloist with orchestras in Estonia as well as with the Meadows Symphony in Dallas and, as winner of the European String Teachers Association competition, gave a solo recital at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris. She is a guest of the Pärnu Music Festival in Estonia in collaboration with Paavo Järvi in which capacity

Anna Reider, violin

Anna Reider is the Dianne and J. David Rosenberg Chair in the 1st violin section of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and enjoys a demanding schedule as an orchestral player, chamber musician, soloist and educator. Following her studies at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, Anna was appointed by Maestro Paavo Järvi to the 1 st violin section of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra after her first-ever audition. In 2008, she joined her alma mater as an adjunct-professor of violin. She also served as concertmaster of the

she has appeared as soloist with Ivy Gitlis and premiered a work of Helena Tulve with bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann. She was a soloist with FIU's NODUS Ensemble at the Cervantino Festival (Mexico) and has given recitals at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. Ms. Päkk is also a committed teacher of violin and viola, having given masterclasses worldwide while maintaining an active private studio at the Leopold Mozart Academy outside Philadelphia and at Temple University's Music Preparatory division. Currently Ms. Päkk is the director of orchestras at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami.

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra for nine years. Anna has performed as a soloist and chamber musician all over the world. For the 2022-23 season, some highlights include a return engagement with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for their November U.S. tour, the Arizona Music Festival in March, and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. In 2019, Anna was asked by Zubin Mehta to join the Israel Phil for his last tour with the orchestra to Peru, Columbia,Panama, and Argentina. For the latest news on Anna, visit www.annareider.com.

Jane Bowyer Stewart, violin

Jane Bowyer Stewart is a first violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra. A devoted chamber musician, she is a regular guest artist with elite Washington area ensembles, including the Kennedy Center Chamber Players and the 21 st Century Consort. The Washington Post has praised her “spectacular and virtuosic performance. . . . Stewart’s technique was breathtaking but never overpowering. She has a seemingly effortless ability to create elegant phrases.” Stewart earned both her Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and Master of Music degrees from Yale University. Both she and her parents (who met at the festival) attended the Sewanee Summer Music Center. In the Washington area, Stewart has performed chamber music at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater,

the Phillips Collection, the Corocan Gallery, and the Library of Congress. Currently a member of the Columbia String Quartet and co-concertmaster of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, she has also performed and recorded with the Chamber Soloists of Washington, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Chamber Ensemble, and the Manchester String Quartet. Her several chamber music CDs include one Grammy nominee. A sought-after private teacher and chamber music coach, Stewart also mentors young musicians through the National Symphony’s Summer Music Institute, giving seminars on audition preparation and orchestral repertoire. She regularly composes program notes for area performing arts organizations. She plays a violin made in 1691 by the Venetian master Matteo Goffriller.

Violist Philippe Chao is a member of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the Grand Teton Music Festival, Assistant Professor of Viola at the Texas Tech University School of Music, and on faculty for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. He performs with the Pittsburgh, National, and Baltimore Symphonies. Mr. Chao has performed on NOPR's

Hillary Herndon, viola

Violist Hillary Herndon has earned a national reputation for her brilliant playing, “sweetly soaring tone” (Time Out New York), creative programming and insightful teaching. She has been heard on NPR and PBS and has collaborated with some of the world’s foremost artists, including Carol Wincenc, James VanDermark and Itzhak Perlman, who described Hillary as “having it all… a gifted teacher and an excellent musician.” Ms. Herndon’s recordings La Viola, American Voices and 1919: Hidden Treasures from an Epoch Year are available on MSR Classics. Passionate about teaching, Ms. Herndon has published papers in the journals of the

Performance Today with Fred Childs and on Broadway in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s Bright Star. His chamber music collaborations have included international artists James Buswell, Simone Porter, and Julian Rachlin. He has commissioned and premiered works by Sergey Akhunov and Adolphus Hailstork.

American String Teacher and American Viola Society. Her recent appearances include performances and master classes at Carnegie Hall, the Sibelius Academy in Finland, Juilliard, Eastman, the University of Michigan, and the International Viola Congress. Ms. Herndon teaches at the University of Tennessee, where she is the founder of the annual Viola Celebration and in 2022-2023 at the Eastman School of Music as a sabbatical replacement for George Taylor. Herndon holds degrees from the Eastman and Juilliard Schools of Music and serves as President for the American Viola Society.

Philippe Chao, viola

Faculty Biographies

Sheldon Person, viola

Praised by the Edmonton Journal for performing “with precision and grace,” Sheldon Person is a violist in the Houston Symphony and enjoys an active career as a chamber musician, recitalist, and teacher. As a member of the Houston Symphony, Mr. Person has toured in seven countries on three continents and performed on the 2017 Grammy-award-winning live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. He was previously a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and as soloist and guest principal with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Since 2016, Mr. Person has been a faculty artist at the Sewanee Summer Music

Festival. His collaborations on new trios by Per Mårtensson and Karim Al-Zand were released on the Centaur Records label in 2017 and 2018. He is the current President of Third Space Music, a nonprofit partnership between Houston Symphony musicians and the Houston community. While a member of the Artea String Quartet, Leverhulme Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music, Mr. Person performed chamber music throughout the U.K., including appearances at Wigmore Hall, Buckingham Palace, and live on BBC Radio 3. Mr. Person holds degrees and certificates from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London), Indiana University, Rice University, and the University of Alberta.

Meghan Berindean, cello, string chamber music coordinator

Praised for her glorious tone, cellist Meghan Berindean has built a reputation as an engaging performer and a sought-after teacher. She has been featured in solo performances with ensembles including the Gateway Chamber Orchestra, Northerntier Symphony Orchestra, and Austin Peay State University Symphony Orchestra. She was previously a member of the Tallahassee-based Eppes Quartet and the Cleveland-based Judson Quartet. Previously, Berindean was a first-prize winner of the MENC Pennsylvania State Chamber Group Competition as a member of the Valens Piano Quartet. As an orchestral player, Berindean is Principal Cello of the Gateway Chamber Orchestra

Jason Calloway, cello

Jason Calloway has performed to acclaim throughout the world as soloist and chamber musician. Currently cellist of the Amernet String Quartet, Ensemblein-Residence at Florida International University, Mr. Calloway was previously a member of the Naumburg award-winning Biava Quartet, formerly in residence at the Juilliard School. Mr. Calloway gave his Carnegie Hall recital debut under the auspices of Artists International and has also been heard at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y, Disney Hall, and the Kennedy Center. He has recorded for the Bridge, Naxos, and Albany labels. Mr. Calloway has appeared at festivals including Lucerne, Spoleto, Darmstadt, and Klangspuren (Austria). He has collaborated in chamber music with members of the Cleveland,

and the Paducah Symphony Orchestra. She has previously served as principal cello for Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Northerntier Symphony, and Altoona Symphony. as well as assistant principal of Williamsport Symphony and the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra. She has performed with Charleston Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony, and Tallahassee Symphony. Dr. Berindean has completed degrees at Florida State University, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Penn State University. Her teachers have included Gregory Sauer, Sharon Robinson, Kim Cook, Andrew Mark, Andrew Rammon, and Ann Kindig. Berindean is an Associate Professor of Music at Austin Peay State University.

