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2008 Schubert Club Scholarship Finals-Judges-
From his groundbreaking transcriptions of Radiohead to his unforgettable interpretations of classic and new repertoire, pianist Christopher O'Riley has redefined the possibilities of classical music. He has taken his unique vision to both traditional classical music venues and symphonic settings, as well as to entirely new audiences on the radio, at universities and even clubs. As host of the most popular classical music radio show on the air, From the Top (distributed on National Public Radio), Mr. O'Riley works and performs with the next generation of brilliant young musicians, demonstrating to audiences with humor and a lack of pretension, that these young artists are no different than any other child. An interpreter and arranger of some of the most important contemporary rock music of our time, Chris lives by the Duke Ellington adage, "there are only two kinds of music, good music and bad." His first recording of British alt-pop outfit Radiohead transcriptions, "True Love Waits" received 4 stars from Rolling Stone and was as critically acclaimed as it was commercially successful. His latest recording, “Home to Oblivion: An Elliott Smith Tribute,” is available now on iTunes.
Distinguished American soprano Benita Valente’s long career has encompassed the operatic stage as well as performance of lieder, chamber music and oratorio. She is especially lauded for her interpretations of Mozart, Handel, and Verdi. She studied voice at the Music Academy of the West with Lotte Lehmann and Martial Singher and later graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music. Upon winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she made a notable debut with the Met in 1973, singing Pamina in The Magic Flute. As a chamber performer, she has collaborated with the Guarneri, Juilliard and Orion String Quartets. She has performed with numerous instrumentalists, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and pianists Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher and Richard Goode. She made a celebrated recording of Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock with pianist Rudolf Serkin. Among the composers who have written music for Ms. Valente are William Bolcom, Alberto Ginastera, and Libby Larsen. Ms. Valente was the 1999 recipient of the Bogomolny National Service Award, the highest honor bestowed by Chamber Music America, for her contributions to chamber music - the first vocalist to be so honored in the history of the award. She retired from singing in 2000 and regularly devotes her time to teaching vocal master classes. She has taught at the Cincinnati Conservatory program in Lucca, Italy; the European Mozart Academy in Poland; and the Stearns Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia.
Latvian violinist, Baiba Skride was the winner of the renowned Queen Elizabeth Contest 2001. Remarkably, she inspired the jury of this highly coveted violin contest—which is obligated to keeping its emotional distance—to spontaneous applause. This exceptional violin talent is a popular guest for the world’s most important orchestras. She has strong relationships with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Hans Graf, Neeme Jarvi and Sir Neville Marriner. Baiba Skride is being presented exclusively by Sony Classical, a relationship which began in 2004. Since then, she has released three highly praised CDs: a solo violin disc of Ysaye, Bartok, and Bach; a Mozart, Schubert and Michael Haydn concerto disc; and a Shostakovich and Janacek concerto disc. Her fourth disc, a duo program with her long-established partner and sister, Lauma Skride, was launched during a tour of Japan and Asia in Autumn 2006. Chamber music remains at the heart of Baiba Skride’s music-making, and she performs worldwide with her sister. They have also joined forces with cellist, Sol Gabetta, and this trio are rapidly gaining impressive recognition for their performances on the concert platforms of Europe. Baiba Skride was born into a musical Latvian family in Riga in 1981 where she began her studies, transferring in 1995 to the Conservatory of Music and Theatre in Rostock, where she studied with Professor Petru Munteanu. Baiba Skride plays the Stradivarius "Wilhelmj" violin (1725), which is generously on loan to her from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Since his career was launched by winning the 1990 Guitar Foundation of America solo competition, Joseph has maintained an active performing career as a soloist and chamber musician. Praised for his passionate performances and flawless technique as well as his varied programs — on guitar and Renaissance lute — Joseph’s solo and concerto appearances have taken him to more than 25 American cities and to Canada. He has been heard twice on the nationally broadcast radio program Saint Paul Sunday, once with the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet and again with assistant concertmaster of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Leslie Shank. A gifted arranger for the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, in 1995 he also was awarded the Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship. This native Iowan and founding member of the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet received his bachelor of music degree from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and his master of music degree from the University of Minnesota. He was a student of Richard Stratton, Christopher Carrington, Nelson Amos, and Jeffrey Van. Joseph has been on the music faculty of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls since 1988.
MARJORY BLACKFrench horn & solfege instructor at MacPhail Center for Music, Ms. Black holds a bachelor of music from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master of music from the University of Minnesota. She has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and is a member of the Minnesota Woodwind Quintet and the Mill City Brass Quintet. She has performed with the Minnesota Chorale, Oratorio Society and Greater Twin Cities’ Youth Symphonies. A former member of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Denver Symphony and Honolulu Symphony, she is also on the faculty at Hamline University where she teaches French horn. DANIEL FRETLANDTrumpeter Daniel Fretland was the winner of the 1996 Schubert Club Competition and is a substitute performer with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Fretland received his Bachelors Degree in Music Education and Trumpet Performance at the University of Minnesota and Masters Degree in Music Education from the University of St. Thomas. He has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Los Angeles Contemporary Music Festival, the London Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Ballet Company, and has toured portions of the upper Midwest as featured soloist with the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble. Additionally, Mr. Fretland is a high school music educator and an adjunct faculty member at Augsburg College. MICHAEL GASTThe Principal Horn of the Minnesota Orchestra since the Fall of 2004, Mr. Gast entered Florida State University at seventeen as a performance scholarship student with Dr. William Capps. He later studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Mason Jones. He was named a finalist in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Concerto Competition. Upon graduation, he headed the horn section of the Jacksonville Symphony and served as assistant principal horn of the San Antonio Symphony. Mr. Gast has been a featured soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, Miami Chamber Orchestra, Sunriver Music Festival, Winters Chamber Orchestra, Musical Offerings, Texas Bach Choir, and at International Horn Society Workshops. THEODORE SCHOENDr. Ted Schoen teaches applied Clarinet and Saxophone at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, as well as classes in arranging and music technology. He received his B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Juilliard School and his D.M.A. from Florida State University. His teachers were Stanley Drucker, Joseph Allard, and Charles Russo. Dr. Schoen frequently plays with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and he has performed, toured, and recorded with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, including its recordings of Mahler’s Symphonies No. 2, 6 & 7 and Mozart’s Requiem. He has served as the Principal Clarinetist with the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Bass Clarinetist with the Florida Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Schoen also has performed with the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Colorado Philharmonic, and orchestras throughout the country. Equally at home in the jazz and pop idioms, Professor Schoen toured for three months with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and has performed with Ray Charles, Rod Stewart, and the Moody Blues. An active chamber music soloist, he has given recitals at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Recital Hall. CHARLES ULLERYCharles Ullery has been principal bassoon of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra since 1975. Prior to joining the SPCO, he was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under conductor Seiji Ozawa, and performed in the Sixth Army Band at the Presidio of San Francisco. Mr. Ullery graduated cum laude in mathematics from the University of Arizona at age 19. As a soloist with the SPCO, Ullery has performed concertos by Vivaldi, Haydn, Husa, Martin, Mozart, Weber, Strauss, Panufnik and Jolivet. He has appeared twice as a soloist at the Sarasota Music Festival, as guest artist at the Glickman-Popkin bassoon camp in North Carolina, at the Utah Festival and at the Carnegie Hall Festival. He spent the 1987-88 season as a faculty member at Oberlin College, and currently is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Minnesota and Macalester College. Since the summer of 1976, Mr. Ullery has been principal bassoon of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Jackson, Wyoming, where he has also served as a program commentator.
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