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Department of Fine Arts
Performing Arts Highlights 2003-2004
 
Woods DuoFMU First Tuesday Chamber Music Series
Tuesday, 2 September 2003
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

The Woods Duo with Starr Ward
Starr Ward, violin
Benjamin Woods, piano
Sherry Woods, viola

Starr Ward is co-principal violinist with the Florence Symphony Orchestra and has been a soloist in the past two seasons.  She graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Music Education.

Sherry Woods, viola, is Principal Viola of the Florence Symphony and a member of the South Carolina Philharmonic.  She recently completed the DMA in musical composition from the University of South Carolina, where she completed a DMA in viola in 1991.  She maintains a studio of private students in Florence.

Benjamin Woods is professor of music at Francis Marion University and the music director/conductor of the Florence Symphony Orchestra.  As pianist he performs solo and chamber recitals around the country, and he coordinates the monthly First Tuesday Chamber Recital Series for the Department of Fine Arts and Mass Communication.

Duo, K 423. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .W.A. Mozart
    Allegro
               Starr Ward, Sherry Woods
Sonata in G minor . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry Eccles
    Largo
    Corrente: Allegro
             Sherry Woods, Benjamin Woods
Sarahbande. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sherry Woods
             Sherry Woods, Benjamin Woods
Mbira Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.A. Mathieu
Self Confidence
                    Benjamin Woods
Polish Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Severn
              Starr Ward, Benjamin Woods
Suite   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernest Bloch
    1. Lento - Allegro - Largamente
             Sherry Woods, Benjamin Woods
Nachtgesang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Max Bruch
       Starr Ward, Sherry Woods, Benjamin Woods


Ashu Kejariwal FMU Artist Series Concert
Thursday, 2 October 2003
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

Ashu Kejariwal, classical saxophone

Ashu Kejariwal has won numerous international and national competitions, and has performed extensively as concerto soloist and recitalist. He has performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as the winner of the 1997 National Alliance for Excellence Performing Arts Competition. At age 16, Kejariwal made his debut as concerto soloist with the United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C. after winning First Prize in the National Col. George S. Howard Young Artist Competition. Since then, his performances have taken him from Lanai, Hawaii to Trondheim, Norway.

Kejariwal has had exceptional success on the competition scene, winning first prizes in many prestigious contests. These include the International Heida Hermanns 2000 Young Artists Competition, the 2001 National Midland-Odessa Young Artist Competition, the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra 2001 Concerto Competition, the Northwestern Symphony Orchestra 2000 Concerto Competition, the National Federation of Music Clubs 2001 Student Competition, and the 2000 Kingsville International Young Performers’ Wind Instrumentalist Competition. In addition he was the First Prize winner in the 2001 Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, resulting in a concerto appearance with the orchestra.

Kejariwal has made it his goal to bring the concert saxophone to as wide an audience as possible. Recent concert engagements include performances of two premiers on the "Music for Awhile" Concert Series, the Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple Concert Series, and Chicago’s WFMT Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, which will be broadcast live on 500 radio stations throughout the country. Kejariwal has been invited to perform as concerto soloist with various ensembles throughout the country, including the Waco Symphony Orchestra, the Woodlands Symphony Orchestra, and the Corpus Christi Wind Symphony. He performed as soloist with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra after winning First Prize in the 1997 National Lennox Young Artist Concerto Competition.

Kejariwal is regularly praised for his ability to communicate with an audience through a uniquely engaging stage presence. He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Saxophone Performance from Northwestern University under the tutelage of Frederick Hemke.

For additional bio and repertoire visit Ashu's Website: http://www.ashuonline.com.


Allen Johnson, lute and guitar FMU First Tuesday Chamber Music Series
Tuescay, 14 October 2003
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

Allen Johnson, lute and guitar

E. Allen Johnson is a native of Columbia, SC, and has been involved in music since an early age. While attending Columbia High School, he was twice a member of the All State Chorus in the bass section and three times in the Columbia All City Band as a clarinetist. He also taught himself folk guitar and Appalachian Dulcimer.

At the University of South Carolina, he studied voice and clarinet, and began to pay close attention to classical guitar players. He was a member of the USC Concert Choir under the direction of Arpad Daraz, who had been a student of Zoltan Kodaly in Hungary. This choir toured Europe and took first place in the folk and contemporary categories in the Bela Bartok International Choir Competition in Debrecen, Hungary in 1976. They also performed at the MENC convention in New Orleans in 1975 and the 1977 Spoleto Festival. Allen was also a member of the USC Collegium Musicum, which was an ensemble devoted to the performance of "early music," primarily of the Renaissance and Medieval periods. He played recorders, crumhorn, cornamuse, rackett, shawm and cornetto with this group, and was associated with lute, viol and guitar players. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music History in 1977.