Curtis, Juilliard, and Miani quartets and with principal players of most of the world's leading orchestras. A devoted advocate for new music, Mr. Calloway has collaborated with Ensemble InterContemporain and alongside members of Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, and the Arditti and JACK quartets while giving hundreds of premieres by composers including Berio, Birtwistle, Hosokawa, Lachenmann, Pintscher, Tulve, and Tüür. He is as well artistic director of Shir Ami (www.shiramimusic.com), an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performance of Jewish art music suppressed by the Nazis and Soviets. Mr. Calloway performs on a 1992 Michèle Ashley cello, a copy of the famous Sleeping Beauty of Montagnana, formerly owned by his teacher, Orlando Cole.

Natasha Farny, cello

Acclaimed as a “terrific cello soloist” and as having a “big, generous tone,” American cellist Natasha Farny performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician. Her debut CD of French music for cello and piano was released on the Centaur label in 2020 and two years later, she released the album called “Women’s Voices” with pianist Eliran Avni, her partner in the Ekstasis Duo. Recent concerts have taken the duo to Arizona’s Del E. Webb Performing Arts Center, New York’s Merkin Hall, and Colorado’s Strings Music Festival. In 2022-2023, the duo premiered Avner Dorman’s new Double Concerto for Cello, Piano, and Orchestra, and gave recitals at Grand Valley State University (MI), Buffalo’s Friends of Vienna Series,

Tim Pearson, bass

Tim Pearson performs regularly with the Nashville Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and IRIS Orchestra. With the Gateway Chamber Orchestra he can be heard on the Summit record label playing music of Strauss, Mozart, Schrecker, Schoenberg and Enescu. As instructor of double bass at MTSU, he performs with the Stones River Chamber

Samuel Suggs, bass

"An omnivorous musician," Samuel Suggs was recently named New Artist of the Month by Musical America after receiving the Gary Karr Prize for 1st place at the 2015 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition in which he performed many of his own compositions. He is the only bassist to win the Beijing International Music Festival Competition, and has performed concertos at the Kennedy Center and Northwestern University. As a collaborative bassist, he has been a fellow at the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival and a Protégé Artist at Chamber Music Northwest. Suggs's

and the Arts in the Village (MA) Series, Ms. Farny has published an article and presented her work on women composers at numerous conferences. She received degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, the Eastman School of Music, and the Juilliard School. Ms. Farny is Professor of Cello at the School of Music at the State University of New York in Fredonia, where she oversees the Fredonia cello choir and coordinates the string chamber music program. She has been honored there with several awards, including grants from the Faculty Student Association and the United University Professions, as well as the Hagan Young Scholar/Artist Award and the Kasling Memorial Lecture Award.

Players and in 2013 premiered the “Iberian Concerto for Double Bass and Wind Ensemble” by Spanish composer Jesus Santandreu. He earned degrees from the University of Memphis and Indiana University and did additional studies with Bruce Bransby and Paul Ellison. Tim resides in Nashville with his wife, pianist Megan Gale.

ensembles have won the Grand Prize at the 2015 Oneppo Chamber Series Competition, and he has toured internationally to Africa and Europe with his contemporary jazz group, Triplepoint Trio. Suggs has received commissions for fresh arrangements and theatrical/film scores from Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, Pheonic Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Northwest, the Yale School of Drama and Yale School of Art. Suggs is currently associate professor of double bass at James Madison University. He received degrees from Northwestern and a DA from Yale University.

Faculty Biographies

Bixby Kennedy, clarinet

Admired for his “marvelous ringing tone” (Joseph Dalton, Albany Times Union) Bixby Kennedy is one of the most versatile clarinetists of his generation. He has performed concerti with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and New Haven Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Bixby has performed throughout the US and Europe in venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, Marlboro Music Festival, and is the clarinetist for the “explosive” New York City based chamber ensemble Frisson. He has appeared as a guest artist with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Saint. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and The Knights. As

Kathleen Mulcahy, clarinet

Kathleen Mulcahy was appointed as Director of Woodwinds and Assistant Professor of Clarinet at George Mason University in August 2018. She performs frequently with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the National Symphony. Dr. Mulcahy has held tenured positions with the Annapolis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Grant Park Orchestra, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. She is currently principal clarinetist with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician and recitalist, Dr. Mulcahy performs regularly on the Faculty Artist Series at George Mason University and has been a featured soloist with the Mason Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band. She has performed on chamber series in venues such as the Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art, the German Embassy, and the National Cathedral. In July 2017, she performed the world premiere of Howard Buss’ Divertissements for Clarinet

an orchestral musician, Bixby has performed with the MET Opera and NY Philharmonic in addition to regular engagements with the Albany and New Haven Symphony Orchestras. On period instruments, Bixby has performed classical repertoire on original and replica instruments throughout the US with Grand Harmonie Orchestra. He is a former member of Ensemble Connect and works as a teaching artist throughout the US. As an arranger, his works have been performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Schumann, Frisson, Ensemble Connect, and Symphony in C. In the 22-23 season he assumed the directorship of the Musicians Club of New York. He loves traveling, trying new foods, laughing, hiking, and playing tennis. Bixby performs exclusively on Backun instruments

and Percussion at the International Clarinet Association’s Clarinetfest in Orlando, FL, and presented a recital at the 2019 ICA Clarinetfest in Knoxville, TN. Dr. Mulcahy is also an RYT 200 certified yoga instructor, and has created several workshops focused on yoga for the performing artist. She has presented recitals and masterclasses at colleges all over the country, including Lamar University, High Point University, Penn State, and the Eastman School of Music. Previously, Dr. Mulcahy served as a clarinet instructor at the State University of New York at Fredonia. She holds the DMA and BM degrees from The Ohio State University and the MM degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers have included James Pyne, Peter Hadcock, and Kenneth Grant. Kathleen Mulcahy is a Buffet Group USA performing artist and a member of the Health and Wellness Committee for the International Clarinet Association.

