Michele
Fiala has concertized throughout the
United States, Italy and Canada as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral
player. She has performed with the Banff Summer Music Festival, Louisville
Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Lee Ann Rimes,
Barry Williams and Roberta Flack. She is Assistant Professor of Double
Reeds at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and holds DMA
and MM degrees from Arizona State University, and a BM from the University of
Kentucky. She has edited music for Phylloscopus Publications, contributes to i
Fiati and the Double Reed, and has completed a manuscript on
nineteenth-century Italian oboe music. This is her first solo recording on CD.
She has previously appeared on recordings on the Centaur and d’Note Records
labels.
John
Cipolla teaches clarinet and saxophone
at Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Prior to
his appointment at WKU, he worked in New York City as a tenured member of the
Radio City Music Hall Orchestra and the orchestra for the Broadway show, CATS.
John has also performed and recorded with an eclectic array of ensembles and
artists ranging from the New York City Opera to Aretha Franklin.
Bill
Douglas is a
bassoonist-pianist-composer who has toured and recorded for thirty years with
clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. As a bassoonist, he has played with the Toronto
and New Haven Symphonies, and recorded three RCA albums with Peter Serkin and
Tashi. As a jazz pianist, he has toured and recorded with vibraphonist Gary
Burton and bassist Eddie Gomez. In 1994, SOCAN, the Canadian equivalent of ASCAP
and BMI, presented him with their classical composer of the year award. His
compositions have been performed by major orchestras and chamber groups around
the world. He has taught at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado for thirty
years. Thirteen CDs of his music are available (see www.billdouglas.cc).
Frank
Morelli, bassoon soloist, chamber
musician and teacher, studied with Stephen Maxym at the Manhattan and Juilliard
Schools of Music and was the first bassoonist awarded a doctorate by the
Juilliard School. A member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the woodwind
quintet, Windscape, he has made nine appearances as a soloist in Carnegie Hall.
He serves on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music,
Manhattan School of Music and SUNY Stony Brook.
Karl
Olsen studied bass with David
Dunn at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point before earning a Master of
Music degree from Indiana University, where he worked with Professor Bruce
Bransby. Since 2001, he has been a member of the Louisville
Orchestra. Mr. Olsen is on the faculties of the University of Kentucky and
Indiana University Southeast, and was previously a member of the New World
Symphony Orchestra (performing under the baton of Michael Tilson-Thomas) and was
Assistant Principal Bass in the Evansville Philharmonic and Owensboro Symphony
Orchestras.
Heidi
Pintner is
Assistant Professor of Flute and Music Theory at Western Kentucky University,
plays in the Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra, and is treasurer of the Flute
Society of Kentucky. She has taught at California State University, Chico
and performed with the North State Symphony, Chico Early Music Ensemble and
Sacramento Early Music Consort. Dr. Pintner is an active soloist, chamber
player, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States and
Mexico. She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (BM) and
Florida State University (MM and DM), where she studied with Michel Debost,
Kathleen Chastain and Charles DeLaney. She has released a CD of flute chamber
music on the Centaur label.
Martin
Schuring held orchestral positions
with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra and Phoenix Symphony
Orchestra before joining the Arizona State University faculty in 1992. He has
been a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra since 1980. Recordings
can be heard on Philips, Koch International, MMC and Summit Records. Martin has
performed at every conference of the International Double Reed Society since
1997, and serves on the IDRS Executive Board. He co-hosted the 1998 Conference
of the International Double Reed Society at Arizona State University where he is
Associate Professor of Oboe. Martin Schuring studied at the Curtis Institute of
Music with John de Lancie.
Donald
Speer, Professor of Piano at Western
Kentucky University, teaches class piano, pedagogy and accompanying. Dr. Speer
performs frequently as a collaborative artist and chamber musician, and has
premiered numerous works by contemporary composers, including Michael Kallstrom
and Lewis Neilson. He was the recipient of the 2004 Award for Teaching in
Western's Potter College of Arts and Letters. He holds the BM (Performance) from
Louisiana College, the MM (Performance/Accompanying) from Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville, and the Ph.D. (Music Education) from Louisiana State
University. His former teachers include Mary Ann Crump, Ruth Slenczynska, Linda
Perry and Jack Guerry.