Concerts

Help support the ensemble, musicians and new music by attending our next concert!

Spring 2008:
Beauport Chamber Players and Friends

Come Celebrate the Release of Beauport Classical’s New CD Series! Featuring works by Twenty composers from throughout the United States!

7:30 p.m. May 24, 2008 United Parish Church of Brookline 210 Harvard Street Brookline, MA 02446

music by:
Jay Batzner Robert J. Bradshaw Kari Juusela Pamela Marshall (competition winner) James Scully Philip Swanson performances by:
Monica Duncan, clarinet Christopher Hawes, trumpet Nathaniel Farny, violin Michael Monroe, piano Patricia Yee, bassoon featured guest artists:
Kari Juusela, cello Elena Lucas, piano Helen Sherrah-Davies, violin Kristina Martin, soprano Philip Swanson, piano

COMPOSER BIOGRAPHIES JAY C. BATZNER is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida where he teaches music composition and technology courses as well as coordinates the composition program. In his first year, Jay received two prestigious grants: one to create collaborative works with visual artist Carla Poindexter and the second to initiate electroacoustic music concerts in Orlando. Prior to this position, Jay was an active adjunct professor at several colleges in the Kansas City area while he completed his D.M.A. in Composition at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory. While at UMKC, Jay received honors including a Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship and a Dean's Doctoral Scholar Fellowship. Jay's music ranges from instrumental chamber works to electroacoustic compositions. He has participated in numerous national and international festivals including the Wellesley Composers Conference and the International Young Composers' Meeting in the Netherlands. His music is published by Unsafe Bull Music and has been recorded on the Capstone and Vox Novus labels. Jay is a frequent contributor to the new music website Sequenza21.com and a founding member of the composers organization The Collected. Jay is a sci-fi geek, an amateur banjoist, a home brewer, and juggler. KARI HENRIK JUUSELA is a Finnish/American composer, performer and educator who is presently the Dean of the Professional Writing Division at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to his work at Berklee College of Music, Juusela served as the Associate Dean, Director of Composition and Almand Chair of Composition at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. Juusela's compositions have won awards in numerous competitions including the 1995 Vienna International Full-Length Opera Competition directed by Claudio Abbado; First Prize, 2003 International Red Stick Composition Competition; First Prize for mixed ensemble, London Chamber Groups 2003 "Piece of the Year Competition"; Second Prize, 2004 San Francisco American Art Song Competition Established Professional Category; First Prize, 1989 GASTA String Quartet Composition Competition; Grand Prize and First Prize in 1998, and five awards in both the 1996 and 1990 Composer's Guild Composition Contests; and numerous awards from ASCAP. He was awarded the 1997 Stetson University Hand Award for Faculty Research and Creativity, received a 1997-98 Florida Council for the Arts Individual Artists Music Composition Fellowship, and has been the recipient of many other composition honors. Recent works include: String Theory, for electric cello and video commissioned in 2004 by the Daytona Beach News Journal ; Varjot, a work for orchestra chosen by the Jacksonville Symphony for its 2002 Fresh Ink readings, Night Calls, cello dodecanet commissioned by Cellobration 2002, Myths of the Sub-Tropics, a multi-media theater work commissioned by the CORE Ensemble, Bliss for cello quartet (commissioned by cellist David Bjella), Anandkari , for santoor and chamber orchestra, and Premasutra, for santoor, cello, and orchestra (both co-composed with Indian santoor virtuoso Nandkishor Muley. Recent recordings include: An American Prelude and Fugue, for wind trio, on Tres Vientos, (Lakeside Records);Crossing Twilight , for computer-generated tape, on Stages, a University of Maryland CD; Ilta Pala(a), for solo guitar, on Chamber Works , (Capstone Records); Mill Town Johnny, for Chorus, cello, bass and piano, on Tip O? the Hat II , a Stetson University School of Music CD. His works have been performed internationally by ensembles and organizations including the Cuartetto Latinoamericano, The CORE Ensemble, London Chamber Group, Jacksonville Symphony, violinist Beth Newdome, guitarist Stephen Robinson, organist and harpsichordist Boyd Jones, Contemporary Composers Forum, Capital Composers Alliance, College Music Society, Florida Electro-Acoustic Festival, Society of Composers Inc., SEAMUS, Southeastern Composers League, and many professional and university orchestras and chamber ensembles. Dr. Juusela holds degrees from The University of Maryland, Georgia State University and Berklee College of Music. His composition teachers include Mark Wilson, Tom Delio, Charles Knox, and T.J. Anderson. Juusela has studied African music with Komla Amoaku, Indonesian music with Lewis Peterman, Indian music with Nandkishor Muley and Rusty Gillete, and improvisation with Wadada Leo Smith. Juusela's music is published by ISG Publications and Yelton Rhodes Music. He serves as the Region IV Co-Chair of the Society of Composers, Inc. and is on the Board of Directors of the Asian