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Live from the Mead Witter School of Music presents:
Avanti Piano Trio

Alissa Freeman, piano
Hillary Hempel, violin
Hannah Wolkstein, cello

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Program

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“Live from the Mead Witter School of Music” is a chamber music series held the second Sunday of each month at the Hamel Music Center during the academic year.

The series is made available by the generosity of donors to the David and Kato Perlman Live from the Mead Witter School of Music Fund.

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Turner Gray DMA Tuba Lecture Recital

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Program

go to the garden      Eris DeJarnett

Dyadic Affinities      Asha Srinivasan

Still for tuba and electronics     Jonathan Harvey

Shaman Returns       Alice Gomez

Hindsight      Ian Lester

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Turner Gray is a tubist, conductor, and educator from Kingsland, GA. Turner is currently in the final year of his Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Most recently, Turner has accepted the position as Pep Band Director at La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA where he is responsible for directing the athletic bands at the various sporting events on campus. Before moving to Philadelphia, Turner was a Teaching Assistant for the University of Wisconsin – Madison Band program where he worked with the Varsity and Concert Band programs.

As an active tuba player, Turner has performed with groups such as the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, Madison Brass Band, Atlantic Brass Band, the Aurora Brass Quintet, and the Park Street Tuba/Euphonium Quartet. With a love for chamber music, Turner has been a leader in helping bring to life new works for tuba and euphonium including “Why Not?” for Tuba, Piano, and Drum Set by JaKobe Henry and “Escape Velocity” for flexible trio and heavy metal ensemble by Evan Zegiel. As a soloist, Turner has been invited to perform solo recitals at the South Central Regional Tuba and Euphonium Conference (SCRTEC) and the Great Plains Regional Tuba and Euphonium Conference (GPRTEC). While at GPRTEC, Turner collaborated with composer and euphonium player Dr. Ian Lester during Dr. Lester’s presentation on his “Twelve New Solos for the Student Tubist.”

In the past, Turner has maintained a robust private teaching studio of low brass students both virtually and in person. He currently is responsible for leading the Pep Band at La Salle University, a group that performs at basketball games and special events such as the Philadelphia Big 5 Classic, an annual basketball tournament featuring schools in the Philadelphia area. At La Salle, Turner teaches MUS 170 (Pep Band) and works with the Creative Art Diversity Empowerment Organization (CADEO) to bring music education to the students of La Salle University.

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$20 general admission
Students free (ticket required)
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Mead Witter School of Music Faculty Artist Series

Conor Nelson, flute
Lindsay Flowers, oboe
Christopher Taylor, piano

World premieres by Marilyn Shrude, Laura Schwendinger, Mikel Kuehn, and UW–Madison alumna Mengmeng Wang

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Praised for his “long-breathed phrases and luscious tone” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Canadian flutist Conor Nelson is established as a leading flutist and pedagogue of his generation. Since his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, he has frequently appeared as soloist and recitalist throughout the United States and abroad.

Solo engagements include concerti with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Symphony, and numerous other orchestras.  In addition to being the only wind player to win the Grand Prize at the WAMSO Young Artist Competition, he won first prize at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition.  He also received top prizes at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, the Haynes International Flute Competition as well as the Fischoff,  Coleman, and Yellow Springs chamber music competitions.

With percussionist Ayano Kataoka he performed at Merkin Concert Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Hall, and Izumi Hall.  A recital at the Tokyo Opera City Hall that received numerous broadcasts on NHK Television. Their CD entitled, Breaking Training was released on New Focus Recordings (NYC).  His second CD, Nataraja with pianist Thomas Rosenkranz is also available on New Focus.  He has collaborated with Claude Frank on the Schneider concert series in NYC and appeared at numerous chamber music festivals across the country including the OK Mozart, Bennington, Skaneateles, Yellow Barn, Cooperstown, Salt Bay, Look and Listen (NYC), Norfolk (Yale), Green Mountain, Chesapeake, and the Chamber Music Quad Cities series.

A respected pedagogue, Dr. Nelson has given master classes at over one hundred colleges, universities, and conservatories.  Prior to his appointment at UW-Madison, he served as the flute professor at Bowling Green State University for nine years and as the Assistant Professor of Flute at Oklahoma State University from 2007-2011. His recent residencies include Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China, the Conservatoriode Música de Puerto Rico, and the Associação Brasileira de Flautistas in São Paulo.

He is also a regular guest of the Texas Summer Flute Symposium and has been the featured guest artist for eleven flute associations across the country.

He received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and Stony Brook University where he was the winner of the schoolwide concerto competitions at all three institutions.  He is also a recipient of the Thomas Nyfenger Prize, the Samuel Baron Prize, and the Presser Award.  His principal teachers include Carol Wincenc, Ransom Wilson, Linda Chesis, Susan Hoeppner, and Amy Hamilton. Conor is a Powell Flutes artist and is the Associate Professor of Flute at UW-Madison where he performs with the Wingra Wind Quintet.

