Sunday October 2, 2011

First United Methodist Church

Cathedral of the Rockies

2:00 p.m.

Corelli: Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 3

J.C. Bach: Sinfonia, Op. 18, No. 6

Handel: Harp Concerto in B-flat Major

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1

Matthew Tutsky is enjoying his third season as Principal Harpist for the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra. A graduate of Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard’s Pre College, Matthew has performed numerous solo recitals as well as orchestral performances in New York City including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Symphony Space. Matthew has performed in a variety of venues including high tea at the Plaza Hotel and St Regis Hotel as well as concerts, operas, and ballets at Mohegan Sun Casinos and The Prince George Ballroom. A member of the American Harp Society, Matthew was asked to perform an honorarium solo recital. Musically, Matthew has a broad range of musical interests that stretch from Classical to Contemporary. He is currently working towards producing a CD, including a new work from a local Boise composer written for him.

Sunday November 13, 2011

First United Methodist Church

Cathedral of the Rockies

2:00 p.m.

Bach: Cantata #140 (“Sleepers wake”)

Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427

The Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale was founded in the fall of 1975 by Wayne Richmond, who was then the Minister of Music at the First United Methodist Church in Boise. The Chorale’s first performance, Handel’s Messiah, was held in St. John’s Cathedral and was the first joint effort with the Boise Philharmonic. It quickly became a Christmas tradition, occasionally alternating with works such as Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.

In the spring of 1982, the Chorale ventured forward on its own to present the Mozart Requiem, featuring soloists from within its own membership. In 1983, the Chorale’s eighth season expanded to four concerts. In March 1984, the Chorale, joined by the College of Idaho’s Concert Choir and the Boise Philharmonic, participated in the gala opening of the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, performing the Verdi Requiem under the direction of Daniel Stern.

During its thirty-five year history, Master Chorale directors have included Wayne Richmond, Charles Fisher and James Murphy. Since 1996, the Chorale has been led by Dr. James Jirak, a member of the Boise State University faculty. With his vision and leadership, he has brought the Chorale to greater levels of musicianship and choral excellence.

In 1988, the Chorale received the Boise City Arts Commission Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Also Featuring..

Darrell Babidge graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in the U.K. where he was recognized with four awards and performed the roles of Nottingham (Roberto Devereux), Man (Dawnpath), and Lionel (Maid of Orleans). He received his Master’s degree from Brigham Young University and his Professional degree in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music, funded by the Birgitt Nilsson scholarship.

A recent review from the Salt Lake Tribune said “On opening night, baritone soloist Darrell Babidge filled the Capitol Theater with his resonant voice”. Another review from the Opera Now journal has written “Darrell Babidge contributed smooth, polished timbre to the [role of] Almaviva”. While he was still a student he performed the title role of Britten's Owen Wingrave; Journalist in Lulu; and Diener in Capriccio with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In 2004 he made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in Faure's Requiem, and returned in April 2005 to sing in Mozart's Coronation Mass. Other recent engagements have included a return to Utah Festival Opera as Dandini in La Cenerentola. Concert work includes Melchior in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors and Josef in Berlioz's L'Enfance Du Christ, both conducted by Kent Nagano; Journalist in Lulu at the Royal Albert Hall (for the Proms season in the UK) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis; and Sailor in Dido and Aeneas with the Israeli Chamber Orchestra. Oratorio repertoire includes the Messiah; Mozart's Requiem, Coronation Mass and Mass in C; Mendelssohn's Elijah, Dvorak's Requiem; Faure's Requiem; Durufle's Requiem; and Bach's B Minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat and St. Matthew Passion. Recent engagements include the title role of Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Salt Lake Symphony, the baritone solo in the Durufle Requiem with the Music in the Mountains Orchestra, the role of Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) for Opera at the Presidio in San Francisco, the role of John Hancock in 1776 for Utah Festival Opera and Falke in Die Fledermaus for Intermountain Opera.

Darrell is full-time faculty at Brigham Young University. He also teaches the Utah Opera Young Artists. Many of his students sing professionally and have also been accepted into Young Artist programs at the Metropolitan Opera and Houston Grand Opera. He has been employed by the Metropolitan Opera to teach in their Lindemann Young Artists program.

