FACULTY RECITAL

SUSANNE MENTZER, Mezzo-soprano BRIAN CONNELLY, Piano LEONE BUYSE, Flute and Piccolo MICHAEL WEBSTER, Clarinet NORMAN FISCHER, Cello YOUN JU NAMKOONG, Piano

Assisted by students of the Shepherd School

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 8:00p.m. Lillian H Duncan Recital Hall

~~rd RICE UNIVERSITY School ofMusic PROGRAM ) La flute enchantee Maurice Ravel from Sheherazade (1904) (1875-1937) for voice, flute, and piano

Sonata for Flute and Piano (1927) Erwin Schulhoff Allegro moderato (1894-1942) Scherzo Aria: Andante Rondo-Finale: Allegro molto gajo

Sechs deutsche Lieder, Op.103 (1837) Ludwig Spohr for voice, clarinet, and piano (1784-1859) Sei still mein Herz Zwiegesang Sehnsucht Wiegenlied Das heimliche Lied Wach auf )

INTERMISSION

Trois poemes de Stephane Mallarme (1913) Maurice Ravel for voice and ensemble Soupir Placet futile I Surgi de la croupe et du bond Youn Ju Namkoong, piano ) Sonja Harasim, violin Malorie Blake, violin Pei-Ling Lin, viola David Gerstein, cello Leone Buyse, flute and piccolo Matthew Roitstein, flute and piccolo Michael Webster, clarinet Andre Dyachenko, clarinet and bass clarinet

Chansons madecasses (1925) Maurice Ravel for voice, flute, cello, and piano Nahandove Auoa! Auoa! Il est doux I BIOGRAPHIES \ SUSANNE MENTZER is one of today's foremost mezzo-sopranos and continues to actively perform. She is widely admired for her acting and as a specialist in trouser roles, most notably for her portrayals of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as many female roles. Operatically she specializes in the music of Mozart, Berlioz, and Richard Strauss. Ms. Mentzer enjoys a significant concert and recital career, with a particular interest in chamber music, and is known as an interpreter of the vocal works of Mahler and Ravel and as a proponent of women's music. She has been a guest artist at the Metropolitan Opera in leading roles since 1989, appearing on four PBS telecasts. During the 2007-08 season, she appears with the Florida Grand Opera in Miami as Despina in Mozart's Cosifan tutte, Music from Angel Fire chamber music festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, The National Symphony, Canadian National Arts Center for Berlioz's La Mort de Cleo­ patre, and concerts in Houston including Mahler's Ruckertlieder with the Houston Symphony and a program ofsong with Da Camera of Houston. She will also reprise her role as the Mother/Empress in Tan Dun's The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera in May. Other future engagements include Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust with the Chicago Symphony and the Toronto Symphony, Bernstein's "Jere­ miah" Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra, Mahler's Second Sym­ phony with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the role of L'enfant in Ravel's L'enfant et /es Sortileges with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Mentzer has been fortunate to have appeared on/our continents at nearly every great opera house and orchestra under the batons ofR. Abba­ do, Bonynge, Boulez, Chailly, Conlon, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis, Dutoit, Eschenbach, Haitink, Herbig, Jarvi, Levine, Maazel, Mackerras, Marriner, Masur, Mehta, Muti, Ozawa, Salonen, Sawallisch, Slatkin, and Sinopoli, among others. She also has appeared in many productions of the late director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, whom she considers one of her great influences, and with the late Giorgio Strehler at La Scala. An established recitalist, Ms. Mentzer has premiered two song cycles by Libby Larsen, Love After 1950 and Sifting through the ruins, and a mono­ drama by Carlisle Floyd, Citizen of Paradise. Her extensive discography ofover twenty recordings (on Decca, Erato, Philips Classics, EM!, Te/arc, Te/dee, Koch, and International labels) includes two recitals she often per­ forms in concert: The Eternal Feminine, a recital ofmusic by women com­ posers (Koch International Classics) which includes the premiere of Libby Larsen's Love After 1950 with her long-time pianist Craig Rutenberg; and her persona/favorite, Wayfaring Stranger (Erato), a collection of interna­ tional folksongs arranged for voice and guitar with Grammy Award winner Sharon Isbin. She also received a Grammy nomination for her work in Buso­ ni's Arlecchino. She appears on DVDs ofLes Contes d'Hoffmann (Opera de Paris), Don Giovanni (La Scala), The First Emperor (Metropolitan Opera), and most recently a release of Mahler's Second Symphony on DVD conducted by Neeme Jarvi. A professor at The Shepherd School of Music since the fall of2006, Ms. Mentzer has taught at DePaul University and the Aspen Music Festival. She has her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, and was trained in the Houston Opera Studio. She studied with Rose Bamp­ ton and Norma Newton. She serves on the Board of Trustees of The WM. Sullivan Foundation in New York, which supports young singers. She also regularly adjudicates the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and The George London Foundation Competition. BRIAN CONNELLY is recognized as a pianist of unusual range and ac­ complishment in both historical and modern repertoires. Born in Detroit, he studied at the University of Michigan with pianists Gyorgy Sandor and Theodore Lettvin. He has premiered works by William Albright, Karim A/­ Zand, Derek Bermel, William Bo/com, Anthony Brandt, Paul Cooper, David Diamond, Ross Lee Finney, Arthur Gottschalk, Laura Karpman, Richard Lavenda, and many others. He has performed as soloist and chamber player in major cities throughout the United States and Europe, and as guest artist with groups such as the Chicago Contemporary Players and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He was featured in the Carnegie Hall series "Making Music" in a tribute to composer William Bo/com, and he performs regularly at the Cascade Head and Grand Teton music festivals. He has appeared in concert with a host ofpre-eminent artists such as violinist Sergiu Luca, vio­ list Nobuko Imai, cellists Gary Hoffman and Roel Dieltiens, flutist Carol Wincenc, clarinetists Charles Neidich and Lorenzo Coppola, pianists Robert Levin and Andre-Michel Schub, fortepianists John Gibbons and Riko Fukuda, and he has shared ragtime recitals with jazz pianist Marcus Roberts. Mr. Connelly played nearly 150 solo and chamber works for the acclaimed Da Camera ofHouston in its path-breaking.first six seasons. He is a member of the ensemble CONTEXT, performing on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century pianos as well as the modern Steinway. He teaches piano performance and chamber music at the Shepherd School.