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Dr. Lindsay Flowers is the Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Mead Witter School of Music where she is a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet and guides student-generated community engagement projects. She received a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Linda Strommen and Roger Roe. Her background in athletics distinguishes her pedagogical approach in her emphasis on performance visualization, disciplined commitment, and supportive teamwork.

Lindsay is currently an Oboist and English Hornist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. She previously was the Principal Oboist of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and a member of the New Mexico Philharmonic, Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago where she served as a Civic Fellow under the mentorship of Yo-Yo Ma, who she appeared with as a chamber musician on WFMT radio and in venues across the city. Lindsay has also performed with the Milwaukee, Chicago, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Utah, and Nashville Symphony Orchestras, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and during summers with the Santa Fe Opera, Grant Park, Midsummer’s, Lakes Area, Apollo, Bach Dancing and Dynamite, Lake George, Castleton, Aspen, and Banff Music Festivals. She has performed under conductors including Riccardo Muti, Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel, Edo de Waart, Sir Andrew Davis, Carlos Kalmar, Jaap van Zweden, Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Jane Glover, Nicholas McGegan, Nicholas Kreamer, Rafael Payare, Ken-David Masur, Michael Stern, James Gaffigan, Karina Canellakis, Andrey Boreyko, and Giancarlo Guerrero.

Lindsay was a founding member of the Arundo Donax Reed Quintet, Bronze Medal Winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. With the Wingra Wind Quintet, she has co-commissioned works by George Lewis and Hong-Da Chin, and she was heard on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Sunday Afternoon Live” at the Chazen Art Museum with Lori Skelton, who also hosted her concerts with JJ Koh and Garret Ross at Midsummer’s Autumn Music Fest. Lindsay gave the American premiere of “Interconexiones: New Quartets for Oboe and Strings,” which included works by John Richard Durant, Althea Talbot-Howard, Maricarmen Asenjo-Marrodán, Pilar Miralles, and Luke Styles in collaboration with Sarah Roper and Cuarteto Emispherio. As a duo partner with Andrew Parker, she released an album, “From the Sea to the Stars” under PARMA Recording’s Navona Records. She has also performed duo oboe works by Morris with James Button, by Rathbun with YounJoo Lee, and by Albinoni, Handel, and Zelenka with Margaret Butler. Lindsay has performed the Bach Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin with David Perry, and she has appeared as a soloist on concertos by Cimarosa, Hidas, Marcello, Martinu, Strauss, Ticheli, and Vaughan Williams.

In addition to performing and teaching, Lindsay is recognized for her maintenance and repair of oboe and English horn gouging machines, particularly those designed by Ferrillo, Graf, Kunibert, and Gilbert. Lindsay presented on this topic at the International Double Reed Conference and at Midwest Musical Imports, and she hosts annual gouger clinics for students and professionals to learn this specialized skill. She can be heard in interviews on the podcasts “Double Reed Dish” and “Reed Talk” and has presented at the Fundación Universitaria Bellas Artes Conference in Medellín, Colombia, the Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel Castillo in Seville, Spain, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, and the Wisconsin Idea Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Lindsay is also the Treasurer of the International Double Reed Society’s Midnorth Regional Chapter and a F. Lorée Musician.

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Hailed by critics as “frighteningly talented” (The New York Times) and “a great pianist” (The Los Angeles Times), Christopher Taylor has distinguished himself throughout his career as an innovative musician with a diverse array of talents and interests.  He is known for a passionate advocacy of music written in the past 100 years — Messiaen, Ligeti, and Bolcom figure prominently in his performances — but his repertoire spans four centuries and includes the complete Beethoven sonatas, the Liszt Transcendental Etudes, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and a multitude of other familiar masterworks. Whatever the genre or era of the composition, Mr. Taylor brings to it an active imagination and intellect coupled with heartfelt intensity and grace.

Mr. Taylor has concertized around the globe, with international tours taking him to Russia, Western Europe, East Asia, and the Carribean. At home in the U.S. he has appeared with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic,  Detroit Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony.  As a soloist he has performed in New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls, in Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Ravinia and Aspen festivals, and dozens of other venues. In chamber settings, he has collaborated with many eminent musicians, including Robert McDuffie and the Borromeo, Shanghai, Pro Arte, and Ying Quartets. His recordings have featured works by Liszt, Messiaen, and present-day Americans William Bolcom and Derek Bermel. Throughout his career Mr. Taylor has become known for undertaking memorable and unusual projects.  Examples include: an upcoming tour in which he will perform, from memory, the complete transcriptions of Beethoven symphonies by Liszt;  performances and lectures on the complete etudes of György Ligeti; and a series of performances of the Goldberg Variations on the unique double-manual Steinway piano in the collection of the University of Wisconsin.  He has actively promoted the rediscovery and refurbishment of the latter instrument; in recent years he has also been building a reinvented and modernized version of it, a project that relies on his computer and engineering skills and was unveiled in a demonstration recital in 2016.

