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C. Verrilli
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Soprano Catherine Verrilli is a versatile, dynamic singer and accomplished teacher. The Washington Post praises her voice as "gently agile," and "well-rounded in tone, expressive in diction." She was a finalist in the Washington International Competition for Singers and was also awarded the Judges' Discretionary Prize. Other awards include Regional Winner in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Auditions, and Winner of the Mid-Atlantic Governor's Outreach Award. Verrilli earned the degree doctor of musical arts from the University of Maryland School of Music where she studied with Louise McLelland, stage director Leon Major and coach Bob Mc Coy. She was selected to perform in master classes of some of the world's most respected musicians, including Evelyn Lear, John Wustmann, Martin Katz, Gerard Souzay, Rudolf Jansen and Margot Garrett. She has regularly appeared as soloist with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, the Chesapeake Chorale, the Chesapeake Chamber Orchestra, the Sunrise String Quartet, and the Washington Opera Outreach program. Her solo appearances have been in such prestigious venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. She has appeared as a recitalist in the Landmark Courtroom Concert Series in St. Paul, the Thursday Musical recital series in and the concert series Music at St. Luke's (Minneapolis), as well as the Arts Club of Washington D.C., the Renwick National Gallery of American Art. Her operatic roles include Adele in Die Fledermaus, Marie in La Fille du Regiment, and Carolina in Luisa Fernanda. She collaborated on the recording "Amore e gelosia: Italian Duets of G. F. Händel ," and can also be heard on a recording for the 1999 Händel Festival in Halle, Germany. She has twice appeared as soprano soloist in the Paramount Festival Messiah performances in St. Cloud. Verrilli is a member of Trio Lorca with colleagues Terry Vermillion (percussion) and Melissa Krause (flute). The Trio has premiered works by Michael Wittgraf, Melissa Krause, and Kristian Twombly; performances have been throughout the midwest. Recently the soprano sang the European premieres (France and Germany) of Stephen Paulus' Holocaust Oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn. During the 2009-2010 year Dr. Verrilli was on sabbatical, singing and conducting pedagogical research. 2009 performances included a nine-city recital tour of American music with longtime collaborator pianist Ann DuHamel. Recitals were performed in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and New Hampshire. During the fall of 2010, she will be singing recitals in Minnesota, Iowa, and New Hampshire. Dr. Verrilli teaches voice, vocal pedagogy, music history, and music in world cultures. While a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, she was awarded a double Teaching Assistantship in Voice/Opera and Ethnomusicology, so she feels very fortunate to be able to indulge all of her passions at SCSU.
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M. Krause
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Melissa Krause is an accomplished teacher, flutist, and composer. Born and raised in a small suburb near St. Paul, MN, she was introduced to composing at an early age by a wonderful music teacher. The Central MN Arts Board has described her original works as "unique, challenging, and enjoyable to listen to", and audiences have responded to their sensual lyricism and rhythmic drive. She admits that collaborating in performance with talented colleagues is probably the most valuable part of her compositional process. "It is a rush to hear my music come to life through the dynamic exchange of ideas within our chamber rehearsals - from the first, unsophisticated reading to the ultimate, polished performance." Melissa studied composition at The Florida State University and the Czech-American Summer Music Institute with renowned Czech composer Ladislav Kubik. Her award-winning music has been performed in such esteemed venues as the Dvorak Museum (Czech Republic), the Florida State University Festival of New Music, and the International Double Reed Society conference. In addition to her active performing schedule with Trio Lorca, Melissa frequently plays piccolo in the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, and was invited to perform by audition with the National Flute Association's Professional Flute Choir in 2007 and 2011. She has appeared as soloist with the SCSU Orchestra playing Bloch's Suite Modale, and with the SCSU Wind Ensemble in a performance of Kennan's Night Soliloquy. Her principal teachers included Elaine Eagle, Immanuel Davis, and Charles DeLaney, and she has performed in master classes taught by such prestigious flutists as Julius Baker and Tadeu Cuelho. Melissa has enjoyed teaching flute, composition and a variety of theory courses at St. Cloud State University since 1996. She has also presented at numerous conferences on the pedagogy of theory and musicianship, and is currently co-authoring a workbook and teacher's manual based on the musicianship curriculum at SCSU.
