Concert Artist Series History

The West Liberty State College Concert Series was organized in 1964 after the Frazier Concerts, which had served Wheeling for many years, ceased operations. At that time, music professor Dr. Edward Wolf suggested to President Paul N. Elbin that the annual celebrity organ recital should be expanded into a complete college-community series. Dr. Elbin heartily agreed, and the Concert Series was born.

The name of the series has changed over the years – “College/Community Concert Series”, “Community/Artist Series”, “Concert Artist Series” – but the mission has remained the same: To bring the finest musical/performance talent that the world has to offer to the West Liberty campus for free public concerts and artist masterclasses to benefit the campus and surrounding communities.

For more detailed information about this year’s artists, please visit the Concert Series page.

All events are sponsored by the Division of Music at West Liberty University and are free and open to the public.

The 50th Anniversary Season – please join us in celebrating 50 years of world-class musical performances on the Hilltop!

Colleen Gray, soprano
with Nanette Solomon, piano
Sunday, September 28, 2014, 4pm, Elbin Auditorium, College Hall
A Masterclass will take place Monday, September 29th, time is tba.

Colleen Gray, soprano, is an associate professor of music at Slippery Rock University where she teaches voice, language diction, vocal pedagogy and opera performance. She holds a DMA in Vocal Performance and Literature from West Virginia University, a MM in Vocal Performance from Duquesne University, and a BS in Music Education from West Chester State College. Dr. Gray has also earned a performance certificate from the Accademia Vocale di Lucca, Italy, and completed an apprenticeship with the Pittsburgh Opera Center. Dr. Gray’s awards include winning the Jewish Community Center Emerging Artists Competition, the West Chester State College Concerto Competition, the Pottstown Philadelphia Orchestra Competition and the Pittsburgh Concert Society Artist Competition. Dr. Gray has performed extensively in Europe and the United States. Nanette Kaplan Solomon, pianist and Professor of Music at Slippery Rock University, performs frequently as soloist and chamber musician. Dr. Solomon has performed at the Phillips Collection, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., Wigmore Hall in London, the Lincoln Center Library in New York City, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, as well as a guest artist at many colleges and universities.

The Bel Cuore Quartet, saxophone quartet
Performing with the West Liberty University Wind Ensemble, Thursday, October 30, 2014, Wheeling Park High School JB Chambers Performing Arts Center, 7:00pm
And…
Performing in concert, Friday, October 31, 2014, Elbin Auditorium, College Hall, 7:30pm

Lauded for their “high-energy” and “impressive” performances, the Bel Cuore Quartet (BCQ) has been sharing visceral and compelling chamber music with audiences since 2009. Twice nominated for “Best Classical Ensemble” by the Austin Critics’ Table, the quartet focuses on works by living composers to create engaging and memorable experiences for audiences.BCQ has performed concerts all over the world, including engagements at the SXSW music festival, the Sibelius Academy for Music in Helsinki, Finland, the Contagious Sounds series in New York City, Marfa Public Radio, KQUE Hum Tum Radio in Houston, and the Fast Forward Festival for new music. BCQ has worked closely with leading composers such as Jennifer Higdon, John Corigliano, Steven Snowden, Ian Dicke, Donald Grantham, Christopher Stark, Victor Marquez, Asha Srinivasan, David Biedenbender, and Robert Honstein in various chamber and large ensemble configurations. They have been featured as performers on several commercial recordings on the Naxos, Mark Masters, and Longhorn labels, including Over the Rainbow and Bach Again, Tex Sax Next Generation and Circus Maximus, all available on iTunes.

ASS3MBLY, flute, piano, and percussion
Performing in concert, Friday, February 20, 2015, Elbin Auditorium, College Hall, 7:00pm

ASS3MBLY is a dynamic new trio championing the chamber music of our time for flute, piano, and percussion. Comprised of flutist Lindsey Goodman (solo flutist, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble), pianist Anne Waltner (assistant professor, Eastern Mennonite University), and percussionist Scott Christian (principal timpanist, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra), ASS3MBLY has been presented by the Charleston Chamber Music Society (WV), the Fresh Ink Music Series (NC), and the Kanawha Forum and The Kanawha Forum 2.0 (WV). Promoting both fresh and iconic works by master composers like Joseph Schwantner and Morton Feldman through exemplary live performances, ASS3MBLY is equally passionate about commissioning new music.

