October 2005

Katie &
Christopher Davis , vocalist

Paonia:
Friday, October 21, 7:30 PM
Blue Sage Center

Grand Junction:
Sunday, October 23, 4:00 PM
First United Methodist Church

Christopher and Katie Davis lit up the stage last year as the leads in the Grand Junction Symphony’s opera stellar production of “Die Fledermaus”. This husband and wife duo will present a wonderful evening of opera and broadway solos and duets as our season opener. Soprano Katie Davis is a graduate of Mesa State College where she sang Katisha in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Mikado and Dido in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas. She has performed with the University of Memphis Opera Theatre and with the Bayerische Musikakademie Marktoberdorf in Germany. She has been a soloist with the Valley Symphony Orchestra and has performed numerous roles over the years with the Magic Circle Theatre in Montrose, where she currently resides. Baritone Christopher Davis is a native Tennesseean who holds a Bachelor in Music Education from the University of Tennessee and a master of music in vocal performance from the University of Memphis. He has performed with opera Memphis, Natchez Opera Festival and Opera Iowa in addition to performing in Italy. Last August, Christopher sang the four villains in the High Desert Light Opera’s production of Tales of Hoffman. He has been the bass soloist for Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem and recently served as chorus master for the Valley Symphony’s “Christmas Celebration’ concert. Christopher lives in Montrose and teaches at Olathe middle and high schools.

November 2005

Erika Eckert, viola
Kathryn Mientka, piano
Tyme Mientka, cello

Paonia: Friday, November 11,
7:30 PM
Blue Sage Center

Grand Junction: Sunday,
November 13, 4:00 PM
First United Methodist Church

A viola recital is a somewhat rare treat – yet this richly sonorous lower-toned cousin to the violin deserves to be featured more often! We are fortunate to have engaged renowned violist Erika Eckert, who will present this instrument with all the authority and passion of a world-class performer. Ms. Eckert is Associate Professor of Viola at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has also been on the faculties of The Cleveland Institute of Music, Baldwin Wallace College, and the Chautauqua Institution in New York. As co-founder and former violist of the Cavani String Quartet, Ms. Eckert performed on major concert series worldwide, garnered an impressive list of awards and prizes, including first prizes at both the Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Competition and the Cleveland Quartet Competition, and appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and National Public Radio. In recent seasons, Ms. Eckert has performed as guest-violist with the Takacs String Quartet, appearing with them in Canada, Colorado, Tennessee, Oregon, and Vermont. She has also performed on numerous faculty recitals at the University of Colorado as well as soloing with the Music in the Mountains Purgatory Festival Orchestra, Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra, the University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the Boulder Bach Festival. Her concert engagements continue to take her all over the USA and as far as Australia. Ms. Eckert will be performing a program of passionate works for the viola, including the gorgeous Trio for viola, cello, and piano by Brahms.

January 2006

Karina Sabac, piano

Paonia:
Friday, January 13, 7:30 PM
Blue Sage Center

Grand Junction: Sunday,
January 15, 4:00 PM
First United Methodist Church

We are excited to be featuring a concert by the young Romanian pianist Karina Sabac, who has already played internationally to great acclaim and has collaborated with such famous artists as Midori. Born in Bucharest, Romania, Karina Şabac completed, at the age of 20, her five-year piano degree at the University HdK of Berlin. Now 27 years old, she has a Masters degree in Piano Performance from University of Southern California. She is a prize-winner of many piano competitions in Romania, France, Italy and the USA, and has performed solo recitals in Romania, Germany, USA, Great Britain, Italy, France and Holland. She has been recorded and broadcast by the classical radio station Sender Freies Berlin, and the Romanian Radio Society and participated in numerous interviews in worldwide national newspapers and television. Warmly received by the public and the critics, she has played at many prestigious venues, including the Berlin and Munich Philharmonic concert halls, and the Concertgebow in Amsterdam. She has performed with orchestras in Berlin, London, and Romania to high critical acclaim. In February 2005 she performed Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio with Midori Goto in Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

February 2006

Feast

Paonia:
Friday, February 10, 7:30 PM
Blue Sage Center

Grand Junction: Sunday,
February 12, 4:00 PM
First United Methodist Church

Feast
Last year’s“stretch-the-envelope” concert with bassist Chris Brown was so well received, we decided to do another “stretch” concert this season! The eclectic ensemble “Feast” consists of cellist Tyme Mientka, pianist Kathryn Mientka, percussionist David Alderdice and violinist Hubert Pralitz. Newly minted in Grand Junction last season, Feast has already been received with great enthusiasm by numerous audiences on the Western Slope. Performing on electric instruments, Feast fuses classical training and technique with original arrangements of folk music from Ireland, Spain, and America, as well as performing classical music. This season’s program will begin with classical trios for violin, cello, and piano by composers Dvorak and Haydn – played on standard acoustic instruments. Then, for the second half, the group will “plug in” to their electric instruments and bring percussionist David Alderdice to the stage. The music will delve into the timeless melodies and rhythms of the great Irish, Spanish, and American musical traditions. The emotional palette will range from a tear-jerking version of “Danny Boy” to all-out rockin’ interpretations of hot fiddle tunes. The result: an exciting and unforgettable evening of great music!