Donna Shin, flute

Flutist Donna Shin has been praised for her beautifully-spun phrases, seductive sound, sterling technique, and charismatic exchanges with the audience. Devoted to the role of artist-teacher, she is the flute professor at the University of Washington School of Music after holding faculty posts at the University of South Carolina School of Music and Oklahoma State University. Shin has been featured in solo performances with the North Korean National Symphony Orchestra, People’s Liberation Army Band of China, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and many others. In 2010, Shin premiered D.J. Sparr’s Precious Metal: Concerto for Flute and Winds in Seattle and cities throughout Japan and China. She recently premiered Hilary Tann's Shoji, a work for flute and oboe, at the University of Texas at Austin. Shin has won prizes

Nermis Mieses, oboe

Nermis Mieses is the Associate Professor of Oboe at Michigan State University and faculty at Sewanee Music Festival, where she previously attended as a student. Formerly, she taught at Bowling Green State University, performed as Principal Oboe of Michigan Opera Theatre, and served as Chair of the IDRS Gillet-Fox International Competition for Oboe. She is the winner of various prizes and awards such as the University of Michigan Paul Boylan Alumni Award, Barbirolli International Oboe Competition,

Gabriel Beavers, bassoon

Gabriel Beavers is the Associate Professor of Bassoon at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Beavers is also a member of Miami’s Nu-Deco Ensemble and serves as 2nd bassoon with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra in Durango, CO. Prior to joining the faculty at Frost, he served on the faculty of Louisiana State University School of Music and as principal bassoon with the Baton Rouge Symphony. Formerly a fellow with the New World Symphony, he has also served as Principal Bassoon with the Virginia Symphony, Acting Principal Bassoon with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jacksonville Symphony and as Acting Second Bassoon with the Milwaukee Symphony for one season.Mr. Beavers has also previously held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor at the

in competitions held by the National Flute Association, April Spring Friendship Arts Festival in North Korea, and Seattle Flute Society, to name a few. As a founding member of Paragon Winds woodwind quintet, she was awarded fellowships from the New England Conservatory and Yale University’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and won the Grand Prize at the Coleman National Chamber Ensemble Competition in Pasadena, California. Shin earned degrees with the highest honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, including the esteemed Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School. During her doctoral studies at Eastman, she became the first woodwind player in the school’s history to be nominated for the highly coveted Artist’s Certificate.

First International Oboe Competition of FEMUSC and others. She frequently performs with the internationally renowned Sphinx and Chineke! orchestras and is an active recitalist throughout the American Continent and Europe. Her debut as a soloist came to her at the age of fifteen, in her native country, with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico. She obtained her BM from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, and both, MM and DMA degrees from the University of Michigan.

University of Missouri-Columbia School of Music. In addition to his orchestral activities, he has an active schedule of solo and chamber performances. He has appeared as a soloist with the Frost Wind Ensemble, Greater Miami Symphonic Band, Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble, Virginia Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony and Louisiana Sinfonietta and has given recitals throughout the United States and at international festivals in Japan and Brazil. His solo albums, Gordon Jacob: Music for Bassoon and A Quirky Dream, are available on Mark Records and his recording of the Dinos Constantinides Bassoon Concerto was published by Centaur Records. He attended both Boston University and Southern Methodist University where he studied with Matthew Ruggiero and Wilfred Roberts.

Carl Rath, bassoon

Carl Rath teaches bassoon, chamber music, and popular music at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI. In the summers, he teaches and performs at the Sewanee (TN) Summer Music Festival and Red Lodge (MT) Music Festival. Rath’s performing career includes 22 years as Principal Bassoon in the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, 31 years in the Oklahoma Woodwind Quintet, and 17 summers as Principal Bassoon in the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. He has performed in China, Argentina, Taiwan, Canada, Austria, Hungary, England and the U.S. His performances have been featured on national and international radio programs and on five CDs. He has presented masterclasses in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Buenos Aires, and the U.S. and guest performer

Peter Bond, trumpet

Peter Bond has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1992. Raised in Rockford Illinois, his path to the “Met” was atypical; while his future orchestra colleagues were attending professional training programs like Interlochen and Tanglewood, Mr. Bond spent summers on the road with a drum and bugle corps and the rest of his time focused on big band jazz. This pattern continued through college at Western Illinois University, where he received a degree in Music Education. It was only in graduate school at Georgia State University that he turned his

Imani Duhe, trumpet

Imani Duhe is a versatile young musician from Atlanta, Georgia who is known for her rich, soulful trumpet playing. Starting music at a young age she’s been surrounded by different styles of music her entire life. Imani has been performing regularly with orchestras, chamber ensembles, and in small solo settings as a trumpeter for over 12 years. Through her love for the trumpet and music she also discovered a talent for composing her own songs, which she performs with her personal ensembles. Imani has performed on podcasts, in multiple large music venues including the Hollywood Bowl, has had the opportunity to play for live televised,

and clinician for the Bocal Majority Music Camp (Dallas) and Double Reed Days in Wisconsin, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. He is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Oklahoma. Supplement to his bassoon and reed-making instruction, he formed the Sooner Bassooners at OU and the ViBE at Lawrence for which he has arranged numerous works for 4-8 bassoons. These arrangements, some available through Imagine Music (NY), are a varied repertoire of classical, jazz, rock, and popular music. Rath studied bassoon with Fred Schroeder, Stephen Basson, Stanley Scheller, and Wil Roberts. A patron member of the International Double Reed Society, he has performed at 20 annual conferences and is one of the few who has hosted the Conference twice.

attention to orchestral trumpet, studying with John Head, Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He has also studied on an “outpatient” basis with Vincent Cichowicz, Adolph Herseth, Arnold Jacobs, Robert Nagle, and James Pandolfi. After graduate school (MM 1981), Mr. Bond remained in Atlanta, enjoying a busy and varied career as a freelance musician. In 1987 his first orchestra audition resulted in being named Principal Trumpet of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in Albuquerque. He now lives in Albuqurque, New Mexico.

events, popular music festivals, and continues to make her name known as a sought after musician. Imani has worked with artists such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Ani Difranco, The Yellowjackets, P. Diddy and more. Imani also teaches for the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles as a trumpet instructor and brass specialist as well as gives master classes around the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to an active performing life, Imani is an avid activist for women and civil rights. Ms. Duhe received her Bachelors from Manhattan School of Music and is completing her masters at the University of Southern California. Imani is a current Shires Rising Artist.

Jason Allison, horn

Jason Allison is a native of Western Pennsylvania and is currently a resident of Pittsburgh, where he is an active member of the local musical community. As a performer he can be heard in the French horn sections of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestras as well as the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Orchestra. He has also been a substitute horn player with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Allison holds contracts with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra as well as Pittsburgh’s historic River City Brass, which is the only full time, professional brass

Caroline Kinsey, horn

Caroline Kinsey, a native of San Antonio, TX, is Principal Horn with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra after 11 years as Principal Horn of the Arkansas Symphony, Little Rock, AR. She received her Bachelor of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music and her Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ms. Kinsey has toured throughout Europe and Japan, and has played and been a member of several orchestras across the United States including the Honolulu Symphony, the Corpus Christi Symphony, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and the Canton (OH) Symphony Orchestra. Other orchestral appearances have been with the San Antonio Symphony,

Joshua Bynum, trombone

Hailed for his “inspiring energy, clear musical conviction, and warm lyrical tone” (International Trombone Association Journal), Josh Bynum keeps an active schedule balancing roles as educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral trombonist. In addition to serving as Professor of Trombone at the University of Georgia, a position he has held since 2010, Josh is an Artist & Clinician for the Edwards Instrument Company. He has been trombone faculty for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival since 2016. Bynum is also a member of the Iris Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Stern, and enjoys

band in the United States. As a music educator, Mr. Allison is on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh, Chatham University and the Pre-College program at Carnegie Mellon University. He also works as an instructor with the River City Youth Brass Band as well as maintaining a private studio of horn students from the greater Pittsburgh area. Mr. Allison holds a BS in Music Education and a BA in Music Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MA in French Horn Performance from Duquesne University.

