Thursday Morning 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
Maurice Ravel
Miroirs
IV. Alborada del gracioso
Alison Lee, piano
Young Artist Scholarship Competition Winner 2017 – College Piano
Anton Stepanovich Arensky
Trio in D minor, Op. 32
Ensemble l’Autumno
Elizabeth Ericksen, violin
Faith Farr, cello
Sue Ruby, piano
George Frideric Handel
Lusinghe più care (Alessandro)
Vicenzo Bellini
Oh! Quante volte, Oh! Quante (I Capuleti e i Montecchi)
Benjamin Britten
Folk Song Arrangements
The Salley Gardens
Come you not from New Castle?
O can ye sew cushions?
There’s none to soothe
How sweet the answer
Jennifer Sylvester, soprano
The OK Factor
Liz’s Porch
Up in the Air
Shenandoah
O Come, Isabella O Come, All Ye Faithful, trad. Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella, trad.
Arr. The OK Factor
The OK Factor
Olivia Diercks, cello
Karla Colahan, violin
Thursday Musical Debut
Performer Information
Alison Lee, piano
Young Artist Scholarship Competition Winner 2017
Alison Lee, piano
Young Artist Scholarship Competition Winner 2017
Alison Lee is currently working on her doctoral degree in piano performance at the University of Minnesota, where she studies with Lydia Artymiw. She received her MM degree from Rice University under Jon Kimura Parker and BM degree from Oberlin Conservatory under Angela Cheng. A native of Fremont, California, Alison studied with Hans Boepple and Jed Galant during her pre-college years.
Alison was the first prize winner in several piano competitions, including Thursday Musical’s Young Artist Scholarship Competition in Minnesota, the Pacific Musical Society Competition in San Francisco, the Dorothy Van Waynen Piano Competition in Berkeley, and the Graves Music Competition in Ohio. As the second prize winner in the 2016 Midwest International Piano Competition, Alison performed Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony. An avid chamber musician, she frequently collaborates with colleagues and friends as well as with her sister Katherine as duo pianists.
Ensemble l’Autumno; Elizabeth Ericksen, violin; Faith Farr, cello; Sue Ruby, piano
Elizabeth Ericksen is a Senior Lecturer in Music at Carleton College and is on the faculty at MacPhail Center for Music. She teaches violin and viola and coaches chamber music. A founding member of the Sartory String Quartet, she is currently in her thirteenth year with Ensemble l’Autumno. In the summer, she has been a coach for the Sartory String Quartet Institute at MacPhail. Elizabeth is currently serving as Past-President on the board of MNSOTA, the Minnesota chapter of the American String Teacher’s Association. Her mentors include Paul Rolland, Mary West, and Joseph Gingold.
After more than 30 years teaching at MacPhail Center and performing with the Minnesota Sinfonia, cellist Faith Farr now teaches exclusively in her home studio and performs with Ensemble l’Autumno and as a freelancer. In addition, she self-publishes Foundations for Music Reading, a string-based theory curriculum for violin, viola and cello. With Brian Wicklund, she co-authored The American Fiddle Method for Cello, published by Mel Bay. As long-time editor of MNSOTA’s String Notes magazine, she recently won her seventh consecutive national ASTA award for Best State Newsletter.
Sue Ruby, a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM), hails from the tiny northern town of Tamarack. She teaches, directs and co-owns K & S Conservatory of Music in Woodbury. She serves on the faculty of MacPhail Center for Music and as Board Member for the MMTA Foundation.
Ms. Ruby is co-founder of the Association of Professional Piano Instructors (APPI). An avid collaborative pianist, Ms. Ruby is cofounder of Fridays in the Valley, a chamber music series that raises money for charity in Golden Valley. In her leisure time, she treasures adventuresome days and quiet evenings with husband, Kurt and cat, Unk.
Jennifer Sylvester, soprano
Soprano, Jennifer Sylvester, is an active soloist in the Twin Cities metro area. Jennifer participates regularly in the Thursday Musical Performing Artists recital series and has also performed recitals with the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series and Lord of Life Concert Series of Dallas. She served as soprano section leader and performed as a soloist for Exultate Chamber Choir and Orchestra for performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in G, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Bach’s St. John Passion and Magnificat as well as other works. Jennifer has also sung as a soloist with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto and Aria Concert and has performed as a soloist for St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, University Lutheran Church of Hope and Grace University combined choirs in the Twin Cities, St Agnes Catholic Church of St. Paul and King of Glory Lutheran Church of Dallas, Texas. Other performing organizations Jennifer has sung with include the Fargo/Moorhead Civic Opera, Metroplex Opera of Dallas, Minnesota Opera Chorus and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Chorus. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA), in Music from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, and a Master of Arts (MA) in Speech-Language Hearing Science from the University of Minnesota.
The OK Factor: Karla Colahan, violin; Olivia Diercks, cello (Thursday Musical debut)
The OK Factor: Karla Colahan, violin; Olivia Diercks, cello (Thursday Musical debut)
Olivia Diercks and Karla Colahan, cellist and violinist of The OK Factor, have one word to describe their musical connection: lucky. The ease with which they write and perform their original music is organic, and their new-classical crossover style has caught the attention of the Minnesota music community in which they live and work. It continues to bring them success on stages such as The Dakota Jazz Club, The Cedar Cultural Center, The Aster Cafe, The Stone Arch Bridge Festival and more.
Olivia and Karla are passionate about educational outreach and community engagement. They conduct workshops for string students of all ages, using their instruments as vehicles for creative and innovative musical thinking. Olivia and Karla also provide programming to reach community members where they're at, creating an experience that inspires and encourages communities to explore music, and cultivate a curiosity about its role in their lives.
Following four years of writing, performing, and regional touring, The OK Factor is excited to share their fourth studio album, "That's Enough of That", released in August of 2016.