Musical Arts Series

“For a Quality Experience in Music…”

All concerts are at 7:30 in Fine Arts Recital Hall (“Little Theatre”) There is no admission charge for concerts or masterclasses.

Amsterdam Cello Octet with Charlotte Riedijk, Sop.

October 6

The Amsterdam Cello Octet (formerly Cello Octet Conjunto Ibérico) is a Dutch chamber music ensemble that is unique in the world of music as it is formed by 8 celli. The ensemble was founded 20 years ago, in 1989. The special composition of the group demands specially written music and the Octet has inspired many great contemporary composers to write pieces for them. Among them are Arvo Pärt, Terry Riley, Mauricio Kagel, Theo Loevendie, Franco Donatoni and Luciano Berio. At present Cello Octet Amsterdam has more than 70 original works in its repertoire. The group surprises audiences as well with the many passionate Spanish and South American songs that they perform with singers such as Teresa Berganza, Charlotte Riedijk, Pilar Jurado, Bernarda Fink and Elena Gragera.

Taikoza, Japanese music and dance

October 20

Experience the thunderous rhythms of the ancestral Japanese Taiko drums and the magical sounds of the bamboo flutes at the hands of the internationally acclaimed Taikoza drum group. Featuring performances on a 6-foot-long ancestral Taiko drum, the program artfully blends its thunderous sound with colorful dances and soulful melodies played on bamboo flutes. Traditional costumes and dynamic motion make Taikoza shows immensely popular with audiences of all ages. The group has appeared on various television programs such as the history Channel's History vs Hollywood and ESPN’s "S.U.M.O: The Battle of the Giants".

Maryann Kyle, Soprano

October 29 & 30

Concert - October 29
Masterclass - October 30, 2 P.M.

Maryann Kyle has sung leading roles with the Mississippi Opera, Chattanooga Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, the Southern Arts Festival Opera, the University of Illinois, East Tennessee Opera, LSU Opera, Gulf Coast Opera, and The Opera at USM. She has shared the stage with some of world’s greatest artists including performing the role of Micaela in Carmen, opposite internationally known mezzo-soprano, Denyce Graves, as a guest soloist with The Miami Festival, opposite famed bass-baritone William Warfield, and as soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Timothy Nobles and Marietta Simpson. In addition, she appeared as a soloist on the pop music stage with famed artists Patti Labelle, Patti Austin, Dionne Warwick, Ann Nesby and Vesta Williams.

Category 5 Wind Quintet

November 3 & 4

Concert – November 3
Masterclass – November 4, 2 P.M.

Category 5 is a wind quintet comprised of faculty members at the University of Southern Mississippi. This dynamic group seeks always to present a diverse and exciting program, often performing specially commissioned pieces and other items of new music alongside works from the standard wind quintet repertoire. Category 5 maintains an active performance schedule in the U.S. and abroad in addition to on-campus presentations and educational outreach activities. In November 2008, the quintet toured Brazil. In 2009, they will be performing throughout the southern United States.

Hugues Leclere, pianist

November 16 & 17

Masterclass- November 16, 2 P.M.
Concert – November 17

Born in France, Hugues Leclere perfected his playing with Catherine Collard before entering the conservatoire national superieur de musique de Paris, from which he graduated with high honors in piano, music theory, and chamber music. He studied at this period with Jean-Claude Pennetier, Jean-François Heisser, Alain Planès, Régis Pasquier et Alain Louvier. He performs in recitals in France such as at the Cite de la musique, at the festival d’Ile de France, festival Présences of Radio France, Riom, Boucard, Pierrefonds, Flaine, Melle, La Prée, Musique en Albret, Abbaye de Sées, Mazaugues, Chateauneuf du Pape.

Spanish Brass Luur Metalls

February 11

In 1989 five Spanish musicians created Spanish Brass Luur Metalls —an eclectic and innovative project that has attained the highest levels in the fields of music performance, education and creation. In 1996, Spanish Brass Luur Metalls won the First Prize in the Ville de Narbonne (France) International Brass Quintet Competition, the most prestigious event of its kind in the world. Since then, Spanish Brass has given hundreds of concerts across the globe, in major festivals and venues such as the Festival de Musique de Radio-France, the Great American Brass Band Festival, New York Brass Conference, Granada International Festival, Lucerne Festival, Cheju Summer Festival (Korea), Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany), National Auditorium (Madrid), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), Kalavrita Festival (Greece), International Horn Society, Merano Brass Festival and Trento Philharmonic (Italy), Barcelona Auditorium, Festival de Inverno de Brasília,and countless others.

Amanda Pepping, trumpet soloist

March 1, 7:30 PM – Residency with SE Symphonic Band - Solo Recital

March 2, 2:00 pm – Masterclass for SE students

March 3, 2:00 pm - Masterclass for area students

March 3, 7:30 pm - Performance with SE Symphonic Band

Amanda Pepping enjoys her multi-faceted career as a performer, arranger, and educator. She has given recitals and solo appearances throughout the United States and Europe. She has performed with groups including the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony, the Arizona Opera, the Sun City Symphony, and the Brass Band of Battle Creek, Michigan. She has been a featured soloist with numerous European ensembles, including the Hombeek Brass Band in Belgium, and with many ensembles here in the United States, including the ASU Marimba Ensemble, Mesa Community College Bands in Mesa, AZ, Salt River Brass Band. She had the honor of presenting a solo recital at the 2006 International Trumpet Guild Convention in New Jersey, where she performed works from her first solo album, Amanda, which is available through Summit Records. Amanda was a 2005-2006 Fulbright Fellow in Karlsruhe, Germany, studying the Baroque trumpet with world-renowned trumpet soloist, historian, and teacher Dr. Edward Tarr.

Giovanni Battel, pianist

March 25 & 26

Concert – March 25
Masterclass – March 26, 2 P.M.

Giovanni Umberto Battel, born in the province of Venice, began his piano’s studies when he was four years old, under the guidance of his father Camillo, pianist and composer, and graduated with full marks and honours and honourable mention at the “G. Tartini” Conservatory in Trieste, under the direction of M° Luciano Gante. Under pianist Lya De Barberiis he obtained, with full marks and honours, the post-graduate diploma at the “Accademia di Santa Cecilia” in Roma. In the meantime, having an education in classical studies, Battel took a degree in musicology, with full marks and honours, at Bologna University and published articles on the new methodologies of performing analysis. Between 1974 and 1979 he won six important national piano competitions connected with the main Italian concert societies.

Velvet Brown, tuba soloist

April 8 & 9

Concert – April 8
Masterclass – April 9, 2 P.M.

Velvet Brown enjoys a professional career as an international soloist and chamber ensemble performer, recording artist, conductor and orchestral player. She has made regular appearances throughout Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Finland, France, England, Hungary, Russia, Japan, Canada and the United States. Ms. Brown is currently the principal tubist of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, and the River City Brass Band. She has served as substitute or additional tubist with the Detroit Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, San Francisco Women’s Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. She has also garnered high praise as a founding and current member of the Monarch Brass Quintet and Brass Ensemble, the Junction Tuba Quartet, the Garda Duo, and as frequent soloist with the Percussion Plus Project. Velvet Brown is associate professor of tuba and euphonium at the Pennsylvania State University.