Nashville Symphony, Illinois Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Hawaii Opera Company, and the National Orchestral Institute. Before coming to Memphis in 2005, Caroline was co-founder and principal horn of the Pinnacle Players Music Festival in Little Rock, AR as well as Music Librarian and Outreach Services Coordinator for the Arkansas Symphony. She was also Horn Instructor at the University of Mississippi, Horn Lecturer at the University of Central Arkansas, Ouachita Baptist University and The University of Arkansas at Monticello. Currently, in addition to the MSO, Caroline is Manager of Lukas Horns, a custom French horn building business. Ms. Kinsey performs on a Lukas Horn L Model.

performing with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Atlanta Opera and Ballet Orchestras. Josh has given clinics and featured performances at the American Trombone Workshop, International Trombone Festival, and Georgia Music Educators Association Conference. His solo CD Catalyst was the recipient of the UGA Creative Research Medal in Arts & Humanities. He holds degrees from Temple University, the University of Iowa, and Jacksonville State University. He is a member of the ITA Pedagogy Council and is the editor for the ITA Journal’s Pedagogy Corner column.

Faculty Biographies

Eric Bubacz, tuba

Eric Bubacz has an extensive career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. He studied for three years at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY before transferring to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he completed his Bachelor of Music. During the summers has attended several noted music festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, where he was the first tubaist to win the Chamber Music Prize. As an orchestral player, Eric has been named Principal Tuba of the Haddonfield Symphony, the Canton Symphony, and the Reading Symphony (1996-present). He has also performed as an extra musician with the

Phillip O'Banion, percussion

Phillip O’Banion is Associate Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Temple University, and percussion coordinator for the Sewanee Music Center. As a performer, O’Banion appears regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra and other symphonic ensembles, new music groups, and theater productions. He serves as percussionist with Orchestra 2001 and Network for New Music. O’Banion has performed and conducted concerts presented by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and is a frequent collaborator with the Philadelphia Orchestra Percussion Group. O’Banion has been involved in the commission or premiere of many new solo and chamber music works to date, and endorses instruments by Pearl/Adams, Sabian, Evans, Vic Firth, and Grover Pro Percussion. He has served the Percussive Arts Society as symphonic

Ji Hye Jung, percussion

Ji Hye Jung is Associate Professor of Percussion at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and principal percussionist with the west coast-based chamber music ensemble Camerata Pacifica. An advocate for new music, she has commissioned works by Kevin Puts, Emma O’Halloran, Annika Scolofsky, Bora Yoon, Molly Herron, Christopher Theofanidis, Alejandro Viñao, Lukas Ligeti, Paul Lansky, Jason Treuting, Michael Torke, David Bruce, Huang Ruo,

Philadelphia Orchestra. Cleveland Orchestra, and the Cleveland Blossom Festival Band. From 20022005, Eric regularly acted as Principal Tuba of the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of his work with them include four European Tours, three performances at Carnegie Hall, and a performance at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II. Since moving to Atlanta in 2006, Eric has become an active teacher and performer throughout the Southeast, serving as an adjunct faculty member at a number of university programs and maintaining an active private studio. He has been the brass chamber music coordinator at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival since 2002.

committee chair and a new music and literature reviewer, and appeared at multiple international conventions, as well as festivals in Europe and South America. O’Banion can be heard on recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra on the Deutsche Grammophon label, including the 2022 GRAMMYwinning Symphonies Nos 1 and 3 of Florence Price. His solo album for percussion and electronics, Digital Divide, and his recording of Adam Silverman’s marimba concerto Carbon Paper and Nitrogen Ink are available through BCM+D records. As director of the Philadelphia Percussion + Piano Project, O’Banion leads exciting chamber music projects from the 20th and 21st centuries. The group’s recent releases include Radiant Outbursts: (In)Human Progress in 2020 and No Strings Attached: Percussion Music by Marc Mellits in 2021.

and John Serry. Ms. Jung garnered consecutive first prizes at the 2006 Linz International Marimba Competition and the 2007 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition while completing a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. As an artist endorser, she proudly represents Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Zildjian cymbals.

Joseph Petrasek, percussion

Joseph Petrasek was appointed Principal Percussionist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2017, and Principal Percussionist of the Colorado Music Festival in 2019. Previously, he served as Associate Principal Percussionist of the Kansas City Symphony for 8 seasons, and as a percussion fellow in the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. Joseph has appeared as Guest Principal with the San Francisco Symphony, and has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland

Gaye LeBlanc, harp

Ms. Gaye LeBlanc, a Dallas native, is enjoying an active career as an orchestral harpist, free-lancer, teacher and class lecturer. She is currently principal harpist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Harp Instructor at the University of Oklahoma both since 1998. She has also taught harp at Oklahoma City University from 1998-2010 (OCU), University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) and University of North Texas (UNT) from 2005-2006. Her orchestral experience includes having played principal harp with Fort Smith Symphony (AR) Tulsa Symphony and Opera, Lawton Philharmonic (OK) OK Mozart Festival with the NY Amici Orchestra and 10 years with the Arizona Music-fest with conductor, Robert

Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Petrasek is also on the percussion faculty at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Originally from Southern California, Joseph earned his bachelor's degree at UCLA studying under Mitchell Peters, former Timpanist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He went on to receive a master's degree at Temple University, studying with Philadelphia Orchestra percussionists Alan Abel and Angela Zator-Nelson.

Moody. Ms. LeBlanc regularly performs with touring Broadway show orchestras throughout the years and has backed a wide variety of artists including Ray Charles, Josh Groban, Ben Folds, Joshua Bell, YoYo Ma, Kristin Chenoweth, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, amongst others. A passionate teacher, Ms. LeBlanc has been building the OU studio from the ground up. She added Harp pedagogy and Orchestral literature as well as harp ensemble. Her education consists of starting the harp at the age of 20, after many years of piano, theory, organ and flute. She earned her BM in performance from the University of North Texas, MM from Southern Methodist University. his is her second summer at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.

