2010 Concerts
May 29, 2010
Tawna Flake, fiddler
David Peterson, piano
June 19, 2010
Ji Sun Lee, piano
Michael Lich, guitar, banjo
July 16 & 17, 2010
Quartet Greer, strings & piano
July 23 & 24, 2010
Paloma Winds, woodwinds
August 7, 2010
Jazz
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The Ragel Family Greer
Community Center
Musicians Participating in Music From Greer 2010 Concerts
Royce McLarry Jim Shelley Lacy McLarry David Robillard Victor Valenzuela Sara Fraker Rebecca Cain
Deena Reedy Andrew Braden Michael Lich Ji Sun Lee Tawna Flake David Peterson
Royce McLarry. Royce McLarry began studying violin at the age of four with his father Lacy McLarry. He made his solo debut with the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve. At age sixteen, he was a finalist in the International Mozart Festival Competition (Pueblo, Colorado).
McLarry received his Bachelor of Music degree from Oklahoma City University, where he also studied with his father. As a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he studied viola with the renowned Richard Blum of the Pro Arte String Quartet. While there, he served as a violist of the Strelow String Quartet and performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as Assistant Principal Violist of the Northwood Orchestra in Michigan.
McLarry has served on the faculties of the University of Oklahoma and the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. He carries on the teaching tradition of his father by teaching viola and violin. He is currently a faculty member of Oklahoma Baptist University and Oklahoma Christian University.
Presently, McLarry is Principal Violist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, and plays regularly with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Tulsa Opera. As a chamber musician, soloist and member of the New Lyric Quartet, Mc Larry performs throughout the region. Recent performances include Music From Greer with the New Lyric Quartet, as Principal Violist of the Quartz Mountain Music Festival (Lone Wolf, OK) and collaboration with guitarist Pepe Romero performing Boccherini’s Fandango Quintet.
Jim Shelley has been a cellist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic for eleven years, and regularly tours the South Central United States with Go For Baroque, a chamber music ensemble. He holds a Bachelor of Music Performance and a Masters of Music Education from the University of Central Oklahoma where he was named "Outstanding Student" both as an undergraduate and graduate student.
Alcott Middle School , in Norman , Oklahoma , is pleased to have Shelley as its Orchestra Director. His students have earned superior ratings in concert and sight-reading at state competitions. In addition to the cello, Shelley plays the violin and the guitar. Most recently, he has expanded his musical endeavors to singing and songwriting, and he has been a featured performer at the Oklahoma Songwriters' Showcase. Shelley's hobbies include gardening, cycling, in-line skating, and hiking. He is pleased to return to Music From Greer.
Lacy McLarry performed for 12 years Concertmaster of the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra and seven years as Concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, has served on the faculties of Emporia Kansas State University, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain.
McLarry was a pioneer in introducing the Suzuki teaching method to the United States. After going to Japan in the early 1970s to study this method, he became Artist in Residence and Director of String Development at Oklahoma City University where he had a highly successful Suzuki Program involving numerous teachers and approximately 100 students ranging from two to twenty-two years old. He continues this work now from his private studio.
Mr. McLarry's performances each year include many as chamber musician as well as soloist. His teacher was Philip Williams with whom he studied from the age of eight through the completion of a Master of Music degree at Southern Methodist University. Mr. McLarry, along with his wife, composer Beverly McLarry, is a recipient of the Oklahoma "Musician of the Year" award presented by Governor George Nigh, and the American String Teachers Association award, "Oklahoma String Teacher of the Year". Mr. McLarry has served as Concertmaster of the Northwood Orchestra in Michigan, the Sinfonia of Mid-America in Oklahoma, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria in Mexico City, the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New Hampshire Music Festival.
David Robillard was the Associate Concertmaster with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic for 11 years. He also served as Concertmaster and Assistant Concertmaster of the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Robillard was a long-time faculty member of the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain and served on the faculty of the Oklahoma City University String Development Program. He now teaches violin and viola at Southwest Oklahoma State University and teaches violin and piano as a member of the Suzuki Associates.