Flutist LEONE BUYSE relinquished her principal positions with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops in 1993 to pursue a more active solo and teaching career after twenty-two years as an orchestral musician. A former member of the San Francisco Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, she has appeared as soloist with those orchestras and also with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Utah Symphony, and l 'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. She has performed with the Boston Symphony Cham­ ber Players throughout Europe and Japan, with the Tokyo, Juilliard, Bren­ tano, and Muir String Quartets, in recital with Jessye Norman and Yo-Yo Ma, and at many festivals, including Aspen, Sarasota, Norfolk, and Orcas Island. The only American prize winner in the 1969 Geneva International Flute Competition, Ms. Buyse has presented recitals and master classes across the United States and in Canada, The Netherlands, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Her solo recordings appear on the Crystal, Boston Records, and C.R.!. labels, and she may be heard as solo flutist on recordings ofthe Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and the San Francisco Symphony for the Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Victor, and Sony Classical labels. With her husband, clarinetist Michael Webster, she co-founded the Webster Trio, which has recorded for Crystal and Livenotes. Ms. Buyse is the Joseph and Ida Kirkland Mullen Professor of Flute at Rice University, and has also taught at the University of Michigan, the New England Conservatory, Bos­ ton University, the Tanglewood Music Center, and as a visiting professor at the Eastman School of Music.

A multi-faceted musician, MICHAEL WEBSTER is Professor of Clarinet at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and Artistic Director of the Houston Youth Symphony. Former principal clarinetist of the Rochester Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, he has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Pops. Described by the Boston Globe as "a virtuoso ofburgeoning promi­ nence," Webster has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y, Da Camera of Houston, CONTEXT, the Tokyo, Cleveland, Muir, Ying, Leont6vych, Enso, and Chester String Quartets, and the festivals of Marlboro, Santa Fe, Chamber Music West and Northwest, Norfolk, Victoria, Stratford, Domaine Forget, Steamboat Springs, Angel Fire, Park City, Sitka, La Musica di Asolo, Skaneateles, and Orcas Island. Dr. Webster has directed chamber music societies in Rochester and Ann Arbor and served on the faculties of the New England Conservatory, Boston University, the University of Michigan, and the Eastman School, from which he holds three degrees. He has given recitals and master classes all over the United States and in Canada, Europe, South America, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. With his wife,flutist Leone Buyse, and pianist Robert Moe­ ling, he plays in the Webster Trio. His recordings appear on the Arabesque, Bridge, Centaur, C.R.!., Crystal, and Nami (Japan) labels. As composer and arranger he has been published by G. Schirmer, International and Schott. Highly respected as a teacher, he is a member ofthe editorial staff of The Clarinet magazine, contributing a regular column entitled "Teaching Clari­ net." A Buffet artist-clinician, Webster plays Buffet clarinets exclusively.