All events are sponsored by the Division of Music at West Liberty University and are free and open to the public.

The 2013-2014 West Liberty University Concert Artist Series:

Mary Stucky, mezzo-soprano, with Rodney Stucky, guitar

Duo Jalal, viola and percussion

The 2012-2013 West Liberty University Concert Artist Series:

Joseph Gramley, multi-percussionist

American Brass Quintet

Robert Spring, clarinetist

Craig Verm, baritone

Multi-percussionist Joseph Gramley is a professor of music at the University of Michigan and director of the university’s famed Percussion Ensemble. An invitation from Yo-Yo Ma in 2000 led Gramley to join Mr. Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. In addition to participating in the group’s extended residencies in cities across the globe, Gramley has toured with Mr. Ma and the Ensemble throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, performing in the world’s finest concert halls. Along the way, Gramley has studied percussion styles and instruments from around the globe, collaborating with internationally-renowned musicians from India, Iran, China, Japan, Korea, and Central Asia. He has appeared on several top-selling albums with Yo-Yo Ma on the SonyBMG label, including New Impossibilities, recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2007. Gramley and other members of the Ensemble recently released Off the Map (In a Circle Records). Joseph Gramley has performed with: the Metropolitan Opera (on stage with Placido Domingo), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (US tour), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (soloist), St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (guest principal timpanist and percussionist), Seattle Symphony, and many others.

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Now in its 51st season, the American Brass Quintet has been internationally recognized as one of the premier chamber music ensembles of our time and an icon in the brass world. The ABQ’s rich history includes performances in Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and all fifty of the United States; a discography of over fifty recordings; the premieres of over one-hundred contemporary brass works, and in the last decade, mini-residencies that have brought the ABQ’s chamber music expertise to countless young musicians and institutions worldwide. ABQ commissions by Samuel Adler, Bruce Adolphe, Daniel Asia, Jan Bach, Robert Beaser, William Bolcom, Elliott Carter, Jacob Druckman, Eric Ewazen, and many others are considered among the most significant contributions to the modern brass quintet repertoire. Equally committed to the promotion of brass chamber music through education, the ABQ has been in residence at The Juilliard School since 1987 and at the Aspen Music Festival since 1970. Since 2001 the ABQ has offered its expertise in chamber music performance with a program of mini-residencies as part of its regular touring season. Designed to offer young groups and individuals an intense chamber music experience over several days, ABQ mini-residencies have been embraced by schools and communities throughout the United States and internationally.

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Robert Spring has been described as “one of this country’s most sensitive and talented clarinetists”, Arizona Republic, “dazzled his audience…flawless technique”, The Clarinet Magazine, and “a formidable soloist…played with great emotional life” Copenhagen, Denmark, Politiken. Spring attended the University of Michigan where he was awarded three degrees, including the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He was recently awarded the “Citation of Merit Award” from the School of Music Alumni Society. Spring has performed as a recitalist or soloist with symphony orchestras and wind bands in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and South America, and has been heard in the United States on National Public Radio’s, “Performance Today.” He hosted the 1995 International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest at Arizona State University where he is presently Professor of Clarinet. Dr. Spring is also principal clarinet of the ProMusic Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, OH. He is a Buffet Artist.

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Craig Verm is rapidly gaining recognition for his “resonant, expressive baritone voice” (Denver Post) and riveting dramatic portrayals. In the 2011-12 season, he sang Escamillo in Carmen at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago and Zurga in Les pêcheur de perles in a return to Pittsburgh Opera. He returns to the role of Ping in Turandot with Austin Lyric Opera and to Orff’s Carmina Burana with Syracuse Opera in addition to singing Sciarrone in Tosca and presenting a recital at the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse. His future engagements include returns to the Teatro Municipal de Santiago for the title role of Billy Budd as well as debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Mr. Verm enjoys a strong relationship with Pittsburgh Opera, where he has sung the lead baritone role of Tom Joad in Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, the Novice’s Friend in Billy Budd, Angelotti in Tosca. He received his Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music where his performances included title role in Carlisle Floyd’s Markheim. He was a 2006 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

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2011-2012 West Liberty University Concert Artist Series:

Anthony and Beard – trumpet and organ duo. Ryan Anthony has been dazzling audiences around the globe for well over 15 years, and is known to millions from his work with the legendary Canadian Brass. Performed as featured soloist at the Kennedy Center and with the Cleveland Orchestra and Detroit Symphony. Since that time, he hasn’t slowed down for a minute, traveling the world performing both classical music and crossover jazz. He is a graduate and distinguished alumnus of the Cleveland Institute of Music (B.M. and M.M.), He held the prestigious position of Professor of Trumpet with the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music before leaving to join Canadian Brass. Gary Beard is conductor of The Lindenwood Chancel Choir and The Gary Beard Chorale, but is also in demand as an organist. He is Minister of Music/Artist-in-Residence at Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis, where he has developed a nationally acclaimed music program. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, and for standing room audiences in Vienna, Salzburg and Melk, Austria.

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CORDIS, new music ensemble. For over a decade the contemporary quartet Cordis has been redefining contemporary chamber music by fusing an original combination of custom-made and traditional ethnic instruments to create their signature sound. Although the ensemble is built upon cello (Jeremy Harman), concert cimbalom (Richard Grimes), piano (Oscar Rodriguez), and percussion (Andrew Beall) – one-of-a-kind creations such as the electric mbira, melodica, and the world’s longest playing cylinder-driven music box also have a way of weaving their way into any given performance. Time Out New York said, “(Cordis) makes a strong case for both sides of its musical personality – expanding the boundaries of chamber music.” NewMusicBox.com concurred, “Cordis offers an intriguing mix of instrumentation, and Grimes uses them well to show of his unique perspective on 21st century chamber music.”

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QUINK, vocal ensemble. Representing 4 centuries of music (Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionist, Romantic, to music of our own time) in 3 languages (Dutch, French, Italian), they offer more musical, intellectual, and vocal interest than any other a cappella ensemble performing today. Quink’s first U.S. tour in 1985 was so artistically successful that the group now returns each season. Tours have included residencies at Dartmouth and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and concerts in Spievy Hall, Atlanta, Georgia; Interlochen Center for the Arts, Michigan; Early Music Now, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Houston Friends of Chamber Music, Texas; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Chautauqua Institution, New York and gave its New York debut in Merkin Hall.

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Vince DiMartino is one of our country’s most sought after trumpet performers and educators. Since graduating from The Eastman School of Music in 1972, professor DiMartino had taught at the University of Kentucky until 1993. At that time, Mr. DiMartino began a new appointment as Distinguished Artist in residence at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. There he teaches trumpet, brass and jazz ensembles, and jazz history. He has served as the Music Chair and is currently coordinator of the Centre College Instrumental Program. He is distinguished Matton Professor of Music at Centre College and also Distinguished Valade Professor of Trumpet at The Interlochen Center for the Arts each summer. In 2008, he received The Governor’s Artist Award in Kentucky. Vince DiMartino is equally known as a jazz artist. He has been the lead and solo trumpet in the Lionel Hampton Band, the Chuck Mangione Band, the Clark Terry Band and The Eastman Arranger’s Holiday Orchestra. He has also performed with some of this country’s finest college jazz ensembles. Vince had been a member of the artist-faculty of the highly acclaimed Skidmore Jazz Institute from its inception in 1988 to 2001 working with fellow artist-teachers Milt Hinton, Todd Coolman, Ed Shaughnessy, Frank Mantooth, Curtis Fuller, Dick Oatts and Pat LaBarbera.

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2010-2011

 

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2009-2010
True North Brass Quintet
John Scott, organ
Chanson, vocal ensemble
West Virginia Dance Company
Jay Ware Quintet

2008-2009
Western Wind, vocal ensemble
Murray Avenue Jazz Initiative
John Rommel, trumpet
Petar Jankovic, guitar
The Presidio Saxophone Quartet

2007-2008
Joseph Gramley, percussion
Pamlico Sound Brass Quintet
Yeeha Chiu, piano; Daphne Alderson, contralto; Barbara O’Brien, flute
Lars Halle Jazz Orchestra

2006-2007
James Goettsche, organ
Renaissance City Winds, wind quintet
The Phoenix Jazz Project
Yong Hi Moon, piano
Faith Esham, soprano
The West Virginia Dance Company