Since coming to Florence in 1983 to open a branch of Parker Music Co., Allen has been very involved in the local music scene, performing in the Little Theater pit orchestra, accompanying the Master Works Choir, numerous school and civic events, Madrigal dinners at South Florence High and Coker College, and playing many weddings. He has served as a adjunct professor at Coker College, and has played violin in the Florence Symphony Orchestra for a number of years. He is a past board member of the Florence Area Arts Alliance, and presented a lecture to the Pee Dee Heritage Center on Music In the Pee Dee, which was sponsored by FMU, Coker College, Coastal Carolina and the Governor's School.

Allen taught the strings program at Wilson High and Williams Middle School for the past three years, but has now decided to concentrate on private lessons and performing.

                             On Lute
Pack's Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anon. 16th Century
A Galliard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Robinson 1603
Gavotte En Rondeau. . . . . . . . . . . . . J. S. Bach 1685-1750
    From The Lute Suite #3 In G Minor
                            On Guitar
Kemp's Jig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anon. 16th Century
Eye Hath Not Seen . . . . . . . . . . Orlando Di Lasso 1530-1594
Pavannas Y Folias . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gaspar Sanz 1640-1710
Minuet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Henry Purcell 1659-1695
Sarabande And Double. . . . . . . . . . . . J. S. Bach 1685-1750
    From The Partita #1 For Solo Violin
Andante And Andantino . . . . . . . . Fernando Carulli 1770-1841
Cadence And Allegro . . . . . . . . . . Mauro Giuliani 1781-1829
Two Minuets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fernando Sor 1778-1839
    Allegro
    Andantino
Leccion In A Minor. . . . . . . . . . . . Fernando Sor 1778-1839
Study In D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fernando Sor 1778-1839
Study In A Minor. . . . . . . . . . . .Matteo Carcassi 1792-1853
Lagrima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Francisco Tarrega 1854-1909
El Testamen De N'amelia . . . . . . . . .Miguel Llobet 1875-1938
               With Guest Flautist Laura Greenway
Siciliana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. S. Bach 1685-1750
    From Sonata #2 For Flute
Gavotte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. F. Handel 1685-1759
    From Sonata For Flute In C Major

FMU First Tuesday Chamber Music Series
Tuesday, 4 November 2003
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

The Florence Symphony Winds

        Kristin Slaughenhoupt, flute
        Peter Fichte, clarinet
        Christine Fisher, clarinet
        John Goshen, horn
        R. L. Skinner, Jr., bassoon and saxophone
        Benjamin Woods, piano


Divertimento No. 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W. A. Mozart
    Allegro Spiritoso
    Andante
    Menuetto
    Molto Allegro
                           Wind Quintet

Queen Mary Suite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Henry Purcell
                         Woodwind Quintet

Vocalise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Serge Rachmaninoff
                        Saxophone and Piano

Here's That Rainy Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Burke/Van Heusen
                        Saxophone and Piano

Adagio for Woodwinds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W. A. Mozart
                         Woodwind Quintet

Quintet for Winds in C minor. . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Müller
    Allegro con Brio
    Andante con Moto
    Menuetto
    Allegro non Troppo
                           Wind Quintet

Kristin Slaughenhoupt is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno with a BA in Music Performance and a BS in Finance. A native of California, Kristin was the principal member of the Reno Municipal Band, Sierra Masters Chorale Orchestra, Ruby Mountain Symphony and others. Active in the National Flute Association and acting president of the Sierra Flute Society Inc., Kristin has been teaching for 16 years. She currently performs with the Zefiro Flute Trio as well as the Florence Symphony Woodwind Quintet.

Peter Fichte has played in a number of orchestras, bands, and chamber music groups. His orchestral experiences include the New Rochelle (NY) Symphony, the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra, the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra, the Danbury (CT) Symphony Orchestra, and the Florence Symphony Orchestra. His band experiences include the Westchester Pops Band (NY), the Burlington Vermont Town Band, and Chandler's Military Band (ME). His previous chamber music performances have been primarily in woodwind ensembles, such as the Maine Woodwind Chamber Players (1970-1983).

Christine Sides Fisher was a graduate of the University of South Carolina where she was a clarinet student of Douglas Graham.  Named Teacher of the Year for South Carolina a few years ago, she is the band director at Southside Middle School.  She has played in the FSO for many years, and has performed in many chamber music groups in this area.

