Tuesday April 8, 2008
UNCW WOODWIND QUINTET
7:30 pm
Beckwith Recital Hall, Cultural Arts building
$5 general admission / free to UNCW students with valid ID.
For more information, call the Department of Music Events Hotline 910/962-7416 or 910/962-3415.
UNCW Faculty Woodwind Quintet consists of five music department instructors: Mary Jo White, flute; Jessica Miller, oboe; Mike Waddell, clarinet; Valanda Nelson, bassoon, and Steve Skillman, horn. Elizabeth Loparits, UNCW piano accompanist, performs with the quintet as a special guest.
MARY JO WHITE is the Assistant Professor of Flute and Theory at UNC Wilmington and principal flutist of the Wilmington Symphony. She recently appeared as a soloist with the Wilmington Symphony performing Carl Nielsen's Flute Concerto. An active performer throughout the region, Dr. White also plays regularly with the UNCW Faculty Woodwind Quintet and other faculty chamber groups. In November 2006, she presented a lecture-recital on the flute music of Albert Roussel at the national College Music Society conference in Quebec City. As a winner of the 2006 NFA Performers Competition, Dr. White played in a concert of Newly Published Music at the National Flute Convention in Pittsburgh in August 2006. Her degrees include a Bachelors in Flute Performance from East Carolina University, a Masters in Flute Performance from Michigan State University, and a Doctorate in Flute Performance from Boston University where she studied with Doriot A. Dwyer. Her prior positions include Instructor of Flute at Boston College, Assistant Professor of Flute at Central Michigan University and Instructor of Flute at Truman State University. She was also the Principal Flute for the Alma and Traverse City Symphonies in Michigan, and Second Flute/Piccolo for the Lansing Symphony.
MICHAEL WADDELL is a North Carolina native with degrees from the University of Michigan and East Carolina University. His teachers include David Shifrin, Robert Listokin, Fred Ormand, Leon Russianoff, Buddy DeFranco (jazz), and Donald Sinta (saxophone). Prior to coming to UNC Wilmington in 2003, he taught at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Waddell is the recipient of two Jazz Composer Fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council, as well as two Regional Project Artist Grants (most recently in 2004) from the United Arts Council. He has released two CD's, "Defining Moments" (2001) and "Not from Concentrate" (1995). As clarinetist with the world famous Dukes of Dixieland in New Orleans, Mr. Waddell performed nightly on Bourbon Street and to sold-out crowds in the Hollywood Bowl and Kennedy Center. He is also featured on solo clarinet in "Déjŕ Vu" (1997), an independent film by Henry Jaglom.
JESSICA MILLER holds the BM in Music Education with a Performance Certificate from the University of South Carolina where she studied with Dr. Rebecca Nagel. Ms. Miller also holds the MM in Oboe Performance from Florida State University where she worked with Dr. Eric Ohlsson. Currently, she is the principal oboist with the Long Bay Symphony and a frequent freelance player. She is also a part-time faculty member at Coastal Carolina University and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Ms. Miller also plays with the Charleston and Augusta Symphonies and the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra. While living in Florida, Ms. Miller had the opportunity to perform with the Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestras.
VALANDA L. NELSON, a native of Christiansburg, VA, joined the Woodwind Faculty in 2006. She holds a BM and MM from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. Her principal teachers include Caren Hinson, Kim David Peoria, and Chris Ulffers. Ms. Nelson is an active freelance bassoonist and has performed with such orchestras as the North Carolina Symphony, Roanoke Symphony Pops Orchestra, the Long Bay (SC) Symphony Orchestra, the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, and the Tar River Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed for faculty recitals at Barton College, Mount Olive College, NC Wesleyan College, as well as with the faculty quintet at UNCW.
STEVE SKILLMAN is a freelance hornist who performs regularly with the Long Bay and Wilmington symphony orchestras and is currently serving as a member of the UNCW Faculty Woodwind Quintet. Mr. Skillman has performed as an extra with the North Carolina Symphony, and is a frequent performer with stage shows in the Myrtle Beach and Wilmington areas. He has performed as a soloist with the Wilmington Symphony and UNCW Concert Band. Mr. Skillman holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from East Carolina University. He retired from Brunswick County Schools in 2004, after serving as a high school band director and later as the system's arts education coordinator. He has been an adjunct UNCW faculty member, and has taught at various summer music camps throughout the region.
ELIZABETH LOPARITS began her professional career in her native Hungary, where she earned a diploma in music education at the Pécs Institute of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. While in Hungary, she participated in numerous master classes, and won second prize at the 1995 National Bartók Piano Competition. She was also a finalist of the 1996 Kodály-Bartók collaborative competition, and received a special prize from the Foundation for Talented Youth of Paks city. As soloist she appeared in recitals in Hungary, Austria, Costa Rica, and the United States. In 2001, as a winner of a concerto competition, she performed with the NC-Symphony. As an accompanist and chamber musician she has performed in recitals in thirteen different states and universities including Indiana University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Miami, and University of Iowa. During the summers of 2006 and 2007 she served as one of three Young Artist coach/accompanists at the prestigious Opera North Company. Elizabeth holds a MM degree from Illinois State University, and is pursuing a Doctoral degree in piano performance and a MM in Chamber Music and Accompanying at UNC Greensboro. Currently she is on faculty as a staff accompanist at UNC Wilmington.
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