Thursday Musical Artist Series

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Complimentary Coffee and Donuts at 10:00 am

Single tickets $15, $10 (groups of 8+), $6 students, sold at the door, general seating

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Program

Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
Blue Skies

Richard Rodgers (1902-1979)
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960)
If I Loved You

Sammy Fain (1902-1989)
Lyrics by Irving Kahal (1903-1942)
I’ll Be Seeing You

Berlin
I Love a Piano

George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin (1896-1983)
Someone to Watch Over Me

Meredith Willson (1902-1984)
Till There Was You

Meghann Schmidt, soprano and Marianne Fleming Bryan, piano

Peter Schickele (b. 1935)
String Quartet No. 1 “American Dreams”
II. Four Studies
III. Music at Dawn
IV. Dance Music

The Northern Lights String Quartet
Kathryn Christie, violin; Carolyn Liptak, violin; Stella Anderson, viola; David Holmes, cello

Steve Reich (b. 1936)
New York Counterpoint for Clarinet and Tape (1985)

Nina Olsen, clarinet

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Arr. Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale
Souvenirs, Op. 28

I. Waltz: Tempo di Valse, Allegro con brio

II. Schottische: Tempo di Schottische, Allegro ma non troppo

III. Pas de deux: Adagio

IV. Two-Step: Allegro molto

V. Hesitation Tango: Con moto

VI. Galop: Allegro molto

Suzanne Greer and Susan Munson, piano

Program order subject to change.

Performer Information

Marianne Bryan earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. She served as President of Minnesota Music Teachers Association and also on the national board of Music Teachers National Association. Currently an independent piano teacher, her previous teaching experience includes 20 years at the University of St. Thomas. A frequent performer, Dr. Bryan has performed at the Ordway Theatre, Walker Arts Center, Northrop Auditorium, and Temple Israel as well as on the live radio broadcasts "Live from Landmark" in St. Paul and "Noontime at Hochstein" in New York.

Meghann Schmidt has appeared in operas and musicals with Theater Latte Da (La Boheme, Susannah), Skylark Opera (Iolanthe), Colorado Lyric Opera (Into the Woods), CU Opera (La Boheme, Turn of the Screw, Die Fledermaus, Dialogue of the Carmelites), Top Hat Theater (Cinderella), the Black Hills Summer Music Festival (Carmen, The Old Maid and the Thief) as guest soloist with the Minnesota Philharmonic (Knoxville: Summer of 1915), and the St. Thomas Liturgical Choir performing German Lied in the Stephaniensaal and Johaneum concert halls in Graz, Austria. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of St. Thomas and a Master of Music degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Suzanne Greer currently serves on the faculty of the MacPhail Center for Music where she teaches both Suzuki and traditional piano lessons. She received performance degrees from St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota as well as the certificate in piano pedagogy from the University of St. Thomas. She was awarded the Robert Schmitt Professional Development Grant from the Minnesota Music Teachers Association (MMTA) and in 2017, was awarded a Top Music Teacher Award by Steinway and Sons. She has served Thursday Musical as Vice President of the Student Section and Community Concert Chair. Currently, she serves as a Certification Commissioner for the Music Teachers National Association.

A lifelong student, teacher and performer of piano, Susan Munson credits the following teachers for her mainstay in music: Betty Melander, Patricia Nortwen, Marianne Fleming Bryan, and Sr. Mary Ann Hanley. She themed her summer of 2019, SPREE, Summer Piano Retreats: Educated and Energized as she attended the Daniel Pollack Master Class, Music @10,000 Lakes with Elizabeth Wolff, and completed her Book 1 Suzuki Teacher Training with Caroline Fraser. Today is an honor joining esteemed colleague, Suzanne Greer, to play on Thursday Musical’s Artist Series.

Clarinetist Nina Olsen has been a member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra since 1990, and is a founding member of the Second Winds Chamber ensemble. Dr. Olsen is a frequent performer on faculty recitals at Carleton and MacPhail and performs regularly with Thursday Musical. As a freelance performer, she has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia Sinfonia, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and Plymouth Music Series (VocalEssence). Currently on the faculties of Carleton College and the MacPhail Center for Music, Dr. Olsen has also served on the faculties of St. Cloud State University and St. Olaf College. Dr. Olsen holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and the University of Denver. Her principal teachers include Burt Hara, John Anderson, Fred Ormand, Ramon Kireilis, and Bil Jackson.

The Northern Lights String Quartet

Kathryn Christie, violin; Carolyn Liptak, violin; Stella Anderson, viola; David Holmes, cello

Kathryn Christie was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has played violin for 50 years. She attended Interlochen National Music Camp, Lawrence University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During the last 30 years, Kathryn has enjoyed many freelance gigs in the Twin Cities and has also performed with the Ariel Trio. She maintains a private violin and viola studio, and also teaches for GTCYS, the Early Bird String Academy, and Century College. Other interests include gardening, hiking, knitting, and travel.

Carolyn Liptak has a performance degree from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, IL. After studying with various teachers including Victor Aitay (concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony) she won an audition to play with the Savannah Symphony in Georgia where she played for four years. While in Savannah, Carolyn started the first string program in the public school system.

In 1989, Carolyn sought an opportunity to study with Detlef Hahn in London at the Guildhall School of Music. Her studies in London lasted eight months. Afterward, she moved back to the Minneapolis area and became a private violin teacher and a freelance musician. Carolyn played with the Duluth Symphony for 12 years. She was also a member of the Rochester Symphony for two years. She is a performing member of Thursday Musical. She is also a member of the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis. Carolyn has been a member of the Northern Lights String Quartet since its founding in 1997. She has taught private violin lessons for 39 years. She is a frequent coach for GTCYS. This is her sixth year teaching for the MacPhail school partnership program.

Stella Anderson, a native of Hawaii, attended Indiana University, studying with William Primrose and one semester with David Dawson. Since then she’s been principal viola of the Ft. Wayne (Indiana) of the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic, subbed with the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and was a member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and the Plymouth Music Series Orchestra. She is presently principal violist with the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra as well as a violist with the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra. Other affiliations include MNSOTA, past president; MN Viola Society, past president; the Minnesota Youth Symphonies board; a member of the MacPhail Center for Music; and the Ensemble Coordinator for the Augsburg University Suzuki Talent Education. The newest member of the Northern Lights String Quartet, Stella was also the founding member of the Sartory String Quartet.

David Holmes grew up in Texas, but has lived in Minneapolis since 1993. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Houston and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas. A Suzuki teacher for the past 25 years, he has been a guest clinician at over 50 institutes across the country. David teaches at the North Star Cello Academy and was chosen the “2014 Master Studio Teacher” by the Minnesota String and Orchestra Teachers Association. He is an artist member of Thursday Musical and a member of the Northern Lights String Quartet.