A New York concert by pianist Steven Beck was described as “exemplary” and “deeply satisfying” by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where his teachers were Seymour Lipkin, Peter Serkin and Bruce Brubaker. Mr. Beck made his concerto debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, and has toured Japan as soloist with the New York Symphonic Ensemble. His annual Christmas Eve performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Bargemusic has become a New York institution. He has also performed as soloist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, and Miller Theater, as well as on WNYC. He has performed as a musician with the New York City Ballet

and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and as an orchestral musician he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and Orpheus. Mr. Beck is an experienced performer of new music, having worked with Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, Charles Wuorinen, George Crumb, George Perle, and Fred Lerdahl. He is a member of the Knights, the Talea Ensemble, Quattro Mani, and the Da Capo Chamber Players. His discography includes George Walker’s piano sonatas, for Bridge Records, and Elliott Carter’s “Double Concerto” on Albany Records. He is a Steinway Artist, and is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as well as the Colorado College Summer Music Festival and the Sewanee Music Center.

Steve Beck, piano

Amy I-Lin Cheng, piano

Born in Taiwan, pianist Amy I-Lin Cheng has appeared in recitals and music festivals across the United States and around the world. Amy’s live performances have been heard on WGBH, KUCO, WHYY, La Radio Suisse Romande-Espace 2, and NPR in Houston. As a recording artist, Amy has recorded for Centaur, Albany, CDBaby and Naxos, with a recent release of the Piano Concerto by Vítězslava Kaprálová on Naxos. An avid chamber musician, Amy is the co-Artistic Director and pianist for the Brightmusic Chamber Music Series in Oklahoma City. She has toured with Duo

Clarion, Trio Solari, and the American Chamber Players. A dedicated teacher, Amy’s students have won awards at local, regional and national competitions, as well as college teaching positions in the US and abroad. Amy is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music (BM), Yale University School of Music (MM and Artist Diploma), and the New England Conservatory (DMA). Amy is an Assistant Professor Music in Piano and Piano Chamber Music Coordinator at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. She is also an artist-faculty at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.

Jorge Variego, Composition Program Director

Jorge Variego was born in Rosario, Argentina. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and is currently on the Music Theory/Composition faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is the director of the composition program at the Sewanee Music Center. His music can be heard in the Parma, Albany Records, CMMAS, Centaur and Naxos libraries. In 2018 his book on algorithmic composition was released by the National University of Quilmes, in Argentina. During that same year he received the support of the Swedish Arts Grants Committee to be resident composer at the Visby Centre for Composers and was guest lecturer at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, in Spain. Among his recent research

Vincent Oppido, composition

A rising talent in Hollywood, Vincent Oppido’s music is “melodically classical yet unafraid to introduce new ideas” (Damon Lindelof). His music has been performed and recorded in Europe and Japan, and across the United States from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood scoring stages of Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures Studios. Oppido’s recent scoring credits include the indie films Alien Code (Archstone/ Sony Home Pictures – starring Kyle Gallner and Richard Schiff) and Watch the Sky (Breaking Glass Pictures – starring Renee O’Connor). He has also composed additional music for projects including Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Jedi Temple Challenge, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween and TruTV’s Adam Ruins Everything: Reanimated History. Also

endeavors, his book "Composing with Constraints” was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. In 2023 he was the guest in many festivals, including the inaugural Festival de Música Algorítmica y Modular hosted by the Universidad Nacional de Musica de Perú, in Lima. Jorge is the founder director of the Domino Ensemble, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, commission, and performance of new music with improvisation. The group released its first album “Purple Ego” (Centaur) in 2019 and the EP “Drunken Raccoon” in 2020. He is also the founder director of the UT Electroacoustic Ensemble, a student group dedicated to free improvisation with electronic media and is member of the Society of Composers National Council.

an orchestrator and conductor, Oppido has worked on projects such as Fortnite, Cobra Kai, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2, and NBC’s Timeless. In addition to work in film and television, Oppido has received numerous commissions for the concert hall, garnering performances in such prestigious venues including The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Symphony Hall in Boston, and Carnegie Hall. In December 2018 his work, Cosmic Escapades, was premiered by The United States Army Band at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Vincent studied composition and conducting at George Mason University with Mark Camphouse and Anthony Maiello. Oppido is represented by REJ Entertainment and is a member of ASCAP.

Eva Cappelletti Chao, musician's life coach

Violinist Eva Cappelletti Chao has enjoyed a diverse and engaging orchestral career for over three decades. She currently performs with the Baltimore Symphony, the orchestras at the Kennedy Center, and leads many chamber and choral ensembles in the Washington, DC area. During summer seasons, she is a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Jackson, Wyoming, and she is both Violin Faculty and the Performing Artists’ Life Coach in Residence at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in Tennessee. Graduating Summa Cum Laude

OPERAFEST FACULTY

Mezzo-soprano and international voice teacher, Laura Brooks Rice has won acclaim on the opera and concert stage for her rich, warm voice, musicality, charm and sensitive acting ability. From 1985-2019 Miss Rice was on faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey where she was Professor of Voice. In addition to teaching private voice, she was the creator and director of the CoOPERAtive Program for 15 years, and taught courses in opera. Miss Rice has a private studio of professional singers who currently perform with many of the world’s opera houses and orchestras. She has been a vocal consultant to the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Program, was the voice teacher for the Cafritz Program with the Washington Opera, and is now in the same capacity for the Glynn Studio with Atlanta Opera. In the summers of 2012-2019 she was on the faculty the distinguished program IVAI in Montreal

Karma Camp, movement

Karma Camp has been on staff with the Washington Opera Cafritz Young Artist program for 9 years where she incorporates movement, pilates, yoga and breathing exercises designed to assist singers in placement and body structure for better singing support. She coaches using Leban and a series of physical formulas to help signers utilize the power of body performance. In addition, she is a renowned choreographer having staged over 150 productions including: The Kennedy Center Honors’s (honoring Justino Diaz), Broadway: The Graduate, New York City Philharmonic Gala;

with a double degree in Psychology and Music, Eva Cappelletti Chao has studied the mind, neuroscience, and human potential for over 30 years. Alongside her meditation practice, Eva has studied Transpersonal Psychology at Naropa University, ‘The Work’ of Byron Katie through BK International, and ‘Inquiry-Based Coaching’ via Innerland Institute. Ms. Cappelletti Chao is an MBI Certified Life Coach and has worked with hundreds of classical musicians through individual coaching sessions and leading group coaching seminars and workshops.

and of Virginia and New York. She has taught at Santa Fe Opera and at the Bel Canto Institute in San Miguel, Mexico. Miss Rice has been on the steering committee for the Singer Training Council under the auspices of Opera America. She has served as a judge on the panels of the National NATSAA Competition, Astral Artistic Services Annual Auditions and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.. In the 1992-93 season Miss Rice made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Wowkle in La Fanciulla del West. Following her debut in 1981 with the San Francisco Opera as Grimgerde in Die Walküre she has appeared with that company in several productions, performing such roles as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Varvara in Katya Kabanova and Suzuki in Madame Butterfly. She has also performed with the Spoleto Festival (Italy) in Honneger’s King David.