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T. Vermillion
I
have always been attracted to music that has elements of improvisation
or a feeling of being improvised. I've always observed that great
musicians appear to be creating music in the moment as if it were
flowing from their inner self. My travels have confirmed this belief as I
studied the amazingly complex music of Indonesian gamelan, Brazilian
samba, Afro-Cuban rhumba, and the world of jazz and popular music.
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Having established a career at the crossroads of improvised music and classical European art music, I have always been drawn to collaborations that explore elements of compositional formality and chance. From my first recitals featuring transcriptions of semi-improvisational duets performed by jazz-fusion drummer Bill Bruford and new age pianist Patrick Moraz, to collaborations with electro-acoustic composer Scott Miller that featured early MIDI triggering of sound events in the premiere of his Improvisational Etudes for Strings, Metal, and Wood, I've always been attracted to the interactive possibilities between percussion and electro-acoustic music. It was the very tactile and richly complex acoustic vibrations emitting from the first percussion instrument I struck that first attracted me to making music. The intricate complexities of gongs, cymbals and everything metallic were first to impress, followed quickly by the infinite possibilities offered by the drum set. At the drum set, the heart-felt sincerity of the deeply honest groove that is core to contemporary music has been deeply rewarding, and the intricate explorations fundamental to the traditions of jazz music have provided a laboratory for understanding how great chamber music is created. My 21-year career at St. Cloud State University has provided opportunity to perform with a variety of groups including the Dallas Brass and Boston Brass, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra appearing as soloist for Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra, Ney Rosauro's Concerto for Marimba, and Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto. I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with outstanding composers including William Schmidt and Ian Krouse premiering works including Latin Rhythms for Tuba and Percussion and Cronica for percussion soloist and Wind Ensemble and have received the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Study Grant for his study with ECM recording artist Peter Erskine, Downbeat magazine's award for Jazz Instrumental Soloist Outstanding College Performance, Grand Prize in the Rocky Mountain Concerto Competition, the 2010 Bruce and Dee Pearson Faculty Excellence Award, and most recently the United Arts of Central Minnesota Outstanding Educator Award for 2010. I enjoy everything musical and take pleasure in serving as both Department Chairperson and Professor in Percussion Studies where I teach private lessons and direct the Percussion Ensemble and World Drumming Group as part of the Percussion Collective at SCSU. I perform regularly as timpanist with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra and as percussionist with Trio Lorca, and I currently serve as President of the MN Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. I also organize and host the David Swenson Foundation Guest Artist Series and take time to teach privately in the St. Cloud area.
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A. DuHamel
Pianist Ann DuHamel
is delighted and honored to perform with Trio Lorca this season. Ann
serves as Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of Minnesota,
Morris. She anticipates the completion of a DMA in Piano Performance
and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, under the tutelage of
Professor Ksenia Nosikova, in 2012. Ann has been fortunate enough to
coach with such esteemed pianists as Fernando Laires, Ian Hobson,
Vladimir Feltsman, and Frederic Chiu, and her performances have spanned
the U.S. as well as Bulgaria and Italy. A champion of new music, Ann is a
founding member of ensemble: Périphérie; award-winning composer Joseph
Dangerfield has asked her to premiere his piano concerto. Currently she
is researching her dissertation topic, the Nocturnes of Lowell
Liebermann, for which she received a fellowship from UI; she recently
was awarded a University of Minnesota Imagine Fund Grant to record these
pieces in 2013.
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What People Said... |
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From the St. Cloud Times: DCINY - Trio Lorca draws national attention |
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