Roy Skinner. After a colorful career as a jazz saxophonist, Dr. Skinner was drafted by Dr. Gordon Bobbett to play bassoon in the Florence Symphony while serving at McLeod Hospital as a young medical intern in 1955. He has been principal bassoonist with the FSO ever since, frequently performing solo concertos with the orchestra. He founded and performs with the various groups of the Florence Symphony Winds and other chamber music groups. After being one of the original performers and organizers of the First Tuesday Chamber Series, he has since performed in the series nearly every year.

Benjamin Woods is professor of music at Francis Marion University and the former music director/conductor of the Florence Symphony Orchestra.  As pianist he performs solo and chamber recitals around the country, and he coordinates the monthly First Tuesday Chamber Recital Series for the Department of Fine Arts.


Teresa Walters Burns Memorial Recital
FMU Artist Series Concert
Thursday, 13 November 2003
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

Burns Memorial Recital
Teresa Walters, piano

Internationally acclaimed pianist Teresa Walters will present her Keynote Comments® format solo piano recital titled Music of Comfort and Joy: Stories and Themes of Great Concertos.  Audiences in South America, Canada, as well as in the U.S. are responding to it with overwhelming enthusiasm.

Concerto No. 2 in C minor. Op. 18.................Rachmaninoff
      Moderate: Allegro
      Adagio sostenuto
      Allegro Scherzando

Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23...........Tchaikovsky
      Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso
      Andantino simplice
      Allegro con fuoco

Teresa Walters is very comfortable speaking to her audiences.  She developed her Keynote Comments® several years ago in response to the need to more fully share her music in certain settings.  In appropriate college, community, and lecture settings, Teresa shares enlightening information about the music before performing various selections on the recital program.  Her comments are insightful and often entertaining.  These programs have become quite popular with all kinds of audiences, from the musically sophisticated to those audiences hearing the music for the first time.


Teresa Walters is widely considered to be one of the world’s most uniquely gifted virtuoso pianists. Her concerts this season are part of an intense international schedule that includes performances throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Recent highlights include performances with the Romanian Brasov Philharmonic in celebration of their 125th Anniversary, a South American debut in Sao Paolo, sponsored by Brazil’s Serie International De Concertos in honor of International Women’s Day, and an invitation to perform with the Bombay Orchestra at India’s new National Center for the Performing Arts. Under sponsorship of the Liszt-Kodaly Society of Spain, she was invited to perform the inaugural recital of the International Liszt Cycle Concert Series in Zaragoza. In her solo recitals and appearances as guest artist with symphony orchestras, Teresa Walters is a musical ambassador at home and abroad. 

In recent seasons, Teresa Walters has performed as recitalist and orchestral soloist on six continents and in most of the 50 United States. Her biography could be written from headlines alone: “Teresa Walters Plays Piano on Grand Scale” (The Cincinnati Inquirer); “Her Hands Create Cascades of Luminescence” (The Washington Post); “Concert Simfonic Extraordinaire” (Bucharest Stagiunea); “Bright Shining Star in Recital” (El Norte, Mexico). 

Teresa Walters’ recent performance at Lincoln Center in New York earned a standing ovation from a capacity crowd. A veteran of the world’s greatest concert stages, she has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, the Salle Cortot in Paris, and the Great Hall of Moscow. Her international tours in recent seasons have included Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Australia, Japan and Israel where the Jerusalem Post described her artistry as “Marvelous! As close to perfect as I hope to hear.” 

Teresa Walters recently became the first American pianist invited to perform three prestigious European recitals honoring the Anniversary of composer Franz Liszt’s birthday. In addition to recitals at the Liszt Academy of Music and Memorial Museum in Budapest, she performed at Esterhazy Palace in Austria under the patronage of the present governing Prince Anton Esterhazy. Her recital at the composer's birthplace in Raiding was televised by Austrian National Television who described Teresa Walters as "one of the world's most significant pianists."

Teresa Walters is recording a series of releases featuring the sacred piano music of Franz Liszt. The latest CD in the series has recently been released and has received a nomination for the Grand Prix du Disque. Her new CD, hailed by FANFARE magazine as "a formidable display of technical dexterity and red-blooded-power", includes selections from Liszt's Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses as well as his Ave Maria d'Arcadelt, Alleluia, and Sonata in B Minor. In a recent review of her new CD, the Budapest Sun wrote: "Teresa Walters takes the keyboard into orbit." The American Record Guide has announced "her competition is virtually nil". Describing her virtuosity, The New York Times wrote: "There was much to admire: The crashing octave runs were all right on the mark. Not a note was smudged in the pages of intricate passagework and her conception had all the requisite sweep, power, and warm sonority." New York Concert Review reported: "This highly gifted Lisztian takes the music farther technically and spiritually. Her transcendental performance magically transforms the keyboard. She has a huge, rolling sound and makes music like an eagle surveying the landscape."