He has performed with several orchestras including the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Festival of the Lakes (the Northwood Orchestra) in Michigan, the Oregon Bach Festival, the St. Paul Summer Opera and many more. Mr. Robillard also appears regularly as a soloist including one in a performance of the Concerto for four violins and orchestra by Antonio Vivaldi with the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra. He studied violin in high school and as an undergraduate with Anthony Gilombardo in his home state at the University of Minnesota. While there he also studied piano with Paul Freed. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree as a violin student of Robert Gerle at the Manhattan School of Music. He also studied chamber music with Joe McSpadden and Lillian Fuchs. Mr. Robillard has been a jazz pianist for many years and also serves in the music ministry at The Cathedral Of Our Lady Of Perpetual Help.
Victor Valenzuela is currently Third Horn with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. As well as holding this position, he is also Instructor of Brass at Pima Community College. Mr. Valenzuela holds degrees from New Mexico State University and Northwestern University. His Instructors have included Julie Landsman, Dale Clevenger, Nancy Joy, Dr. Warner Hutchison and Richard Lambrecht. He has performed with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Phoenix Symphony, El Paso Symphony, flagstaff Symphony and Arizona Opera. He recently toured as Co-Principal Horn with the National Symphony of Mexico during its 2002 North American Tour. Mr. Valenzuela has performed for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic games, the 1986 re-opening of the Statue of Liberty and the 1988 Celebration of the Declaration of Independence. In July 2000, Mr. Valenzuela performed, along with his colleagues of the Tucson Symphony Horn Section, at the International Horn Society Conference in Beijing, China. His hobbies include golf and more golf. The three loves of his life: his wife, Susana, and their two boys, Christopher and Alex.
Sara Fraker. Sara Fraker joined the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in 2005, and was recently named Acting Principal Oboe for the 2009/2010 season. She has played in music festivals at Tanglewood, Aspen, Chautauqua, Spoleto Festival USA, and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. The Boston Globe has praised her “aristocratic oboe playing.” Sara has performed with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, the ST. Andrews Bach Society, Arizona Opera, Illinois Symphony, and Sinfonia da Camera. Sara teaches private oboe students and also works as a Teaching Artist in TUSD’S Opening Minds Through the Arts (OMA) Project. A graduate of New England Conservatory and Swarthmore College, Sara recently earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois.
Rebecca Cain. Rebecca Cain is the Second Bassoonist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since 2000. Originally from tiny Davidson, North Carolina, Rebecca received a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Religion before completing her Master of Music degree at Arizona State University. She is a founding member of Music From Greer. Rebecca has also performed at the International Double Reed Society Annual Convention and at festivals in Sarasota and Banff. In addition to performing with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Rebecca is the Personnel Manager for the TSO and teaches for TUSD in the OMA program.
Deena Reedy. Deena Reedy, Flutist, holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as performance degrees from East Carolina and Bowling Green State Universities. Dr. Reedy has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Nebraska, North Carolina and Arizona. Other performance honors include being featured in radio broadcasts on KUCV in Lincoln, Nebraska, WTEB in New Bern, North Carolina and KUAT in Tucson, Arizona and participating in recitals in Austria, Canada and throughout the U.S. Dr. Reedy currently teaches flute at the Music and Dance Academy in Tucson and is a teaching artist in OMA program at TUSD. She has also taught flute at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan. Dr. Reedy has presented and performed at national conventions in California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. She has performed with a number of symphonies, including the Farmington Area Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Tucson Pops Orchestra. She is a frequent chamber musician, performing regularly with the Paloma Winds Quintet, guitarist Cale Hoeflicker and pianist Ji Sun Lee and released her first CD, Softly and Tenderly, in 2003. She continues to study the artistry of the flute with Philip Swanson, and has previously studied with John Bailey, Judith Bentley, Charles Delaney and Christine Gustafson. Visit Dr. Reedy’s new website: web.mac.com/dreedy1 for more information.