Washington Nat’l Opera: The Magic Flute, Goya, Vanessa, Carmen (Lilas Pastia); Candide w/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Wolf Trap Opera Company – Kurt Weill’s Street Scene; she has also coached/ staged a Lotte Lenya winner. National Symphony Orchestra – 5 productions with the late Marvin Hamlisch. Her abundance of work incudes more than 130 theatrical productions, 24 commercials, 2 films, 5 Disney Creative projects, 3 In Performance at the White House shows, and 8 specials for PBS. She is thrilled to return to Sewanee with her colleague and friend, Laura Brooks Rice.

Laura Brooks Rice, OperaFest Director

Joshua Conyers, baritone

Grammy-nominated Baritone Joshua Conyers has been hailed by Opera News with “a deliciously honeyed baritone that would seduce anyone."Mr. Conyers, a native of Bronx, NY, is quickly being championed for his captivating performances as he continues to be recognized as one the promising young dramatic voices of today. For the 20222023 season, Mr. Conyers made his international debut performing Policeman 3/Congregant 3 in Jeanine Tesori’s and Tazwell Thompson’s Blue with the English National Opera (ENO), covered the role of Garby in Will Liverman and DJ King Rico’s The Factotum with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Reverend in Tesori’s Blue with Washington National Opera, and performed Reginald in Anthony Davis's X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X with the Opera

Joan Dornemann

Joan Dornemann is one of the most highly respected opera coaches in the world today. In her position as Assistant Conductor with the Metropolitan Opera, she has prepared the most prominent international artists for their performances at the Met. She has worked with such singers as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Sherrill Milnes, Kiri Te Kanawa, Renée Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Neil Shicoff, Juan Diego Flórez, and Anna Netrebko, among others. She has also collaborated with outstanding opera singers as an accompanist for many solo performances. Ms. Dornemann has been associated with the Gran Liceo in Barcelona, the Spoleto Festival, and the New York City Opera. At the Met she worked with such conductors as James Levine, James Conlon, and

Megan Gale, collaborative pianist

Born in Tokyo, Megan Gale grew up on Whidbey Island in Washington state. She holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Southern California and has done additional studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen Music Festival. Megan is sought after as a collaborative partner by an array of performers and has presented more than 400 recitals during her career. In Nashville she is currently on the faculty of the Blair School of Music at

Omaha, as well as Detroit Opera and Odyssey Opera. Mr. Conyers made a studio recording of the role Reginald in the 2023 Grammy-nominated X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP). As a concert artist, Mr. Conyers made his debut with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra performing the Bass Soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Joshua performed the Baritone Soloist in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at Carnegie Hall with the Cecilia Chorus of New York under the baton of Mark Shapiro, and made his Memphis Symphony Orchestra debut performing the Bass Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under the baton of Robert Moody in 2022. Joshua Conyers is currently on the voice faculty at the Eastman School of Music.

Carlos Kleiber. She prepared singers from the Kirov Opera for a recording of La Forza del destino and performances of Carmen and Aida under the baton of Valery Gergiev, and she was in charge of musical preparation for La Bohème and La Cenerentola at the Opéra de Paris. Ms. Dornemann was awarded an Emmy for her contribution to the highly acclaimed “Live from the Met” telecast of La Bohème with Luciano Pavarotti and Renata Scotto. She also teaches master classes throughout the world and is the author of Complete Preparation: A Guide to Auditioning for the Opera. She was honored by the city of Tel Aviv, which issued a commemorative stamp bearing her picture, and she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montreal.

Vanderbilt University as a collaborative pianist. She is also on the faculty of OperaFest at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Megan performs frequently with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra chamber music series as well as for their Accelerando program and is a member of the Alias Chamber Ensemble. She previously held positions at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the Aspen Music Festival, the William Bennett Summer Flute Academy, and the Gateway Chamber Orchestra.

Patrick Hansen

Patrick Hansen is a professor at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music and the Artistic Director of Opera McGill in Montreal, Canada. He is a faculty member with the Sewanee Music Festival and the Bel Canto in Tuscany programs, and serves on the board of directors for The Association for Opera in Canada and the Membership Committee for Opera America. Considered a leading progressive figure in opera, he is equally at home as a stage director, conductor, vocal coach, collaborative pianist, and artistic administrator who has spent the last forty years on the creative and producing teams for over 250 operas. He has worked throughout North America, including directing at the Kennedy Center,

Kathleen Kelly

Kathleen Kelly’s projects and repertoire are wideranging and diverse. From Mozart to commissioned works, she is both deeply experienced in the classical vocal canon and engaged in new creation. Recent notable projects include a recording with soprano Emily Albrink of four world premiere song cycles, leading the world premiere of Matt Bohler’s opera FAT PIG (composed for activist soprano Tracy Cox), and the filmed opera Interstate, composed by Kamala Sankaram, co-authored and performed by Kathleen and soprano Jennifer Cresswell, produced by

Elena Kholodova

Elena Kholodova is an internationally recognized collaborative pianist and vocal coach. Menton’s French magazine called her “the brilliant Russian pianist, who impressed the audience with the beauty of the sound and amazing technique”. Elena received DMA in Solo Performance from Voronezh State Academy of Arts (Russia) and an Artist Diploma in Opera Coaching from the College-Conservatory of Music University of Cincinnati (USA). Elena Kholodova is a winner of prestigious competitions such as the V.Krainev Competition (Ukraine) and New Names Scholarship awards, Semi-Finalist of

Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Memphis, Eugene Opera, and for the Bulgarian premiere of Weill’s Street Scene. He has been on the music staffs of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Tulsa Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Juilliard Opera Center, and is the former director of Glimmerglass Opera’s Young American Artist Program and Music Director for Opera Festival of New Jersey. He is the assistant editor for G. Schirmer’s Opera Anthology series, and has produced, conducted and/or directed almost 100 operas at Opera McGill during the past sixteen seasons. He holds degrees from Simpson College and the University of Missouri at Kansas City and lives in his adopted province of Ontario, Canada.

Minnesota Opera, and now streaming on Marquee TV. Kathleen has appeared internationally as a pianist in collaboration with singers, including appearances at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Vienna’s Musikverein. She is a published poet and essayist, and has written several English adaptations of operas as well as several librettos. She has worked with many companies including the San Francisco, Metropolitan, Houston Grand, and Vienna State Operas, and she is regularly invited to speak and write on womens’ issues in the opera industry.

Prokofiev's competition (Russia). Also, she earned the title “The Best Accompanist" from several international vocal competitions. She has appeared as a collaborative artist in a substantial number of festivals, competitions, master-classes, and recitals in Russia, France, Finland, Germany, Norway, Great Britain, and the USA. She has been engaged with Festival of Music in Menton, Mikkeli Festival of Music, St. Petersburg Palaces’ Festival, Japan International Festival, White Night Festival, and opera productions at the Mariinskiy Theater, Cincinnati Opera, Atlanta Opera, Constella Festival and many others.