Additional Information, visit her website at www.teresawalters.com.


THE DAVID MARSHALL AND CATHERINE KOGER BURNS MEMORIAL RECITAL SERIES

    David Marshall Burns, Jr., and Catherine Koger Burns, natives of Charleston, South Carolina, were married and moved to Florence in 1933 where they became actively involved in civic activities and the arts. The Bums Recital Series was established in 1989 by Catherine Burns in memory of her husband and, upon her death in 1995, the Series was renamed the David Marshall and Catherine Koger Burns Memorial Recital Series.
    Mr. Burns was a graduate of the Medical University School of Pharmacy, with a post-graduate degree in pharmaceutical chemistry. Mr. Burns was chief pharmacist at Roper Hospital in Charleston until 1933 when he became Medical Service Representative for Eli Lilly and Company, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, and moved to Florence.
    He was a member of the South Carolina Pharmaceutical Association as well as the Travelling Men's Organization. He served on the Board of Health of Florence and was Chairman of the Salvation Army Board. He was a member of the Board of Stewards of Central Methodist Church. He was volunteer instructor of pharmacology at McLeod's Nursing School and was twice chosen by the nurses as outstanding teacher.
    Mr. Burns was a member of the Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Singing in America, Inc., an organization dedicated to the support of a hospital in Kansas which treats children with speech and hearing defects.
    He was a member of The Graduates, a Quartet which performed at various affairs including Art's Alive at Francis Marion University. He was honored by the local chapter in 1973 and again in 1984 when he was chosen Barbershopper of the Year. His hobby was antique clock collecting and repair. His collection of about 250 clocks went to a museum in North Carolina. After his retirement from Eli Lilly, Mr. Bums worked part-time at Dixon's Drug Store on Dargan Street.
    Catherine Koger Bums was a graduate of Memminger High School in Charleston and later earned degrees in Music and English at Coker College in Hartsville. A talented actress, she later took post graduate work at the University of North Carolina and studied drama at the Bennett School, Millbrook, New York. After a brief attempt to make a New York career in the theater, Mrs. Bums returned to South Carolina and taught piano in Midland, South Carolina, under the supervision of her cousin, Nell Mellichamp. Soon thereafter in 1933, she was married to David Marshall Burns of Charleston.
    In Florence, Mrs. Burns continued to perform as a regular with the Florence Little Theatre and played several leading roles in radio dramas produced by WIS, Columbia, and WCSC, Charleston. As a frequent reader at her Sorosis Literary Club, Mrs. Burns became regionally recognized as an interpreter of the poetry of Dubose Heywood, Harvey Alien, and others. For many years Mrs. Burns performed dramatic readings and narrations at Christmas and Easter Holidays at Central United Methodist Church and Timrod Park. Probably, however, the most satisfaction she ever derived from the use of her talents was when she was "The Story Lady" and read classic stories to the children at the Florence Public Library. This cherished activity was resumed in her adopted hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, where she lived until her death in March 1995. This recital series is a tribute to David and Catherine Burns and their valuable contributions to the enhancement of the arts in the Pee Dee.


David Burgess FMU Artist Series Concert
Thursday, 22 January 2004
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

David Burgess, guitar

David Burgess is rapidly establishing a reputation as one of today's outstanding guitarists. He has won top honors in many international music competitions including the Ponce International Competition in Mexico City, the Guitar '81 Competition in Toronto, and the 31st International Music Competition in Munich.

Mr. Burgess began studying guitar at the Estudio de Arte Guitarristico in Mexico City, with the pre-eminent Argentine guitarist, Manuel Lopez Ramos. He later earned a Diploma di Merito, while receiving a full scholarship at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. After earning a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Washington, he was appointed guitar instructor at both the University of Washington and the Cornish Institute of the Arts in Seattle.

In 1984, he was selected as the first recipient of the Andres Segovia Fellowship, after which he periodically received classes from Maestro Segovia until the Maestro's death in 1987.

Mr. Burgess has performed solo recitals to critical acclaim throughout North and South America, Europe and the Far East. As an orchestral soloist, he has performed with the American Chamber Orchestra at Kennedy Center, the St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia Virtuosi and many other prominent orchestras throughout the U.S.

Currently residing in New York City, Mr. Burgess has performed in Town Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall and at Lincoln Center. He has recorded for Musical Heritage Society, Athena and Camerata Records as well as having recorded Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" with the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York on the CBS Masterworks label.