Cultural Society of Orlando. PAMELA MARSHALL (Composition Competition Winner) is a composer and horn player living in Lexington. Ms. Marshall studied at Eastman and Yale and has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony. She has written music for chamber ensembles, chorus, synthesizers, mandolin, and orchestra, including commissions from the Rivers Music School, South Beach Chamber Ensemble of Miami, The Master Singers of Lexington, Green Mountain Youth Symphony, Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Concord Chamber Ensemble. Since 2005, local friends and supporters have joined her Spindrift Commissioning Guild to support several projects for new chamber music. She leads improvisation workshops for children and adults and offers an on-location audio recording service, specializing in chamber music and choral concerts. She has recordings on Living Artists and ERMMedia, among others. Her company, Spindrift Music, publishes her work, on the Web at www.spindrift.com. Recent projects include Art-Poem-Music, a collaboration with visual artist Sirarpi Heghinian Walzer and poet Elizabeth Kirschner, resulting in a large set of songs "Body and Soul". She has also been working on a series of Poetry-Inspired Solos and Duos, at least one for every orchestral instrument -- "I Am the Wind" is one of these. Pamela plays horn, leads composing and improvisation workshops, records concerts and nature soundscapes, and, with her husband David Emerson, does photography and web design (www.honeycreeper.com). JAMES SCULLY is a composer, performer and educator in the fields of contemporary classical music, electronic music and jazz studies. He has contributed his diverse talents to the central California music scene for over 20 years. Scully holds degrees in music from California State University, Bakersfield (B.A. in Music) and University of California, Irvine (M.F.A. in Music). He is a full-time member of the CSU Bakersfield music faculty where he teaches an array of courses in the fields of Music Theory, Jazz studies and Music Technology and serves as Founding Director of the Guitar Ensemble, Director of Small Group Jazz and as Producer/Director of the Jazz Coffeehouse Concert Series that features the small jazz ensembles under his direction. Scully plays traditionally instruments such as the guitar, electric bass and piano and also makes music on Apple computers using various software samples. His works have been performed at the Bakersfield Jazz Festival, Electroacoustic Juke Joint in Cleveland, Mississippi, Bakersfield Symphony New Directions Concerts, Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival, Composer Concerts at CSU Bakersfield and UC Irvine, CSU Bakersfield theatre for New Voices, countless Jazz Coffeehouse Concerts and aboard the Queen Mary as part of the Music Association of California Community Colleges Conference in October of 2000. He has appeared, collaborated, or worked with Kris Tiner, Keith Calmes, Kyle Burnham, Kenny Burrell, Dr. Doug Davis, Billy Childs, James Dethlefson, Eric Marienthal, Carl Allen, Kei Akagi, Laura Porter, the CSU Bakersfield Theatre Department, and many others. Scully has also led or co-led numerous small jazz groups including the Jim Scully Group, Bodfish All-Stars, Jenn Neil group and the Speedy Neptune Project. PHILIP SWANSON has had a distinguished career as a trombonist, pianist, organist, composer, conductor, and teacher. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts from New England Conservatory, Master of Music from the Eastman School, and completed his undergraduate work at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Miami.  As a trombonist, he has performed with the Miami Philharmonic, where he served as principal for five years, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, and numerous other orchestras and chamber ensembles. He is co-founder with Richard Given of the brass chamber ensemble Morgenmusik. He also performs regularly with several jazz groups including: Chamber Jazz Trio and Bob Nieske's Big Wolf Project.   Dr. Swanson is an Assistant Professor of Music at Salem State College in Salem, MA where he teaches music theory, composition, piano, and trombone. Since 1991, he has been Music Director of the First Congregational Church of Rockport, MA where he serves as organist, choir director, and administrator of the Old Sloop Concert Series.  Dr. Swanson has written and published numerous works for various instrumental and vocal ensembles. He can also be heard on a wide range of recordings, including a solo piano album of original works, several small group jazz albums, and performances with larger ensembles, including John Williams and the Boston Pops. For more information on his recordings, visit MSR Classics. PERFORMER BIOGRAPHIES MONICA DUNCAN (clarinet) freelances throughout the Greater Boston area, and has performed with Symphony-By-The-Sea, Hillyer Festival Orchestra, Chalumeau Chamber Ensemble, Cape Ann and Greater Lansing Symphonies, Lexington Sinfonietta, Bloomington Music Works, Arlington Street Chamber Players, and at Le Centre d'Arts Orford. Duncan has performed in Japan and Canada, and has premiered works at the 1999 SCI National Conference and the 1998 Latin American Music Festival. She can also be heard on the CD entitled Basically British with Philharmonia a Vént. Duncan holds a Masters degree from Indiana University where she studied with James