Concerts
Hear new works by local Local Composers!
General Admission $15 | Oregon Trail Holders and Students $5
Tickets can be purchased at the door with cash or check.
Piano Radiance
January 25, 3pm, SOU Recital Hall
Featuring
Liane Alitowski, piano
with
Clara Kidd, vibraphone
Experience a short visit into each composer’s unique journey, including a piece for vibraphone and piano based on the pelog scale that many gamelan instruments are tuned to.
Brief comments will be offered by NACUSA of Southern Oregon composers William Ashworth, I’lana Cotton, Ken Deveney, Beth B. Martin, Aletha Nowitzky and Melissa Orr before their compositions.
Enjoy refreshments in the lobby at intermission!
Program
Beth B. Martin: Midnight Moonlight Dinner with Chopin and Debussy (Sudden Wild Horses)
Aletha Nowitzky: Star Break
Melissa Orr: Through the Fog
William Ashworth: Sonata quasi una Fantasia
Intermission
I’lana Cotton: I Am a Bell Ringing and Ringing
Ken Deveney: Elegy, Brief Piano Sonata
William Ashworth: In Fields Where Roses Fade
I’lana Cotton: All These Little Songs I’ve Sung: A windchime pelog reverie – with Clara Kidd, vibraphone
Liane Alitowski, D.M.A., is a native New Yorker who has been widely acclaimed for her solo and chamber performances in the US, Canada, France, Sweden, Argentina, Israel, Australia and Japan. She did her studies at Indiana University with Menahem Pressler z”l, of the Beaux Arts Trio. As the first resident pianist for Miami’s New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, Ms. Alitowski was featured with artists such as Joshua Bell, the Miami String Quartet, the late Audrey Hepburn and New York’s Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. She has taught at institutions such as The University of Notre Dame, Tel Aviv University, and the Paideia Institute in Sweden. More recently she was on the faculty at McGill University in Montreal for 10 years. As well, she is the author of the Visby the Virtuoso: The Classical Cruising Cat children’s book series.
visbythevirtuoso.com
Outside of her appearances on land, Ms. Alitowski has performed on board cruise lines all around the world. Her seafaring concert audiences have been on Cunard, Holland America, Princess, Renaissance, Costa and World Explorer cruise ships.
In 2023 Liane moved to the Rogue Valley where she now teaches and performs. We are thrilled to have such a renowned pianist perform our works!
Spring Concert
May 16, 3:00pm, SOU Recital Hall
Program, composers and musicians to be announced
Previous Concerts This Season
Good Vibes
October 19, 3:00pm, SOU Recital Hall
Featuring
Sherril Wood, flute, Walker Kermode, bassoon, Andy Baldwin, vibraphone, Jennifer Matsuura, soprano
Sherril Wood, flute, Andy Baldwin, vibraphone, Walker Kermode, bassoon, Jen Matsuura, soprano
Composers William Ashworth, Ken Deveney, Bruce Harrell, Beth B. Martin, Aletha Nowitzky, Melissa Orr, and Greg A Steinke have each approached the instrumentation in their own unique way. Composer bios.
Each piece will be preceded by brief comments from the composer.
Refreshments will be served in the lobby.
Program (not in performance order):
Bruce Harrell: Baby Elf March for flute, bassoon and vibraphone
Bruce Harrell: Fugue for Thought for flute, bassoon and vibraphone
Greg Steinke: Memories of Chief Joseph (Image Music XIa) for bassoon and vibraphone
Melissa Orr: Odyssey Muse for flute, bassoon and vibraphone
Aletha Nowitzky: Lady Chameleon’s Progress for flute, bassoon and vibraphone
Beth Martin: Wayward Winds for flute, bassoon and vibraphone
Ken Deveney: DynaRhythm for flute, bassoon and vibraphone
William Ashworth: The World More Full of Weeping for flute, bassoon and vibraphone
William Ashworth: The Celtic Twilight for flute, bassoon, vibraphone and soprano
Soloist bios:
Andy Baldwin, vibraphone
Originally from Kankakee, IL, Andy has maintained an extensive 15 year career in music performance and music education throughout Illinois, Utah, Iowa, and Oregon. Andy holds a Bachelors in Music Education from Eastern Illinois University and a Masters in Music Performance from the University of Utah. Throughout his musical career, Andy has performed with a number of nationally renowned ensembles; including The Britt Festival Orchestra, Rogue Valley Symphony, The Piano Guys, SŌ Percussion, The Utah Jazz Street Beats, Utah Chamber Artists, Salt Lake Symphony, Utah Women’s Chorus, American West Symphony, Cinq Percussion, The Danville Symphony Orchestra, and Gentri: The Gentlemen Trio, to name a few.
Walker Kermode, bassoon
Walker Kermode grew up in Hawaii and studied music at the University of Puget Sound. A
resident of the Rogue Valley since 1996, he is an active bassoonist with the Rogue Valley
Symphony. Outside of music, Walker enjoys cycling and sailing.
Jennifer Matsuura, soprano
Jennifer Matsuura is a graduate of SOU with degrees in Psychology and Music and a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling. She also holds a post-bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy from Arizona State University. She appears regularly in operas in the Rogue Valley, and is a frequent soloist and section leader for the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers; she is also the soprano cantor at Trinity Episcopal Church. In 2021, she made her Messiah debut as the soprano soloist with the Rogue Valley Chorale. Ms. Matsuura was a featured vocalist in the Britt Festival Orchestra’s world premiere installation of Brush, a commissioned work by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Caroline Shaw.
Sherril Kannasto Wood
An Ashland native, Sherril Kannasto Wood earned degrees in music performance from Southern Oregon State College (now SOU) and the New England Conservatory in Boston. Upon returning to Oregon, she co-founded the Northwest Bach Ensemble and served as the group’s Associate Director for 13 years. Additionally, she served as Principal Flutist with the Rogue Valley Symphony and the Rogue Opera Orchestra. She also performed with the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra, Ashland City Band, and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She later moved to southern California, where she performed with the Santa Monica Symphony, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the San Diego Bach Collegium, and the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra. Sherril is delighted to be back in southern Oregon, where she teaches privately and continues to perform on flute, baroque flute, and recorder.