 Program - The Music of Brazil

Two Pieces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernesto Nazareth
Odeon (1863-1934)
Brejeiro

Three Pieces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alfredo da Rocha Viana
Lamentos (Pixinguinha)
Carinhoso (1898-1973)
Ainda Me Recordo

Four Pieces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .João Pernambuco
Mimoso (1883-1947)
Vals em La
Rosa Carioca
Interrogando

Intermission

Three Pieces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luiz Bonfá
Samba de Orfeo (1922-2001)
Mar Encantado
Luzes do Rio

Four Pieces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonio Carlos Jobim
Triste (1927-1994)
Por Causa de Você
Modinha
Samba do Avião

Dr. Gregory Thompson, pianistFMU First Tuesday Chamber Music Series
Tuesday, 3 February 2004
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

Dr. Gregory Thompson, pianist

Dr. Gregory Thompson is Associate Professor of Piano and Acting Chair of the Department of Music and Fine Arts at Johnson C. Smith University.  He holds the B.A. degree in Piano Performance from Limestone College, the M.M. degree in Piano Performance from Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, and the D.M.A. degree in Piano Performance from The University of South Carolina.  Dr. Thompson has done additional study in the United States and in Europe.  He has served as instructor of music at Morris College in Sumter, S.C., Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., and at Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C.  He has also served as adjunct professor of piano at Charleston Southern University and Lecturer in Opera Coaching at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Thompson has performed as pianist and accompanist both in the U.S. and abroad.  His performances have included solo recitals, orchestral performances, chamber recitals, and vocal and instrumental accompanying.  In the summer of 1998 he served as principal accompanist for Studio Lirico’s production of Mozart’s ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ in Cortona,

Dr. Thompson is a member of MTNA, NCMTA, Charlotte Piano Teachers Forum, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Theater Charlotte.  He also serves as pianist/choral accompanist for Calvary Church of Charlotte, NC.
PROGRAM

Aufenthalt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Schubert/Liszt
Fantasie in C Major, Op.15 ("Wanderer") . . . . .Franz Schubert
                                                  (1797 - 1828)
Sonata Op.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alban Berg
                                                  (1885 - 1935)
Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude. . . . . . . . Franz Liszt
                                                  (1811 - 1886)

Dr. Benjamin WoodsFMU First Tuesday Chamber Music Series
Tuesday, 2 March 2004
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

Dr. Benjamin Woods, pianist
Lecture Recital on Rachmaninoff's Opus 32 Preludes

BENJAMIN WOODS has given numerous solo piano concerts across the country, including Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress, and Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City where he made his début in 1985. As pianist, he has presented many faculty recitals at Francis Marion University, chamber music and solo concerts at numerous other colleges and universities, and performances at community concert series and festivals. He has performed as guest soloist with the Florence Symphony Orchestra, Florence SC, in concertos of Brahms, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Dohnanyi and Gershwin. He has performed the Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Florence Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra. He has performed Beethoven concertos nos. 3, 4, and 5 with conductor John Paul and members of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Jackson Mississippi. With the South Carolina Philharmonic, he has performed the Mozart Piano Concerto no. 23. He was selected one of twelve national finalists in the U.S. Information Agency's Artistic Ambassador Competition, and one of ten finalists in the Beethoven International Piano Competition.

Besides performing in the Woods Family Ensemble with his wife Sherry Woods, violist, and their children Christopher Woods, violinist, and Adrienne Woods, cellist, he has collaborated in recital with the Firenze String Quartet, and with artists Sue Butler Mills, soprano, Roland LeRoy Skinner, bassoonist, and, William Mills, pianist. He has also given concerts with Kathleen Vandekieft, Metropolitan Opera soprano finalist, Harold Jones, concert flutist, and Steve Maxym, principal bassoonist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Benjamin Woods has conducted concerts of the Francis Marion College Chorus, the Florence Choral Society, and the Florence Masterworks Choir and Orchestra. Having served as Music Director/Conductor of the Florence Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 2002, he recently retired from this post to devote all his energies to piano performance. Besides great symphonic literature, he has conducted the Florence Symphony in concertos and vocal works with artists such as Robert Jesselson and Kenneth Law, cellists, David Kim, violinist, Kathleen Vandekieft and Sue Orr, sopranos, Michael Best, tenor, Walter Hautzig, Raymond Dudley, Dana Dixon, and Michael Kim, pianists, and the Eroica Trio.

Presently a professor of music at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC, Benjamin Woods has recently received the distinction of being named one of Francis Marion University's Board of Trustees' Research Scholars. This designation recognizes his outstanding scholarly achievements in music performance, and the promise of continued scholarly activity in the future. He earned the BS degree in performance and education as a scholarship student from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. As a Graduate Fellowship recipient, he received the Master of Music degree in performance from Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of South Carolina, studying with Raymond Dudley, Artist-in-Residence. His other teachers and coaches include such outstanding musicians as Melissa Bayard, Verlie Mitchell, Martha Craft, Hubert Kaszynski, Ivy Boland, and concert pianists Eugene List, Beveridge Webster and Walter Hautzig.