David Carlson has performed frequently as soloist with Boise Baroque since 2005. He has sung sang the title role in the highly acclaimed performance of Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus and was a soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Magnificat and St. John Passion. Mr. Carlson has also sung as tenor soloist with the Boise Philharmonic, the Boise Master Chorale, Opera Idaho, and other organizations in the Treasure Valley. He has sung the tenor solos of Handel’s Messiah numerous times since coming to Boise in 1981. At Iowa State University, where he studied music and computer science, he sang with the Opera Theater and university choruses. Before moving west, he was a member of the noted Chicago Symphony Chorus. Living and working in Boise, he continues a quarter-century role as soloist at the Cathedral of the Rockies, as well as being a member of its Chancel Choir and Cathedral Men’s Quartet.

Laura Rushing-Raynes Soprano Laura Rushing-Raynes has appeared on concert, recital and opera stages in the continental United States, Hawaii, Great Britain, and Mexico. Although her repertoire encompasses a comprehensive array of styles, genres and composers, her most avid interest is in singing newer works by living composers - most recently a critically acclaimed run of Ricky Ian Gordon’s tour de force chamber opera Orpheus and Euridice, a collaboration between Opera Idaho, Idaho Dance Theatre, Boise State Faculty Artist Series and the Boise Art Museum. In 2009, she made her professional opera conducting debut in Opera Idaho's production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, repeating the work in 2010, and is slated to conduct the upcoming 2011 Amahl performances, as well. She holds an undergraduate degree in voice and violin performance from the University of Northern Colorado and masters and doctorate degrees in voice performance from the University of Arizona. At Boise State, she heads the Voice Area in the Department of Music, teaches graduate and undergraduate voice, courses in vocal pedagogy, and co-directs Opera and Music Theatre programs. A long-time practitioner of yoga and associated body-mind techniques such as Qi Gong, Dr. Rushing-Raynes is one of a growing number of professional voice teachers working to integrate these practices into mainstream use in the training of singers and teachers.

Leslie Mauldin has performed dynamically and to critical acclaim in 4many venues, from touring as soprano soloist with the Israeli Philharmonic to a one woman show in Spain, where she attended conservatory. This season Leslie makes her second appearance with the Boise Baroque Orchestra. Her work comprises many diverse leading opera roles, including the title role in Tosca, Violetta (La Traviata) with Opera Idaho and Skagit Opera, Musetta (La Bohème), Micaela (Carmen), Hanna Glavari (The Merry Widow), The Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni). She recently appeared as Nellie Forbush in Opera Idaho’s production of South Pacific in concert.

Leslie’s credits also include stage direction for operas and shows including Suor Angelica, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and an outreach production of La Bohème. Her concert/oratorio work as a soprano soloist comprises over a dozen varied works, including Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream performed with the Ventura, CA “New West Symphony” at its premiere performance at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, under the direction of Boris Brott, and with Claire Bloom narrating. A native of Los Angeles, she has also worked in film and television, and is a member in good standing of Screen Actor’s Guild, Hollywood division.

Sunday February 5, 2012

First United Methodist Church

Cathedral of the Rockies

2:00 p.m.

Locatelli: Concerto Grosso, Op. 1, No. 4

Vivaldi: Oboe Concerto in C Major

Handel: Oboe Concerto in G minor

Bach: Suite No. 2 for Oboe and Strings

Gonzalo X. Ruiz is one of America’s most sought after historical woodwind soloists. In recent seasons Mr. Ruiz has appeared as principal oboist and soloist with leading groups in the U.S. and Europe under such conductors as McGegan, Savall, Manze, Antonini, Huggett, Goodwin, Pinnock, Hasselböck, Rattle, Hogwood, and Egarr. He has been featured in numerous recordings of orchestral, chamber, and solo repertoire. His reconstructions of the original versions of Bach’s Orchestral Suites received a Grammy nomination in 2010. Critics have declared Mr. Ruiz “one of only a handful of truly superb baroque oboists in the world” (Alte Musik Aktuell) and “a master of expansive phrasing, lush sonorities, and deft passagework” (San Francisco Chronicle). For years he has taught at Oberlin Conservatory, the Longy School of Music, and most recently was appointed professor at The Juilliard School. Mr. Ruiz has given master classes at Yale University, Indiana University, the New World Symphony, and his former students now fill the ranks of many top groups across the country. Equally accomplished on the modern oboe, he has been principal oboe of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, with recent performances including the concertos of Mozart, Vaughn Williams, and Strauss. For many years Mr. Ruiz led the ensemble American Baroque, specializing in new music commissions, for which he received the 2000 ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. He is an acknowledged expert in historical reed techniques and examples of his work are on permanent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sunday March 11, 2012

First United Methodist Church

Cathedral of the Rockies

2:00 p.m.