Dugg McDonough

Dugg McDonough, winner of The American Prize for Opera Directing, has created productions garnering 16 national awards over the past four years. In his 40-plus-year career that began as Assistant Director for The Santa Fe Opera’s American Premiere of the completed Lulu, McDonough has staged works from Monteverdi to contemporary premieres, working with companies including New York City Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera, New Orleans Opera Association, and many others, Theatre West Virginia, and Operafestival di Roma. A veteran mentor for emerging singer-actors, he was Co-Director of the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Artist Program from 1993-2012, and his workshops, classes,

Jordan Schreiner, tenor

With his “sincere” acting and a voice “filled with passion”, tenor Jordan Marshall Schreiner is quickly making a name for himself in both romantic repertoire and new, dynamic roles. Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Schreiner has performed a number of concert works around the United States. Recent performances include Handel's Messiah as well as performances of Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with the Catskill Choral Society and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Orcehstra of the Finger Lakes. Mr. Schreiner is poised to make his Alice Tully Hall debut as the tenor soloist in Haydn's Schöpfungsmesse with Maestro Patrick Gardner in the coming season. An avid teacher, Mr. Schreiner is the founder of Schreiner Voice Studio, a studio based in upstate NY that is quickly pushing the traditional boundaries of vocal pedagogy.

Xavier Suarez, collaborative pianist

Xavier Suarez is a pianist, vocal coach, piano teacher, YouTuber and founder of Teclado Music Institute. He is committed to bringing the joys of classical music to people of all ages and abilities through his work as a private piano teacher and recitalist. A sought-after collaborator, he works with numerous instrumentalists and singers across the United States. He was Music Director and Young Artist for Pensacola Opera in their 2016 season and collaborated at the 2013 Manhattan Summer

and productions have taken him to universities including the University of Tennessee, University of Oklahoma, Michigan State University, as well as the countries of Switzerland, Finland, and Japan. From 1985-2002, McDonough served as Director of Opera Theater for Temple University, and in 2002, he became the Fruehan Associate Professor of Opera and Artistic Director of the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera at Louisiana State University. At LSU, he has created the Collegiate Premieres of Little/Vavrek’s Dog Days, Puts/Campbell’s Elizabeth Cree, Heggie/Scheer’s Two Remain, Glass’s Orphée, and Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg. McDonough is a proud member of Marvel Arts Management. https://www.duggdirects.com

The Schreiner Voice Studio explores the ideals of the “wholistic musician” by teaching not only vocal technique, but by emphasizing the physical and mental well-being just as equally. Mr. Schreiner’s students have been linked to companies such as Seagle Music Colony, Teatro Nuovo, Nashville Opera, and Ohio Light Opera. Mr. Schreiner also recently completed a year as an adjunct voice professor at Mansfield University. Mr. Schreiner graduated from Binghamton Universitywith a degree in Opera Performance. While in Binghamton, Mr. Schreiner participated in a number of operas, concerts and events with the regional opera house, Tri-Cities Opera. In 2014, Mr. Schreiner graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in Mansfield, PA with degrees in both Music Performance and Music Business: Management.

Voice Festival as vocal coach and keyboardist. For 6 years he served as the Organist/Pianist at Olivet Lutheran Church in Sylvania, Ohio. He has been a faculty member at Friends Music Camp, and accompanist for choirs at Bowling Green State University and Bowling Green High School in Ohio. Educated at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, Mr. Suarez holds a MM in Piano Performance under Dr. Garik Pedersen and a MM in Collaborative Piano under Martin Katz.

Jennifer Szeto, collaborative pianist

Canadian pianist Jennifer Szeto carves a dynamic path as a producer, performer, and pedagogue. Praised for “an immense sweetness and precision which seemed to be flawless” (L’Opéra) and “amazing versatility” (Opera Ramblings), Jennifer is a graduate of L’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship, Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, and the Merola Opera Program. She is a soughtafter collaborator for contemporary creation and founding Artistic Director of Musique 3 Femmes, a creation company which commissions and produces operas by female composers and librettists in

Canada. Recent premieres include: Keiko Devaux’s L’Écoute du perdu with Paramirabo and Le Vivier at Fonderie Darling (Montreal); INCONNU for UfaFabrik (Berlin); Triptyque with La Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, with works by Sonia PaçoRocchia, Anna Pidgorna, Parisa Sabet; and Laurence Jobidon’s L’hiver attend beaucoup de moi with Opéra de Montréal. A passionate mentor and advocate for young artists, Jennifer begins her tenure at Opéra de Montréal in the 2023/24 season as the Director of the Atelier Lyrique, one of Canada's leading young artist training programs. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Association for Opera in Canada.

For full biographical information, please visit ssmf.sewanee.edu/people/faculty

JOHN KILKENNY, Executive Director

John Kilkenny is a percussionist, conductor, and artistic leader who is rewriting the rules of a classical music career. He joined the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in 2011, became director in 2018, and now serves as the Executive and Artistic Director of the Sewanee Muic Center, responsible for programming the University Performing Arts Series, leading the summer festival, and developing programs in arts leadership. His tenure in Sewanee has resulted in multiple endowment gifts, numerous commissioning projects, and the addition of an online WinterFest, a fully realized composition program, and OperaFest Sewanee.

Hailed as a "particularly fine timpanist" by the Washington Post, John maintains a dynamic career as a soloist, orchestral, and chamber musician. Recent concerto performances include the Philip Glass Concerto Fantasy

for Two Timpanists, Michael Daugherty’s Raise the Roof concerto for timpani and his UFO percussion concerto, and Viet Cuong’s Re(NEW)al concerto for percussion quartet and orchestra. His orchestral work included regular engagements with virtually every symphony and opera company in the DC region for over 20 years. He now performs frequently in the recording studios of Nashville, and has begun contracting musicians for various projects in Washington DC.

From 2008-2022, John was associate professor and Director of Percussion Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He also heald various administrative roles at Mason as well as a number of years as associate director of concert bands. Ensembles under his direction at Mason performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Virginia and New York Music Educators Conferences, the College Music Society Mid Atlantic and National Convention, and The Western International Band Conference. His percussion group also toured Costa Rica twice, and was scheduled for a March 2020 3-city tour of China. He is a contributor to You Can’t Teach Empty Chairs: Recruitment and Retention Strategies that Actually Work; published by GIA Publications.

John received his BM from The Juilliard School and an MM from Temple University. Starting in March 2022, John assumed the role of Executive Director of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera.

ADVISORY BOARD to the SEWANEE MUSIC CENTER

Timothy K. Adams, Jr.

