The Schubert Club's Courtroom Concert Series
2007-2008 Season
Thursday, November 15, 12:05-1:00 PM
FREE Admission
Landmark Center, Courtroom 317
651–292–3267
Alan Bryan, baritone
Sarah Schmalenberger, horn
Will Kemperman, vibraphone
James Callahan, fortepiano
"Six Notecard Bagatelles for Bruce" for Fortepiano by James Callahan
(performed by the composer)
"Five Songs" by James Callahan, Texts by Walt Whitman
The Last Invocation
Pensive and Faltering
A Clear Midnight
O living Always, Always Dying
Darest Thou Now O Soul
Mozart Octet
Dawn Alitz and Susan Jones, oboe
Mitch Blatt and Kent J. Barth, clarinet
Vicki Wheeler and Steve Ecklund, horn
Paul Humiston and Kate Saumur, bassoon
Serenade in E-flat K. 375 - Mozart, W.A.
Allegro maestoso
Menuetto
Adagio
Menuetto
Finale
ARTIST BIOS:
Dr. James P. Callahan, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN retired in September 2006 after 38 years of teaching at St. Thomas. He taught piano, organ, composition, music theory, piano literature. He earned a BA from St. John’s University (MN) and an MFA in piano and Ph.D. in music theory and composition from the University of Minnesota. In addition he studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Vienna Academy of Music.
As an organist, Callahan has performed numerous recitals in the upper mid-west, New York and Austria. His performances have appeared on the nationally broadcast radio program “Pipedreams.” Centaur issued a CD of his performances of works by Oberdoerffer, Reger, Rheinberger and Schmidt.
He also performed solo piano recitals and made concerto appearances. His repertoire includes all five piano concertos by Beethoven. He made five appearances on KTCA-TV’s Private College Concert Series and his recitals have been broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio. In addition to his solo performances, he has been a member of the Callahan and Faricy duo piano team who have performed extensively throughout the upper midwest.
Callahan has composed over one hundred twenty five works for piano, organ, orchestra, band, opera, and chamber ensembles. His works have been performed both by the Minnesota Orchestra, and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. His two operas, Processions and Sanctuary have left their audiences contemplating how people of faith should respond to a world filled with human evil. Live performances of his “Cantata” for two choirs and instrumentalists, “Psalm Cantata” for choir and organ, and “Tetraptych: a Symphony in Four Scenes” have each been produced as stand alone programs and broadcast on MPR. His works have been published by McLaughlin-Reilly, GIA, Paraclete Press, Abingdon Press, and Beautiful Star Publishing. Awards have included a study grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a Bush Artist Fellowship.
Alan Bryan has sung with the Eastman Opera Theater in New York, Denver Lyric Opera, North Star Opera, Musica Nova, Minnesota Opera and with numerous other companies and orchestras throughout the United States. He has more than 40 leading opera roles to his credit, regularly premieres new works and has performed recitals across the country. As director of opera theater at the University of St. Thomas he has coordinated and directed the premieres of five new student operas in the last decade. One of these premiere productions, "Belissa" by Albert Biales, was selected by video audition to be performed next season by the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn. Dr. Bryan received his D.M.A degree from the Eastman School of Music in New York.
Will Kemperman is a free-lance percussionist in the Twin Cities area, and is also on faculty at Hamline University. He performs with the Group Vocal Essence at Orchestra Hall, and was recently the featured percussionist with the Macalester College Festival Chorale. He has studied and performed Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Highland, and Middle-Eastern doumbek styles, and has much experience on jazz and rock drum set. He has appeared in various venues in the Twin Cities including Orchestra Hall, Fine Line Music Café, Patrick’s Cabaret, and Bryant Lake Bowl. He presents regular recitals in Hamline University’s Sundin Hall. His list of appearance also includes a performing at the 2000 Percussive Arts Society Convention, cruise ship drumming work, and a European tour as faculty coordinator/perfomer with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp International Youth Orchestra.
Sarah Schmalenberger teaches courses in music history and literature, as well as studio French horn at UST. Currently, Dr. Schmalenberger is engaged with several areas of research, from published articles on black American women in concert music to new inquiries into music pedagogy and also music and disability. She is the primary investigator of the Life and Livelihood Study, a national research project on the occupational and medical well-being of musicians after breast cancer. In addition, Dr. Schmalenberger maintains an active schedule as a freelance hornist, both the modern and the valveless horns. She is the principal horn of the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra as well as the Early Music Orchestra, and she has recently commissioned a work for horn, percussion, and guitar by composer Albert Biales.