Numerous awards have confirmed Mr. Taylor’s high standing in the musical world. He was named an American Pianists’ Association Fellow for 2000, before which he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1996 and the Bronze Medal in the 1993 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 1990 he took first prize in the William Kapell International Piano Competition, and also became one of the first recipients of the Irving Gilmore Young Artists’ Award.

Mr. Taylor owes much of his success to several outstanding teachers, including Russell Sherman, Maria Curcio-Diamand, Francisco Aybar, and Julie Bees. In addition to his busy concert schedule, he currently serves as Paul Collins Associate Professor of Piano Performance at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He pursues a variety of other interests, including: mathematics (he received a summa cum laude degree from Harvard University in this field in 1992); philosophy (an article he coauthored with the leading scholar Daniel Dennett appears in the Oxford Free Will Handbook); computing; linguistics; and biking, which is his primary means of commuting. Mr. Taylor lives in Middleton, Wisconsin, with his wife and two daughters. Christopher Taylor is a Steinway artist.

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$20 general admission
Students free (ticket required)

Mead Witter School of Music Faculty Artist Series

Peter Dominguez and Kris Saebo, double bass

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Peter Dominguez grew up in Milwaukee, and began performing with the Music for Youth Orchestras and his father, pianist and vocalist Frank DeMiles. Peter went on to study with Roger Ruggeri and Richard Davis at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and with Dr. Lucas Drew at the University of Miami. He served as Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies at Michigan State University from 1984-96, and continued studies with Robert Gladstone while substituting with the Detroit Symphony.

Peter was Professor of Jazz Studies and Double Bass 1990-2020 at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  He is currently Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

He continues to perform with an impressive array of Classical, Jazz, and Latin artists throughout the Americas and Europe. His teaching includes national and international classes, adjudication of international competitions, artistic direction of the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassist Inc annual conference in Madison, Wisconsin, and the director of the Milt Hinton Institute for Studio Bass. Peter’s recordings include How About This (2010) and Groove Dreams (2017) performed on Milt Hinton’s famous 1790 bass. Another solo recording entitled Bass Salute (2023) features Richard Davis’s 1855 Lion Head double bass.

Kris Saebo leads a varied musical life as a bassist, producer, composer, and educator. Mr. Saebo is on faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is a founding member of Decoda, the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall (recently GRAMMY nominated), and is the past Co-Director of Decoda Chamber Music Festival. In this capacity, he has spent ten summers performing, coaching young artists, and engaging with the surrounding communities of the festival.

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Open to the public

Mead Witter School of Music Guest Artist Series

Thomas Leleu, tuba, hosts a master class with School of Music students

Related event
Recital on February 6, 2025 

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At only 37 years of age, Thomas Leleu is considered as “one of the best tuba players of the world” (Radio France) and a “world star of the tuba” (Europe 1, TMC – French national TV). He is one of the few tuba players to exclusively lead a solo career. This iconoclastic artist stands where genres mix: a classical soloist, passionate about world music, modern music and pop… “This absolute tuba genius (La Nouvelle République), acknowledged by his peers, already has an impressive career. In his hands the tuba reveals all its richness, fineness and complexity, a range that may seem endless, where it can finally find a new breath, a new youth. Thomas Leleu is a true prodigy and shows an exceptional and surprising musicality and agility thereby dusting off the traditional image of the tuba.”

He joined the Conservatoire de Paris (the CNSM) at age 17 and obtained the first prize for tuba and a degree awarded with distinctions. He studied as well at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold (Germany) with Hans Nickel. Thomas Leleu earned awards in several competitions throughout the world such as in Markneukirchen – Germany, Jeju – South Korea, and Luxembourg. He has been principal tubist with the Marseille Philharmonic Opera since he turned 19. In 2012 Thomas put the tuba in the spotlight by winning the “Revelation Instrumental Soloist of the Year” at the annual French classical music award, the Victoires de la Musique Classique. In 2017, he was a ZDF/Arte “Stars of tomorrow” on the Arte TV channel in Berlin invited by Rolando Villazon. In 2019, he was nominated in 3 categories at the Opus Klassik in Germany (German Grammy) and at the VIA Awards in Germany.

Thomas is also regularly invited to perform at festivals and in Concerts Hall around the world with many orchestras such as: Konzerthaus de Berlin, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), Mito Settembre Musica (Italy), Kissinger Sommer de Bad Kissingen (Germany), Festival de Pâques d’Aix en Provence, Brandenburgische SommerKonzerte (Germany), Festival de Radio France-Occitanie-Montpellier, Brucknerhaus of Linz (Austria), Esplanade Concert Hall (Singapore), Un Violon sur le Sable (in front of 50,000 people), Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Hong Kong City Hall, Arsenal de Metz, Maison de Radio France, Jazz in Alès, Leverkusener JazzTage (Germany), the Corum of Montpellier, Festival international Gramado in Concert (Brazil), and Pristina International Festival (Kosovo).

He has performed in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, Singapore, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Poland.