Walter Bitner

Peter Bond

Natasha Farny

Andrew Flagel

Hollie Greenwood

Wesley Hornpetrie

Stephen Ray Miller

Terry Papillon

William Ransom

Laura Brooks Rice

Joshua Simonds

Lecolion Washington

Christine Wilson

Najib Wong

SEWANEE MUSIC CENTER STAFF

Anna Burklin*

Manager of Marketing & Admissions

Jesse-Katharine Owens

Development & Community Relations Coordinator

Robert Esposito** Office Programs Specialist

SEWANEE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL SEASONAL STAFF

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS

Noah Van Deventer**

Sewanee Symphony Manager

Leilani Spurlock** Cumberland Orchestra Manager

Cassie Lear Student Chamber Coordinator

Grace Wipfli** OperaFest Program Cooordinator

Allison Giltinan Music Librarian

Brianna Hanson Digital Producer

Bruce Mangan** Director of Production

Lydia Sorenson** Production Assistant

Ava Neal Production Assistant

Siena Guadalupe Production Assistant

RESIDENCE LIFE

Matthew Flores Co-Director of Residence Life

Nicoletta Pignatello Co-Director of Residence Life

Olivia Stafford*** Conference Services Liaison

Aidan Osias*** Resident Assistant

Haven Sydney*** Resident Assistant

*University of the South Alumnus

**Sewanee Summer Music Festival Alumnus

***University of the South Student

Dr. Stephanie C. & Mr. Richard L. Boeth

Knowles & William R. Harper, Jr.

May F. Kamalick

Cheryl & Michael R. Hulsen

Leadership Circle

The Estate of Walter Nance

Director's Circle

John M. Kilkenny

Anne C. & R. Woodruff Deutsch

Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga

Truman and Ludmilla Bidwell

Benefactor

Ernest J. Moensch

Tansill & John S. Hille

Pamela & Greg Maloof

Arkansas Community Fdn Inc

Henrietta B. Croom

Joseph N. Pierce

Joyce Rabinowitz

Dr. Lane & Julian Price, Jr.

Andrea W. & Andrew Dixon Anonymous

Eva Cappelletti Chao

Gene H. Moon

Melissa & John C. Goodson

Sandra & Louis W. Rice III

Tracy D. Ward

John G. Bratton

Anna Elizabeth Burklin

Jason L. Allison

Patrick Wills

Aaron L. Hunt

Donna Shin

Natasha H. Farny

Andrew Swers Anonymous

Arnold I. Tillman

Hilary R. Dow Ward & Geoffrey H. Ward

Samuel Suggs

Sandra L. Carr

VFW Auxiliary Post No. 5863

Robert Tate

Brenda & William J. McNeiland

Emily L. Craine

Michelle Seibert

Diane Weibert

Jackie & Thomas C. Esposito

Jean Porte

Laura & Edward J. Crawford III

The Rev. Dr. Julia M. Gatta & Dr. John J. Gatta, Jr.

Bruce D. McMillan

Harriet Runkle

Supporter

The Rev. & Mrs. Raymond M. Gotko

Christin & Thomas M. Carlson

Amy T. Burns

Fidelity Investments Charitable Contributions

James M. Pierce

Jennifer & Jeremy Wenneker

John R. Furman

Friend

Jill & David H. Morgan

Joan Porte

Joshua L. Bynum

Karen B. Castille

Patricia & Thomas M. Keithly

Patricia L. & Albert B. Boynton, Jr.

Peter C. Bond

William Ransom

Amy & Chad E. Burrow

Betty J. Hart Fabbri

Christa Mummah

James E. Sparks, Jr.

Lewistown Community Bank

Lin He

Mary P. Priestly

Mrs.&Mrs. Robert W. Cotter

Mr. Kory D. Vrieze

Rachel Lynch

Robert Ainsley

Sherrie Taylor

Dr. Joy McKee

Henley Supply, Inc.

Anna & William B. Davis

Monteagle S.S. Assembly

Laura Brooks Rice

Laurence R. Alvarez

Margaret & Robert A. Ayres

Patricia & Tommy Sipes

Susan L. D. Peek

Elise A. Kikis & Stephen R. Miller

Sue E. & Gus S. Hiller

Sarah & Donald Bryan Zimmerman

National Federation of Music Clubs

Sidney & H. David Hickey, Jr.

The Rev. Dr. & Mrs. Elenor L. Anderson III

Trudy & Joel L. Cunningham

Wanda S. Everett

Dugg McDonough

Judith A. Kilkenny

Sarah M. Hubbard

Betty P. & James Blythe, Jr.

Edith A. Bergay

Kathleen & David Kelley

Marian & Frank W. Shaffer

Nancy & Stephen W. Burnett

Robert Marion Wilbanks, Jr.

Sewanee Woman's Club

She-e Wu

Susan & Jack W. Steinmeyer

Sylvanie & George W. Poe

The Rev. Canon Robert Michael Owens

The Rev. Scott C. Lee

Timothy E. Pearson

Phebe Carter Hethcock

Named Chairs

The Martha McCrory Principal Cello Chair of the Cumberland Orchestra and Sewanee Symphony

Given by the family of Martha McCrory

The Dr. Stephanie Smith Principal Timpani Chair of the Sewanee Symphony

Given by Dr. Stephanie Smith

Tansill & John S. Hille Faculty Flute Chair

Given by Tansill & John S. Hille

Jaccqueline Avent SSMF Scholarship

Prize Fund established by Walter E. Nance, M.D. & Mayna Avent Nance

Blaffer SSMF Endowment funded by the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation

The Frederick Hailey Croom, Jr. Cello Scholarship established by a gift of Dr. Henrietta Brown Croom in honor of her son

Dudley Fort SSMF Scholarship Fund established by

Endowments

Supporters

Special Scholarships

Bruce Dinkins Alumni Scholarship

Martha McCrory Memorial Fund

Rice Family Opera Scholarship

Martha McCrory Memorial Fund established through a bequest by Martha McCrory

Kathlyn B. Hays SSMF Scholarship Fund established through a bequest by Kathlyn Hays

Elmer & Katherine Ingram SSMF Scholarship Fund established through a bequest by Mr. & Mrs. Ingram

George & Mamie Neville SSMF Scholsrhip Fund established by Holton C. Rush in memory of George and Mamie Neville

David and Lorraine Schlatter SSMF Fund established by Mr. and Mrs. Schlatter

Dortha Skelton Violin Scholarship Fund established by a bequest of Dortha Skelton

Martha Clark Dugan SSMF Artist-inResidence Fund established by the family of Martha Clark Dugan to bring workd class artists to SSMF

SEWANEE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL

June 16—July 14, 2024

Frame Gallery

Custom frames & Art

Founded in 2018, Frame Gallery is a fullservice custom frame shop and an art gallery that showcases work by local and regional artists and unique one-of-a-kind gifts from around the world

Photos by David Andrews

SEWANEE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2023