PROGRAM

Preludes, Op. 32. . . . . . . . .Sergei Rachmaninoff
        1.  C Minor          Allegro vivace     
        2.  B flat Minor     Allegretto         
        3.  E Major          Allegro vivace     
        4.  E Minor          Allegro con brio   
        5.  G Major          Moderato           
        6.  F Minor          Allegro appassionato
        7.  F Major          Moderato           
         8.  A Minor          Vivo                
        9.  A Major          Allegro moderato
       10.  B Minor          Lento
       11.  B Major          Allegretto
       12.  G sharp Minor    Allegro
       13.  D flat Major     Grave

 FMU Artist Series Performance
Friday, 19 March 2004
McNair Science Building Auditorium, 8:00 pm

Henry IV, Part I
Shenandoah Shakespeare Express

The amphitheatres in which Shakespeare and his company performed are enjoying a renaissance. As with the fictional dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, scholars have been able to "clone the DNA" of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, so that his vast 3-story wooden "O" once again inhabits the landscape along the banks of the Thames in London. In our hometown of Staunton, Virginia, Shenandoah Shakespeare is hard at work constructing an authentic replica of Shakespeare's indoor playhouse, The Blackfriars, as well as an open-air replica of the second London Globe, which was built in 1613 after the original 1599 structure burned to the ground. By following the basic principles of Renaissance theatrical production, the SSE has always attempted to give its audiences some of the pleasures that an Elizabethan playgoer would have enjoyed. In the very near future, it will give us pleasure not only to continue bringing Shakespeare to you on the road, but also to invite you to see the SSE in an authentic Elizabethan setting at The Blackfriars Playhouse and, a few years later, at The Globe in Staunton, Virginia.

Universal Lighting -
Shakespeare's actors could see their audience; SSE actors can see you. When an actor can see an audience, actors can engage with an audience. And an audience can play the roles that Shakespeare wrote for them-Cleopatra's court, Henry V's army, or simply the butt of innumerable jokes. Leaving an audience in the dark can literally obscure a vital part of the drama as Shakespeare designed it.

Doubling -
Shakespeare's Macbeth has more than forty parts; Shakespeare's traveling company may have had fewer than fifteen actors. With a company of ten to twelve actors, the SSE doubles parts, with one actor playing as many as seven roles in a single show. Watching actors play more than one role, an audience can experience another aspect of Elizabethan playgoing: the delight of watching a favorite actor assume multiple roles.

Gender -
Because women didn't take to the English stage until after the Restoration (1660), all the women in Shakespeare's plays were originally played by men or young boys. Shakespeare had a great deal of fun with this convention. In a production of As You Like It in 1600, a boy would have played Rosalind, who disguises herself as a boy then pretends to be a woman. Let's review: that's a boy playing a woman disguised as a boy pretending to be a woman. Because the SSE is committed to the idea that Shakespeare is about everyone-male and female-the SSE is not an all-male company, but we try to re-create some of the fun of gender confusions by casting women as men and men as women.

Length -
We cannot know the precise running time of a Shakespeare play in the Renaissance, but the Chorus in Romeo and Juliet
promises "two hours' traffic of our stage." The Express tries to fulfill this promise through brisk pacing, no intermission, and a continuous flow of dramatic action.

Sets -
Shakespeare's company performed on a large wooden platform unadorned by fixed sets or scenery. A few large pieces-thrones, tombs, tables-were occasionally used to ornament a scene. The SSE will sometimes use boxes or set pieces to indicate location or provide a changing area; unlike Shakespeare, we often have no backstage, but, like Shakespeare, we rely on the audience's imagination to piece out our imperfections.

Costumes -
Renaissance costumes were evidently sumptuous. They were also evidently contemporary. In other words, Julius Caesar was not performed in togas. Following this precedent, SSE actors wear modern clothing with elements designed to distinguish character, rank, and role.

Music -
Shakespeare had a soundtrack. Above the stage, musicians played an assortment of string, wind, and percussion instruments before, during, and after the play. The plays are sprinkled with songs for which lyrics but not much of the music survive. The SSE sets many of these songs in contemporary style. The result is emblematic of the SSE approach: a commitment to Shakespeare's text and to the mission of connecting that text to modern audiences.

More about the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express.