Campbell and a Bachelors degree from Michigan State University. In addition to her role as performer, Duncan is a chamber music coach with the Northshore Youth Symphony Orchestra and teaches clarinet from her private studio, at The Governor’s Academy, and in the Hamilton-Wenham School District. NATHANIEL FARNY (violin) plays with many Boston area groups, including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music, the New England String Ensemble, Opera Boston, and the Alcyon Ensemble. He received his BA in music and astronomy at Williams College. After two years of teaching high school math and physics, he got his masters in violin performance at Rice University, where he studied with Kathleen Winkler. He also completed a graduate diploma at the New England Conservatory, studying with Michèle Auclair. During the summers he has been a coach at the Somerville String Camp, the Winchester Community Music School String Camp, and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras Camp. Other summer activities include the Britt Music Festival Orchestra in Oregon and the Crested Butte Music Festival Orchestra in Colorado. He is on the music faculty of the Cambridge School of Weston and is currently enrolled in the doctor of musical arts program at Boston University, studying viola with Steven Ansell. CHRISTOPHER HAWES has been playing the trumpet since the age of 10. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Music Performance in 2001 from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he was winner of the 2000 Crane Concerto Competition and 1997 Crane Chamber Competition. In demand as a freelance trumpeter in the Boston area, Chris enjoys playing in a wide variety of musical situations ranging from symphony orchestras to jazz bands. He can be heard regularly performing with Symphony by the Sea, and has also recently been heard with such groups The Orchestra of Emmanuel Music, the Cape Ann Symphony, the New Hampshire Symphony, and the New Bedford Symphony. Music has also helped to satiate Chris's appetite for travel, taking him to perform throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. Chamber music has always been a love of Chris's. He has performed with the award-winning Bala brass quintet since 2004, with whom he's traveled the world giving numerous concerts and master classes. ELENA ROUSSANOVA LUCAS received the Masters Degree (Summa Cum Laude) in Composition from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Music, Moscow, Russia where she was a student of Tikhon Khrennikov and Tatiana Choodova. Elena’s compositions for orchestra, string orchestra, chamber ensembles and band are performed worldwide, including performances by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky State Orchestra of Moscow, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Music Director, The Russian National Orchestra Brass Quintet, members of the Bolshoi Ballet, the Dallas Brass, Charles Castleman, Terry Everson, Ballet Lubbock and others. As a composer for Warner Bros/Alfred Music Publishers, since 2001, Elena’s compositions are regularly chosen with the Editor’s Choice distinction by the J.W. Pepper Co. Additional music is published in London and Moscow. Elena is a member of the prestigious United Russian Composers Union. As a clinician and conductor, Elena is in demand presenting clinics across the U.S. and Russia. As a pianist Elena has performed extensively in Moscow, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the U.S. A. She is the recipient the first prize in a Russia Wide piano competition. Her piano students have won competitions as well as were accepted into Moscow and Salonica Conservatories. Elena is an Assistant Professor in the Composition Department in Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Previous work experience includes Boston University, Texas Tech University, Boston Ballet School and Ballet Lubbock. KRISTINA MARTIN (soprano) studied at Brigham Young University and at Boston University, majoring in Vocal Performance. She has performed in recitals, opera, and musical theater throughout the country, including appearances with Kansas City Lyric Opera, Washington Opera, and the North Shore Music Theater. In addition to her performance career, she is an active voice teacher and choral director. Her present positions include Director of Youth Choirs at the First Congregational Church of Rockport, voice teacher and director of one of the choruses at the Waring School in Beverly, and director of the women's group 'Leven, based in Rockport. Pianist MICHAEL MONROE has performed throughout the Boston area at such venues as Jordan Hall, the Gardner Museum, and the French Library, collaborating in recital with acclaimed violinists Stefan Jackiw and Arturo Delmoni and countless students at area colleges and conservatories. As Assistant Professor of Music at Gordon College, Michael teaches piano and music history, and he is music director for the annual Opera Scenes program. In 2006 he conducted a cast of Gordon students in the premiere of his own translation and re-orchestration of Gounod's comic opera, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, a project which was part of his completion of a DMA from the New England Conservatory. He blogs regularly about music at MMmusing.blogspot.com. HELEN SHERRAH-DAVIES (violin) PATRICIA YEE (bassoon)

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