2005-2006
The Skip Peck Trio
Winds on the Lake, wind ensemble
Korean Nori Company, drumming and dance program
Felix Hell, organ
Chanson, vocal ensemble

2004-2005
Yellow Jackets Jazz Ensemble
Richard Grimes Percussion Ensemble
Wildcat Regiment Band
Prism Sax Quartet
Western Wind Vocal Ensemble

2003-2004
Hot Club of San Francisco
Philadelphia Brass Quintet
National Spiritual Ensemble
Baltimore Consort
Los Veijos Blaquitos

2002-2003
Percussion Group Cincinnati
River City Brass
Barbara and Gerhardt Suhrstedt, pianists
Vienna Boys Choir
Brubeck Brothers Jazz Quartet

2001-2002
Viva Quetzal!
Burning River Brass
The Princely Players
Jazz Heritage Orchestra
Felix Hell, organist

2000-2001
Jody Wise, piano
Ethos Percussion Ensemble and WLSC Chamber Choir
Chamber Orchestra, Kremlin, Moscow
River City Brass Band
David Leonhardt, Jazz Trio
Robert Bluestone, Classical Guitarist

1999-2000
Boilermaker Jazz Band
Texas Choir Boys
Waverly Consort
St. Louis Brass Quintet
Barbara and Gerhardt Suhrstedt, pianists
Sabella Jazz Consort

1998-1999
Burning River Brass
Carlos Rodriguez, piano
Ensemble Galilei, Celtic ensemble
Diva, No Man’s Band
Gregg Smith Singers

1997-1998
Daniel Heifetz and the Classical Band
Ondekoza, Japanese Demon Drummers
David Burgess, guitar
Anonymous 4
Stephen Burns, trumpet
A Jazz Homecoming, Curtis Johnson and Ski Peck (WLSC graduates)

1996-1997
River City Brass Band
Catch 22
The American Boy Choir
John Weaver, organ
NEXUS
Susan Frances Sobolewski, piano

1995-1996
Caribbean Jazz Project
David Richter, guitar
Barbara and Gerhardt Suhrstedt, pianists
Opera Ovations of New York
The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble
Chanticleer
Todd Wilson, organ

1994-1995
Turtle Island String Quartet
The Vivaldi Traveling Circus
NEXUS
Alan Morrison, organ
Pittsburgh Early Music Ensemble

1993-1994
Gunther Schuller and the New England Ragtime Ensemble
Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers
Dear Friends (A Victorian Christmas)
Montclaire String Quartet
Sergei Babayan, piano
John Walker, organ

1992-1993
The Boehm Woodwind Quintet
Yin Cheng Zong, piano
David Hickman, trumpet; William Neil, organ
African Drum and Dance Ensemble of Pittsburgh
Gregg Smith Singers

1991-1992
Salsamba!
Barbara and Gerhardt Suhrstedt, pianists
The Dale Warland Singers
Montclaire String Quartet
North Carolina Dance Theatre
The Chestnut Brass Company
Todd Wilson, organ

1990-1991
Michael Farris, organ
The Aulos Ensemble
Dear Friends
David Burgess, guitar
River City Brass Band
Oberlin Wind Ensemble
Clive Swansbourne, piano

1989-1990
Joel Shapiro, piano
The Renaissance City Winds
The American Boychoir with Malcolm Dalglish on hammered dulcimer
Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble
Ohio Valley Chorale Chamber Singers feat. choral works by West Virginians
Manhattan Marimba Quartet

1988-1989
Michael Murray, organ
The Chestnut Brass Company
Pridonoff Piano Duo/Percussion Cincinnati
Audubon String Quartet
Elmer Iseler Singers

1987-1988
The Hutchinson Family Singers
Barbara and Gerhardt Suhrstedt, pianists
The Dybbuk (National Theatre of the Deaf)
Bernard Goldberg, flute; Paul Sisco, piano
The Waverly Consort, Michael Jaffee, director

1986-1987
Soviet Emigre Orchestra
United States Navy Steel Band
Oberlin Woodwind Quintet
Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers

1985-1986
Borealis Woodwind Quintet
David Buechner, piano
Diane Bish, organ
Ohio State University Men’s Glee Club
Marian McPartland, jazz piano