Triple Play jazz trioFMU Artist Series Concert
Monday, 29 March 2004
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

Chris Brubeck's Triple Play Jazz Trio featuring Peter "Madcat" Ruth and Joel Brown

"Triple Play" is the name given to three outstanding and versatile musicians, Peter "Madcat" Ruth (on harmonica, guitar, jaw harp, percussion and vocals), Joel Brown (folk and classical acoustic guitar and vocals) and Chris Brubeck (electric bass, bass trombone, piano and vocals). Collectively they bring a rare level of joy, virtuosity, and American spirit to the folk, blues, jazz, funk and classical music they perform.

When CHRIS BRUBECK, PETER MADCAT RUTH and JOEL BROWN perform together, it's always an event to remember! This dynamic ensemble programs everything from jazz, to folk, to blues and classics. Whether performing with orchestras, or captivating students at universities across the United States, no concert ends without high praise and a standing ovation.

CHRISTOPHER BRUBECK is a composer, orchestral arranger, lyricist and performer who plays four instruments. He enjoys an active and diverse career and feels at home playing jazz, rock, folk, funk and classical music. When touring, Triple Play earns rave reviews for its unique rendition of jazz, blues and folk tunes. For many years, Chris toured and recorded with the group Crofut & Brubeck. Their fourth CD, Bach to Brubeck, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, followed Across Your Dreams, which featured Frederica Von Stade singing songs by Chris, Dave and Iola Brubeck (Dave's wife and mother to the clan). Chris was a member of The Dave Brubeck Quartet for ten years. He has played on dozens of records and toured all over the world from the White House to Russia, playing most major concert halls in between. Dave and Chris' last Moscow concert became a CD and a special on the Arts & Entertainment Network. Chris continues to arrange, perform and record as a guest with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. His compositions have been performed by a wide range of artists, including Patti LaBelle and Bobby Womack ("It Takes a Lot of Strength to Say Goodbye", which climbed the R&B record charts) and the Aspen Wind Quintet ("Crescent City Suite"). His recent composition, "Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra" has been enthusiastically received by the international community with performances slated for the Boston and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. Chris was guest artist at numerous concerts, including the prestigious Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Barbican in London and the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. Chris recently collaborated with his father on a commission for a new orchestral composition for the Pittsburgh Symphony, "Theme and Explorations for Orchestra."

PETER MADCAT RUTH has established an international reputation through his exhila- rating, riveting virtuosity on the harmonica. His expertise on this instrument has amazed audiences world-wide. He is equally at home playing blues, folk music, jazz, country or rock and roll. Performance Magazine refers to him as "A harmonica virtuoso who is rapidly approaching legend status." Madcat's music has been evolving for nearly 40 years, starting in Chicago with playing folk/blues on guitar and studying harmonica with Big Walter Horton. He later moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he was a key presence in two of the city's finest progressive rock bands: New Heavenly Blue and Sky King. By the mid 1970's, Madcat was touring the world with jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. Madcat later went solo, infusing the folk/blues tradition with elements of rock and jazz. In 1990, Madcat teamed up with guitarist/singer Shari Kane to form the duo Madcat & Kane. Madcat has been an invited guest performer at many harmonica festivals in the United States and Europe. His harmonica playing is heard on over 50 recordings. National television and radio appearances, symphony orchestra performances, radio and television advertisements and harmonica workshops all attest to Madcat's reputation as one of the best and most versatile harmonica players in the world.

Guitarist JOEL BROWN's eclectic career has taken him to England for a recording with the London Symphony, to Carnegie Hall with soprano Dawn Upshaw, recitals and recordings with Frederika von Stade and extensive touring and recording with Chris Brubeck's cross-over trio, Triple Play. He has appeared at New York's Alice Tully Hall with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, at the Tanglewood Festival, the Chamber Music Festival at Saratoga, Music in the Mountains in British Columbia, the Barbican Centre in London and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Joel Brown has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Martinu Chamber Orchestra in the U.S. and in the Czech Republic, the St. Cecilia Orchestra, as well as many other orchestras across the U.S. He is founding member of Tritonis, who 's CD, Five Premiers: Chamber Music with Guitar contains five new pieces that Brown commissioned. Other notable recordings include Chords and Thyme, with English guitarist Edward Flower with whom he performs regularly and Kings Court and Celtic Fair with the Empire Brass. He has performed on NBC's Today, CNN's Showbiz Today, the BBC, NPR and has recorded for the Telarc, Dorian, Koch International and Albany labels. He is Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.