Dawn Alitz has performed with the Rochester, Austin, and Quad-Cities Symphonies as well as currently serving as principal oboist of Allegro Sinfonia. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Iowa and her Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music. Active with chamber music throughout her career, she participated in the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in 1991 and performed a concert series with Pacific International Concert Artists (Honolulu, HI) in 2000. She is a regularly featured artist with Thursday Musical and is a free-lance musician in the Twin Cities area.
Susan Jones is a graduate of Minnesota State University, where she studied with Clayton Tiede. She also studied with R.J. Angelucci of the Minnesota Orchestra and at the University of Northern Iowa with Thomas Barry. She has performed with the St. Paul Civic, Minnetonka, Augustana, Mankato Symphonies and Twin Cities Ensembles. Susan taught Bravo Music at Minnetonka Schools. She teaches instrumental music at Chaska School of Music and St. John's Lutheran School.
Mitch Blatt grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., where he studied with Sidney Forrest. He received a bachelor's in Music from the University of Michigan and then put it to good use at medical school. He currently practices--both medicine and clarinet--in Minneapolis and especially enjoys playing chamber music.
Kent J. Barth has been playing clarinet most of his life. After an eighteen-year leave from music, he decided to reconnect with his favorite instrument, performing with many local community concert bands, orchestras and theatre orchestras. Memorable experiences include playing clarinet and saxophone in the orchestra of the Bloomington Civic Theatre’s production of ‘Hello Dolly’ (starring Sally Struthers). Kent is proud to be one of the first students at MacPhail Center of Music to complete their Certificate Program. Studies included music theory, composition, history and intense clarinet lessons. When he’s not playing clarinet, Kent works as a Senior Software Developer for RBC Dain Rauscher Financial Services.
Paul Humiston began his bassoon studies with William Allgood of Western Michigan University, and continued with Homer Pence while pursuing a degree in architecture at Ball State University. He has been active as a performer with various Twin Cities groups including Symphony of the Lakes and Allegro Sinfonia, where he is currently the principal bassoonist. As principal bassoonist with the Mississippi Valley Chamber Orchestra he was twice a featured soloist including the premiere performance of Ephemeral Gestures for Bassoon and Orchestra by Charles Hoag at the Walker Art Center. He was a founding member of the Lametti Chamber Winds and is a frequent performer with Thursday Musical. Paul is an architect with Paul Meyer Architects in Plymouth, MN.
Kate Saumur maintains an active free-lance career, including performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, the South Dakota Symphony, the Rochester Orchestra and Chorale, and numerous other ensembles. She has been principal bassoonist with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra since 1983, and principal bassoonist with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra since 2005. She is a past winner of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra concerto competition and the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra Masters’ Concerto and Aria contest. She is a student of Norbert Nielubowski, bassoonist and contrabassoonist with the Minnesota Orchestra and works as a software engineer for Secure Computing Corporation.
Steve Ecklund grew up in North Dakota where he began his musical studies on trumpet, switching to horn after his first year of college. He studied with Charles McDonald of the Minnesota Orchestra and currently performs with the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis, where he is principal horn, with the Lake Wobegon Brass Band, and with the Nicollet Brass Quintet. Steve also plays the Swiss alphorn and can occasionally be seen at ethnic festivals around the Twin Cities wearing his alpine hat and lederhosen. Steve is a graduate of NDSU in Fargo with a degree in electrical engineering. He is a senior design engineer with Honeywell in Minneapolis where he lives with his wife Catherine and daughter Johanna.
Vicki Wheeler is a graduate of Luther College with a B.A. in English and religion. She is a member of the Victory Park Brass, Dolce Wind Quintet, Trio Brava, and Ruby Trio. Vicki also plays Eb tenor horn and is executive manager for the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band. She has performed with other professional groups including the Duluth-Superior Symphony
Orchestra, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, Como Park Pops Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia, and the Minnesota Opera. Vicki also plays the Swiss alphorn whenever she gets the opportunity and is a freelance musician. She teaches private horn lessons in her home in Minneapolis, much to the delight of Wally, her standard poodle puppy.
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