Thursday Musical Artist Series
Parking Information: Click here
Complimentary Coffee and Donuts at 10:00 am
Tickets $15, $10 (groups of 8+), $6 students, sold at the door, general seating
Program
J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, Well-Tempered Clavier II, BWV 885
Prelude and Fugue in F-Sharp Major, Well-Tempered Clavier I, BWV 858
Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, Well-Tempered Clavier I, BWV 855
J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Four Duets, Clavier-Übung III, BWV 802-805
I. E minor
II. F Major
III. G Major
IV. A Minor
Esther Wang, piano
Ned Rorem (b. 1923)
The Lordly Hudson
Jake Heggie (b. 1961)
These Strangers (2018)
These Strangers (Emily Dickinson)
In the Midst of Thousands (Frederick Douglas)
I did not speak out (Martin Niemöller)
To a Stranger (Walt Whitman)
Kelly Krebs
Cliff Notes from Your Mother on Leaving Home
Monica Murray, soprano
Donald Livingston, piano
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 3
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25
I. Allegro
The Nokomis Piano Quartet
Essie Commers, violin
Judy MacGibbon, viola
Daryl Carlson, cello
Max Radloff, piano
Please note that Jeana Ogren, piano has cancelled.
Performer Information
Esther Wang, piano
Esther Wang is an active soloist and collaborator who performs in North America, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. The San Jose Mercury News called Wang “a forceful, take-charge kind of artist with personality…spirited and vital,” and the Double Reed Journal called her “a magnificent accompanist.” Wang is a devoted chamber musician. Her widely ranging experiences include collaborating with members of the NY Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra, as well as with colleagues from around the country. She received her bachelor of music degree at Baylor University with Roger Keyes and received her master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees at the University of Cincinnati with Frank Weinstock. She also studied privately with Lilian Kallir and attended the Tanglewood, Kneisel Hall, and Taos Chamber Music summer festivals. Wang is an enthusiastic and influential teacher and is frequently sought out as an adjudicator. She has served on faculties at The University of Texas at Austin, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, Baylor University, Lutheran Summer Music, the New England Music Camp and Neighborhood Music School (CT). She lectures and performs on J. S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier as a member of The Bach Four, and has recorded solo and chamber works by Jan Radzynski on the Centaur label. In the summers, Wang teaches at the Interlochen Arts Camp and the Adamant Music School (VT). She is an associate professor of piano at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN.
Monica Murray, soprano
Dr. Monica Murray received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Minnesota. She also holds degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music - Bloomington and St. Olaf College. Dr. Murray is an active performer in the Twin Cities, having served as a section leader with the Minnesota Chorale, a frequent recitalist for Thursday Musical, and as member of the Minnesota Opera Company Chorus. She is a member of the music faculty at Concordia University, St. Paul, and also serves as the Chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. Dr. Murray holds a Juris Doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law and is a member of the Minnesota Bar.
Keyboardist Donald Livingston collaborates with musicians from across the musical spectrum. Founding director of the Twin Cities Early Music Festival and director of Ensemble Sprezzatura, he has performed with such ensembles as Bach Sinfonia (Washington DC), Musica Antigua (Panama City), La Donna Musicale (Boston), Lyra Baroque, and Glorious Revolution Baroque, Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Phoenix Symphony, as well as with soloists and collaborators Cléa Galhano, Immanuel Davis, Jacques Ogg, Elisabeth Wright, Joel Frederiksen, Jed Wentz, Barthold Kuijken, and Dame Emma Kirkby. He has sung as a member of the Rose Ensemble, as well as with the Pro Arte Singers under the direction of Thomas Binkley and Paul Hillier at the Historical Performance Institute of the renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where he earned the Doctor of Music in historical keyboard performance. He is currently Lecturer of Organ and Harpsichord at the University of Texas Butler School of Music and organist at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.
Nokomis Piano Quartet
Essie Commers, violin; Judy MacGibbon, viola; Daryl Carlson, cello; Max Radloff, piano
Essie Commers is a freelance violinist living in the west metro area. Originally from Pennsylvania, she studied violin at Lawrence University. As an avid performer and chamber musician she plays regularly throughout the twin cities. When not performing you can find her behind the wheel of her bike or collecting eggs from her four chickens. (Our regular violinist, Carolyn Boulay, is on tour with Lorie Line so we are delighted Essie can join us!)
Judy MacGibbon loves nothing more (except for a teeny granddaughter!) than to play her viola with friends. A native of Minnetonka and graduate of the U of M she can be found playing with the Duluth Superior Symphony, Renaissance Festival, weddings, funerals, church festivals and a rapper sword dance group. Judy has a lovely assortment of unsuspecting students and is an alpine skiing instructor at Hyland Hills.
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.
Max Radloff majored in piano performance at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he studied with Robert Below and has a MFA and DMA in piano performance from the University of Minnesota where he was a student of Paul Freed. He teaches piano at his home studio and at Cyprus School of Music and Arts in Burnsville. At various times he has taught at Concordia University and The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul and at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota. He is active as recitalist, lecture-recitalist, chamber musician, and adjudicator. He is organist at Bethel Lutheran Church in St. Paul and is former program annotator for the Minneapolis Chamber Symphony. He and his wife love to travel and view total solar eclipses. The 2019 eclipse in Chile was the twelfth that he has seen.