NORMAN FISCHER is one ofAmerica's most versatile cellists. After completing instrumental study with Richard Kapuscinski, Claus Adam, and Bernard Greenhouse, he first graced the international concert stage as cel­ list with the Concord String Quartet, a group that won the Naumburg Cham­ ber Music Award, an Emmy and several Grammy nominations, and recorded over forty works on RCA Red Seal, Vox, Nonesuch, Turnabout, and CR!. In addition to performing the major concertos, Mr. Fischer has premiered and recorded many new scores for cello and orchestra. His chamber music expertise has led to guest appearances with the Juilliard, Cleveland, Emer­ son, American, Chiara, Chester, Enso, Blair, Schoenberg, Ciampi, Mendels­ sohn, and Audubon string quartets, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Ann Arbor, Chamber Music International, CONTEXT, and Da Camera ofHouston. Norman Fischer and pianist Jeanne Kierman have performed together as the Fischer Duo for over thirty-five years. The Fischer Duo has been widely praised by music critics for its choice of repertoire. Thoroughly versed in the classical repertoire ofBeethoven, Brahms, and Schumann, the Fischer Duo has acquired an equally impressive reputation for rediscover­ ing neglected works of the past (Busoni, Foote, Boulanger, and Liszt). They have commissioned many new scores by contemporary composers such as Augusta Read Thomas, George Rochberg, David Stock, Robert Sirota, Shih­ Hui Chen, Anthony Brandt, Richard Lavenda, Pierre Jalbert, and Richard Wilson. In October 2002 they launched a new chamber music festival in Vermont with violinist Curtis Macomber. Mr. Fischer is currently Profes­ sor of Violoncello and Coordinator of Chamber Music at The Shepherd School ofMusic.

A native of New York City, YOUN JU NAMKOONG received a Master of Music degree in piano from Northwestern University. She has worked as pianist and coach at the Tulsa Opera and the Aspen Opera Theater Cen­ ter, and is currently a staffaccompanist at The Shepherd School of Music. Among her duties is helping to prepare opera productions, and she has re­ cently been heard as keyboardist in the Shepherd School's production of ( Donzetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. Violinist SONJA HARASIM is currently completing her master's degree as a student of Kenneth Goldsmith. She received her bachelor's degree from I I the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with David Updegraff. ' She will return to the Shepherd School in the fall as a doctoral student of Cho-Liang Lin. , I MALORIE BLAKE is currently pursuing her master's degree in violin I performance studying with Sergiu Luca. She is a graduate of Boston Uni­ I versity from the studio of Lucia Lin.

PEI-LING LIN is originally from Taipei, Taiwan. She earned her Bach­ elor ofArts degree in viola at The Juilliard School, studying with Ms. Hsin ­ ~ Yun Huang. She is currently a second year master's student in the studio of James Dunham.

Cellist DAVID GERSTEIN is a second year master's student with Norman Fischer. David has participated in both the Tanglewood Music Center and the New York String Orchestra Seminar. His new music group, Out of Con­ text, will debut in Los Angeles in May.

MATTHEW ROITSTEIN received his bachelor's degrees from MIT in both architecture and music, studying flute with Seta Der Hohannesian. He was one ofonly three Americans invited to the 2006 Carl Nielsen Inter­ national Flute Competition and is currently pursuing his master's degree as a student of Leone Buyse.

Ukrainian clarinetist ANDRE DYACHENKO toured Sweden, Russia, and Germany in 1995 and went to the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1996. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, his mas­ ter's from the University of Minnesota, and is currently a doctoral student of Michael Webster.

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