1984-1985
Leigh Howard Stevens, marimba
Vienna Choir Boys
David Higgs, organ
Triangle Brass
Concert Royal
Eugene Mancini, piano

1983-1984
Duo Classico (Mary Endress, soprano; Robert Guthrie, guitar)
Lionel Hampton and his band
Edward Tarr, trumpet; George Kent, organ
Robert Stallman, flute
Marianne Webb, organ

1982-1983
Carl Adams, flute; Paula Page, harp
Gregg Smith Singers
Stephen Burns, trumpet; Daniel Lessner, piano
Pittsburgh Chamber Opera, Cosi fan tutte
Heinz Wunderlich, organ
Barbara and Gehrhardt Suhrstedt, piano duo

1981-1982
The Repertory Dance Theater (University of Utah)
Oberlin Chamber Orchestra
Annapolis Brass Quintet
Robert Baker, organ
Berkshire Chamber Players
Singing Boys of Pennsylvania

1980-1981
Marilyn Keiser, organ
Kent Woodwind Quintet
Janet Ketchum, flute; Peter Segal, guitar
Thomas Lorango, piano
The Gary Burton Quartet
Gregg Smith Singers

1979-1980
The Chestnut Brass
Peter Zazofsky, violin; Charles Abramovic, piano
Robert Glasgow, organ
Dan Wagoner Dance Ensemble
Roman Rudnytsky, piano
The Waverly Consort, Michael Jaffee, director
Opera Highlights, Goldovsky Opera Institute

1978-1979
Mock Family Guitarists
Ruth and Arno Drucker, piano duet
David Craighead, organ
Blackearth Percussion Group
Westminster Choir, Joseph Flummerfelt, director
Robert Routch, horn

1977-1978
George Baker, organ
Oberlin Woodwind Quintet
The Concordia Choir
Opera Highlights, Goldovsky Opera Institute
Rotante Dance Company

1976-1977
Gregg Smith Singers
The Dana Brass Quintet
James Moeser, organ
Herman Godes, piano
Linda Phillips, soprano

1975-1976
Victorian Villamil, mezzo-soprano
Performer’s Committee for 20th Century Music, Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs, directors
Peter Segal, guitar
Baroque Chamber Players of Indiana University
The Concordia Choir, Paul Christiansen, director
Charles Benbow, organ

1974-1975
Plum Creek (Oberlin) Chamber Ensemble
Natalie Hinderas, piano
Bernard Goldberg, flute; Harry Franklin, piano
The King’s Singers
Heinz Wunderlich, organ
Newark Boys Chorus

1973-1974
Barry Snyder, piano
Pro Arte Orchestra of Oberlin
Frederick Swann, organ
Jose Greco Dance Troupe

1972-1973
Nathan Davis Jazz Septet
Oberlin Woodwind Quintet
Marianne Webb, organ
The Concordia Choir, Paul Christiansen, director
Carlos Montoya, flamenco guitar

1971-1972
Nicolai Nielsen, guitar
Eleo Pomare Dance Company
Pro Arte Orchestra of Oberlin
Roberta Gary, organ
Lynn Blair/Mark Howard duo

1970-1971
Aeolian Chamber Players
Eugene Holmes, baritone
Lorin Hollander, piano
Marilyn Keiser, organ

1969-1970
Pittsburgh Symphonetta, Henry Mazer conducting
Daniel Domb, cello
Concordia College Concert Choir, Paul Christiansen, director
Philadelphia Composers’ Forum and the Anna Sokolow Dance Company, Igor Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du soldat”

1968-1969
Menahem Pressler, piano
Oberlin Baroque Ensemble
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alirio Diaz, guitar

1967-1968
Sergiu Luca, violin
Soulima Stravinsky, piano
Orchestra San Pietro of Naples
Mary Ellen Pracht, soprano

1966-1967
Michael Rogers, piano
Eleanor Steber, soprano; Edwin Biltcliffe, piano
Montgomery Chamber Ensemble
Frederick Swann, organ

1965-1966
Berkshire String Quartet
Giuseppe Campora, tenor, Metropolitan Opera
Theodore Ullmann, piano
John Weaver, organ

1964-1965
Sidney Harth, violin; Brooks Smith, piano
Beatrice Krebs, mezzo-contralto
William Whitehead, organ
Stephen Manes, piano