FMU First Tuesday Chamber Music Series
Tuesday, 6 April 2004
Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center, 8:00 pm

Sherry Woods, viola, Peter Fichte, clarinet, and Benjamin Woods, piano

Sherry Martin Woods

Dr. Sherry Woods, principal violist with the Florence Symphony, member of the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Firenze Quartet, and the Woods Piano Quartet, is well known as a performer, composer and educator. She and Benjamin Woods have been chosen several times as performing artists for the South Carolina Arts Commission's Community Tour Program. Sherry Woods earned the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in viola performance at USC in 1991 and the DMA in Composition in December of 1997. She has taught at both Francis Marion University and the University of South Carolina.

Sherry Woods' works have been performed by artists such as Christopher Woods violinist, Elizabeth Johnson, flutist, Sue Orr, Marcy Betzer, and Sharyn Mapes, sopranos, the Vienna Saxophone Quartet, and William Mills, Nicholas Smith and Benjamin Woods, conductors. Larger groups performing her works have included the Florence Symphony, the South Carolina Philharmonic, and the Masterworks Choir and Orchestra. In recitals and in concerts from New York City to Taiwan her works have included the song cycle Leaves of the Fall, Persephone Dances for cello and orchestra, The Sunflower Concerto for violin and orchestra, Dance of the Dolphin and the Whale for youth orchestra, Sapphic Songs for women's chorus, Lament for Lost Infants for saxophone quartet, a dance suite, Kaleidoscope, choreographed and performed by the South Carolina Dance Company, The Florentine Overture, commissioned by the Florence Symphony for the opening of its 50th season, The Wisdom Fanfare, commissioned by the South Carolina Philharmonic and a choral work, The Holy Band - Mystical Songs on the Poetry of Hafiz, commissioned by the Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra.

Sherry Woods song cycle, Of Rivers and Trees, for tenor, piano, violin, viola, cello and flute, was premiered at the College of Charleston in November of 2001; it was described as "beautiful and riveting" by the Charleston Post. Collaborating with visual Artist Dagmar Nickerson for a joint presentation of art and music for the March 2003 First Tuesday Music Series at FMU, Dr. Woods presented From the Center, a recital of recent and new works.

She has served as composer in residence twice for Southside Middle school in Florence, and she composed compositions for both their Ron McNair and Dizzie Gilespie concerts. She served as conductor-clinician for the Florence All-City Orchestra, for which she was also commissioned to write a composition honoring retiring band director Leon Harvey.

Sherry Woods continues to compose, teach violin and viola, and perform solo literature, with orchestras, and with chamber music groups.

Peter Fichte

Peter Fichte has played in several orchestras, bands, and chamber music groups. His orchestral experiences include the New Rochelle (NY) Symphony, the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra, the Portland (ME) Symphony Orchestra, and the Danbury (CT) Symphony Orchestra. He has been principal clarinetist for the Florence (SC) Symphony Orchestra for almost 15 years. His band experiences include the Westchester Pops Band (NY), the Burlington Vermont Town Band, and Chandler's Military Band (ME). His chamber music performances have been primarily in woodwind ensembles, such as the Maine Woodwind Chamber Players (1970-1983), and more recently the Florence Symphony Woodwind Ensemble. He has, on occasion, also taken part in clarinet-string and clarinet-piano chamber music performances. While he takes his music seriously, the profession in which he pursues his livelihood is as a faculty member at Coker College, in Hartsville, SC where he teaches chemistry and physics. He obtained his bachelor of arts degree in chemistry from New York University, and his doctoral degree in Physical Chemistry from The University of Vermont. He was a faculty member of Nasson College (Springvale, Maine) for fifteen years prior to his coming to South Carolina, and has been at Coker College since 1984. He finds that the intellectual challenges of science, and the emotional aspects of music help him search for balance in his life.

Benjamin Woods

Benjamin Woods has taught music at FMU for nearly thirty-two years. He has performed on piano at various venues including Carnegie Recital Hall and the Library of congress. Besides conducting the Florence Symphony Orchestra, he has performed with symphony orchestras and in recital across the country. He has been awarded the Jack Baker Arts Achievement award and has been appointed n FMU Board of Trustees Research Scholar.

 PROGRAM

Rumanische Melodie, Op. 83, no 5. . . . . . . . . .Max Bruch
Nachtgesang. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Bruch
Sherry Woods † Peter Fichte † Benjamin Woods


C-Scape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sherry Woods
Benjamin Woods


A Midsummer Night’s Dream Waltz. . . . . . . . .Sherry Woods
Peter Fichte † Sherry Woods


Reflects dan l’eau. . . . . . . . . . . . .Claude A. Debussy
L’isle joyeuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claude A. Debussy


Trio in E-flat Major K498 “Kegelstatt”. . .Wolfgang A. Mozart
Andante
Menuetto
Allegretto
Sherry Woods † Peter Fichte † Benjamin Woods

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