Tickets are $15 for non-members & $10 per ticket for groups of 8+. Students are now free.
Going to miss a concert? Purchase a Youtube replay for $8 or get access to the full Thursday Musical library of concerts by becoming a member. Get a preview of our replays by watching this year’s opening concert: https://youtu.be/Hw57S8OACuU.
Purchase here!
Or become a member.
Featuring Thursday Musical Member Melissa Holm-Johansen, soprano accompanied by guest artist Carson Rose Schneider, piano (not pictured); Thursday Musical Members Robin Griffeath, tenor & Kristin Griffeath, piano; and Thursday Musical Members Beth Blackledge, flute, Carol Margolis, violin (not pictured), Ingrid Koller, viola, and Daryl Carlson, cello
Click the photo on the left for artist and program information.
For everyone’s safety, Thursday Musical strongly recommends all audience members to wear a non-cloth mask such as a N95, KN95, KF94, or surgical mask inside of the recital hall.
Soprano Melissa Holm-Johansen is a native of Halden, Norway, and is a 1998 graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, USA, where she graduated cum laude with a double major in vocal performance and music education. Dr. Holm-Johansen holds a D.M.A. in vocal pedagogy and performance from the University of Minnesota and was a two year recipient of a Torske Klubben scholarship.
Her current project is a first-of-its-kind all-English recording of songs composed by her countryman Edvard Grieg, in collaboration with pianist Steve Swanson, Norwegian scholar/translator William Halvorson, and the Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota. See direct links on the homepage to “Songs From the Heart” recording platforms.
Past performing groups include The Singers – Minnesota Choral Artists, The Minnesota Beethoven Festival Chorus, Bach Roots Festival, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Chorale, The Dale Warland Singers, The Oratorio Society, The Norwegian Youth Choir, and The St. Olaf Choir.
Dr. Holm-Johansen is a longtime member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and was previously awarded the NATS Independent Teacher Award. She has a private voice studio at her home in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and is the Vocal Performance Program Instructor at Shattuck – St. Mary’s Boarding school in Faribault, MN. She is a section leader at The House Of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul and studies with Tony-nominated singer/actor Melissa Hart and University of Minnesota professor Jean del Santo.
Dr. Holm-Johansen serves on the board of directors and the program committee of the Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota.
At home collaborating with both vocalists and instrumentalists, Dr. Carson Rose Schneider is a versatile pianist who works as a duo partner, coach, music director, and rehearsal pianist with opera companies, chamber groups, and choirs. She has performed around the United States and Europe.
Based in Minneapolis, MN, she has worked for companies throughout the Midwest including Out of the Box Opera, St Croix Valley Opera, Lyric Opera of the North, AOT, Skylark Opera Theatre, Really Spicy Opera, Bay View Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, and Fargo-Moorhead Opera. She is currently the Music Director at Skylark Opera Theatre, and is also the coordinator and pianist for Skylark Opera’s “Skylark for Seniors” program which takes opera performances into elderly residencies. Up next, she will be the Music Director for Skylark Opera’s May production of Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, at the Jungle Theatre.
In addition to an active performing life, Carson has a private coaching and recording studio, where she records audition videos and other projects with singers and instrumentalists. Her most recent work includes a collaboration with Lyric Opera of the North to create a virtual show for schools in Northern Minnesota, recorded a benefit recital with baritone Robert Riordan that raised over $1,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association, and a multimedia film of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise with baritone Justin Spenner. She is also the Music Director at Union Congregational Church United Church of Christ in Elk River, where she directs the choir, handbells, and plays for the services.
She has a DMA in collaborative piano and coaching from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with Timothy Lovelace. When not at a piano, she loves exploring the North Shore with her husband Mike, cooking, and playing with their cat, Merlin.
Robin Griffeath, tenor, holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance (D.M. in vocal performance), the University of Arizona (M.M. in vocal performance), and Lawrence University (B.M. in vocal performance).
In recital, Dr. Griffeath has recently performed with his colleagues, Dr. Stacey DiPaolo (clarinet) and Dr. Sophie Hung (piano) in their chamber ensemble Trio Voce. Dr. Griffeath performed Jonathan Stinson’s Uncivil Relief, Ben Moore’s Dear Theo, Benjamin Britten’s Michelangelo Sonnets. On stage, Dr. Griffeath recently performed the role of the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Dr. Griffeath currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Kristin Griffeath, piano, grew up in Plymouth, Minnesota and studied piano locally with Annette Valley and Emilia Vishnevetsky-Flegel. A graduate of Armstrong High School, she then attended the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she double majored in Music Education (Choral/Vocal) and Piano Performance. Dr. Michael Kim and Dr. Catherine Kautsky were important piano mentors at Lawrence. Griffeath then turned towards a career teaching voice, combining her passions for education and voice with an opportunity to play the piano every day. She spent three years living in Tucson, Arizona, working in the public schools while earning a master’s degree in Voice Performance from the University of Arizona. Griffeath then attended the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, and she completed a DMA in Voice Performance and a second master’s degree in Musicology. She now teaches as a professor at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) in Weatherford, Oklahoma. She enjoys directing the SWOSU Opera Workshop productions, teaching the music history sequence, and working with talented young singers in her voice studio.
Beth Blackledge, a graduate of Drake University, is a retired principal flutist for St. Paul Civic Symphony. She has appeared as soloist with the Des Moines Symphony and the Palo Alto, California Chamber Orchestra. She is now playing as a substitute in several orchestras and bands in the area. She has enjoyed studying with several Twin Cities flutists, including most recently, Wendy Williams of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Carol Margolis graduated from Grinnell College with a degree in American Studies and a minor in Violin Performance. At Grinnell she studied performance with Delmar Pettys of the Lenox String Quartet and ensemble playing with Bonnie Hampton and Nathan Swartz of the Francesco Trio. She went on to the University of Minnesota to study performance and pedagogy with Shirley Santoro and Mary West. Carol is a long-time member of the Lake String Quartet and has played a variety of other professional venues including the Minnesota Opera, The State Fair Orchestra, Rupert’s Club, Broadway shows and the Viennese Strings. She is Concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis and an Artist member of Thursday Musical.
Ingrid Koller is a freelance violist, violin and viola instructor, and composer in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. She has played in numerous ensembles and orchestras and has been a member of the Lake String Quartet for over 30 years. Nationally recognized artists for whom Ingrid has played include Roy Clark, Michael Card, and Fernando Ortega. Ingrid was a founder and co-director of the Early Bird String Academy, a before-school orchestra program in North Saint Paul, Minnesota. Inspired by her students, she writes engaging and imaginative pieces for string orchestra and small ensembles. Publishers of her pieces include LudwigMasters/Keiser Southern Music and Luck’s Music Library/Tempo Press. Ingrid studied with John Tartaglia at the University of Minnesota where she obtained a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance. Ingrid is a member of the Viola Society of America, American String Teacher’s Association, American Composer’s Forum, and ASCAP.
Daryl Carlson is a Minneapolis native and began cello studies with Paul Thomas and Ruth Fischer. He went on to studies with Tanya Remenikova at the University of Minnesota and with Sachiya Isomura and Mina Fisher. He is the founder of the Lake String Quartet. He is an active teacher and maintains a studio of cello students.