J.S. Bach: Piano Concerto in F minor

Mozart: Rondo for Piano and Orchestra, K. 382

Albinoni: Adagio

Mozart: Symphony No. 25

Barton Moreau made his concerto debut in a New York City performance with the New England Youth Ensemble in 1991. He has since performed as a featured soloist with a number of American orchestras, including the Northwest Florida Symphony (Niceville, FL), Port City Symphony (Mobile, AL), Mesa Symphony (Mesa, AZ), New Orleans Symphony, and the Gulf Coast Symphony (Biloxi, MS).

Moreau's honors include a top prize at the Debose National Piano Competition and a collegiate artist award from the Alabama Music Teacher’s Association. In 2007, he was a finalist at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference's PIANOvision Most Wanted Piano Competition: Sonata Invitational.

As a collaborative artist, Moreau has performed with a diverse array of distinguished international artists, including clarinetists Robert Spring and Jorge Montilla, oboists Andrea Ridilla and Gonzalo Ruiz, and composer-violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR). He has performed at a number of national and regional conferences, including the College Music Society National & Pacific Northwest conferences, Montana-Idaho Clarinet Festivals, and ClarinetFest 2003. Recent performances include appearances with the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra and at the McCall Second Sunday Sounds Concert Series (Idaho). He also performs regularly with his wife, clarinetist Leslie Moreau, as part of the Moreau Duo.

Moreau holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University, where he was a Regents Scholar and a student of Robert Hamilton. His collegiate career began at the University of South Alabama, where he was a student of Jerry Alan Bush and a recipient of the Theodore Presser Award. Upon graduation from USA, he received an Associate Instructorship to pursue his Master of Music at the prestigious School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with Karen Shaw. Moreau has also coached with Lee Luvisi, Fabio Bidini, Mykola Suk, and Leonard Hokanson.

Moreau serves on the adjunct faculty at Boise State University, teaching courses in piano, music history, and music theory. In addition to his collegiate teaching and performance activities, Moreau is also an active studio teacher and adjudicator.

Sunday April 29, 2012

First United Methodist Church

Cathedral of the Rockies

2:00 p.m.

Haydn: Overture to Acis and Galetea

Haydn: Cello Concerto in D Major

Haydn: Symphony #88

Brian Hodges is an active soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. With his wife, pianist Betsi Hodges, he has given recitals across the US, Canada and Italy. They have premiered works by noted composers such as Lee Hoiby, Mark Olivieri, Carolyn Steinberg and were recently featured on a CD recording of the works of composer David H. Johnson. He has appeared as soloist twice with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and recently performed the Dvorak Concerto with the Boise State University Orchestra. Brian is a founding member of the Rothko Piano Trio, with Betsi Hodges, pianist, and Jo Nardolillo, violinist. They have performed nationwide and have commissioned several new works. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Brian appeared with the San Antonio Symphony as a winner of the Young Artists Competition. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, earning his Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance and stayed on to complete his Master of Music degree. At Eastman, he was the founding member of the Genesis String Quartet, which had several residencies in the U.S., including Roberts Wesleyan College and a rural residency in Madisonville, KY, where they performed for over 10,000 schoolchildren. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts in cello performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he was a member of the graduate piano trio in residence.

Throughout his schooling, he has participated in master classes with such cellists as Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Doane, Gary Hoffman and Nathaniel Rosen.

Brian is currently Assistant Professor of Cello at Boise State University. He has been on the faculties of the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University in Georgia, as well as Spring Arbor College and Albion University and has served as co- director of the Jackson Symphony String Academy in Jackson, MI. At UNCG, he was the administrative assistant for the Luigi Silva Centennial Cello Celebration and the Bernard Greenhouse Cello Celebration and performed at both festivals.

Brian performs on a Neuner & Hornsteiner cello from Mittenwald, circa 1860.