Andrew Braden has been 2nd and Eb clarinetist with the Tucson Symphony since 1987. He first performed in an orchestra at age 16 with the Detroit Youth Symphony. After moving to Kansas City and attending Kansas University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served as principal clarinet with the Lawrence Symphony, Lawrence Chamber Players, the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and the St Joseph (Missouri) Smphony. He has also performed with the Kansas City Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony and as principal clarinet with the Arizona Opera Orchestra. He was on the faculty of the Midwest Band Camp in Lawrence, Kansas for 12 years where he led woodwind sectionals, gave clarinet lessons and master classes and performed on faculty recitals. He has played with the Tucson Symphony Wind Quintet for many years performing all over Southern Arizona. Braden's woodwind trio, the Ocotillo Trio, has been the the roster of the Arizona Commission on the Arts and have given concerts throughout the region and Mexico. He maintains a private studio of 30 clarinet students and teaches for Tucson Unified School District in the OMA project (Opening Minds with the Arts), a nationally recognized program of artists in 'at risk' elementary schools.
Michael Lich. Classical guitarist, banjo-player, arranger and composer, Michael Lich is an eclectic musician who has performed a wide variety of musical styles including classical, jazz, bluegrass, funk and East Indian. A critic wrote, “Lich is a musician’s musician.”
In the spring of 2000 he released his debut CD entitled Uraka, which contains original and traditional works for both guitar and banjo. Since that time he has released three CD’s, a solo recording entitled Hillbilly’s Dream, a duo recording with double bassist/composer Robert Matheson, entitled Ironwood and another duo DC, Orange, with guitarist/composer Joseph Williams.
Michael’s performing career has taken him from Skagway, Alaska to Rio Janeiro, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea to Frankfurt, Germany. He has made radio and television appearances on KUNM-FM, Albuquerque, NM; KXCI-FM, Tucson AZ; KSJC-FM, Silverton, CO; KOBF-TV, Farmington, NM and “Fala Espiritu Santo”-live television Vitoria, Brazil.
He has taught master classes and workshops at the Escola de Musica do Espiritu Santo and Facuidade de Musica in Vitoria, Brazil; the Concertos Internacionais Banese concert series in Aracaju, Brazil; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV and the Public Academy for the Performing Arts in Albuquerque, NM.
He has studied with such notable artists as Michael Chapdelaine, Thomas Patterson, Christopher Parkening, Paul O’Dette and India’s sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan.
Michael currently teaches guitar at the Academy of Music and Dance and Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ.
Ji Sun Lee, DMA….Ji Sun Lee, organist and pianist, was born in Seoul, Korea, where she began her musical study at the early age of four. She is an exceptional international artist having performed concerts in South Korea, United States, Brazil, Italy, and Germany. She has won top prizes in several competitions including first prizes in the President’s Concerto Competition at the University of Arizona and the Contemporary Music Society Competition at ASU.
As a performer she has been a featured guest artist at the New American Piano Series, ASU, and also different cities in Brazil to perform and give master classes. In Brazil, she premiered William Bolcom’s “The New Twelve Etudes for the Piano” at the Villa Lobos Institute in Rio Janeiro and Conservatory of Music in Vitoria. She was also invited to perform in Frankfurt, Cologne and other cities in Germany in the spring of 2009.
She holds her degrees from Presbyterian College, South Korea, ASU, and the U. of A. She has studied with Nicholas Zumbro, the pupil of legendary Madam Rosina Lhevinne, Caio Pagano, Walter Cosand, and Yoon Hye Lee, also organ with Pamela Decker and conducting with Donald Baily and Seung-Han Choi.
Dr. Lee has taught Cochise College in Sierra Vista and the University of Arizona, and currently serves as Music Director at Lutheran Church of the Risen Savior, Green Valley, Arizona.
Tawna Flake & David Peterson. Tawna Flake and David Peterson of Snowflake have been playing together for 20 years. The White Mountain’s own, they are well known in Navajo County and have appeared in Greer several times. Both Ms. Flake and Mr. Peterson are classically trained musicians. They perform in restaurants, hotels, musical theater, and more local venues. Their repertoire includes blue grass, country, popular and Broadway tunes, old favorites from the 30’s and 40’s, hymns, and more. Ms. Flake says, “We play everything but rap and heavy metal!” In addition, to their planned program, they are happy to take requests from the audience. The exciting fiddle techniques of Ms. Flake are enhanced by the accompaniment of Mr. Peterson. Playing the piano and the electronic keyboard, Mr. Peterson is virtually a one-man band. As a classically trained musician, he also solos to the delight of his audience.
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