MirrorImage
AT THE OPERA

Opera Duets and Songs arranged for
Horn Duo and Piano

BERLIOZ, BIZET, BOCCHERINI, DELIBES, DONIZETTI, HANDEL, MOZART, ROSSINI & VERDI

MIRROR IMAGE HORN DUO
LISA BONTRAGER & MICHELLE STEBLETON
French horns

Tomoko Kanamaru piano

 WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS 

$14.95  ~  MS1234

MirrorImage, the acclaimed horn duo of Lisa Bontrager and Michelle Stebleton, has been featured in international venues and on the recording they spearheaded, Harambee: The Horn Music of Paul Basler, released on MSR Classics [MS1166] in 2006. Multifaceted musicians and professional teachers, they offer versatile programming in solo, chamber and educational settings, performing recitals throughout the United States and Europe, as well as double concerti with orchestras. MirrorImage has frequently presented performances, clinics and master classes at both international and regional conferences of the International Horn Society. Future projects include a recording of original works by commissioned composers including Eric Ewazen, Paul Basler, Raymond Chase, Mark Schultz and Laurence Lowe.

The music on this disc exemplifies the lyrical beauty and singing quality of the horn and is therefore dedicated to Louis J. Stout, former teacher and mentor to both members of MirrorImage.

Lisa O. Bontrager has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, including tours with the internationally award-winning Pennsylvania Quintet and versatile Millennium Brass. Featured artist at the 2007 Southeast Horn Workshop and an active Holton horn artist, Bontrager performs at numerous regional, national and international workshops.
 
Recognized for her teaching, Lisa has presented master classes throughout the world and is currently Professor of Music at Penn State University where she received the 2008 Faculty Scholar Medal for the Arts and Humanities. Currently she serves as principal horn of the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra and as Tenor Hornist of the Brass Band of Battle Creek.  
 
From 1993-99 she served as an elected member of the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society. She appears on nearly 20 recordings, including her solo CD, "Hunter’s Moon," released on the Summit label. Bontrager holds performance degrees from the University of Michigan where she studied with Louis J. Stout and Eugene Wade.

Michelle Stebleton has performed worldwide, traveling to 26 countries to serve as a soloist, chamber artist and clinician. She is a charter member of the Music Festival in the Dominican Republic, on faculty at the Ameropa Music Festival (Prague) and a frequent soloist in Paraguay. A Holton Artist, she can be heard on several discs, including Harambee: The Horn Music of Paul Basler. Active with the International Horn Society, she has performed as a soloist on many conferences since 1990, including serving as a guest artist in 1993 and 2006. She is on the Advisory Council for the organization.
 
Formerly active in national solo competitions, Ms. Stebleton has won six prizes in the American Horn Competition, including sharing second prize in both the Professional and Natural Horn divisions.
 
Michelle Stebleton is currently an Associate Professor of Horn at Florida State University where she has won two teaching awards. She studied at the University of Michigan with Louis J. Stout and Lowell Greer.

As a versatile recitalist, concerto soloist, and collaborative artist, Tomoko Kanamaru has garnered the respect of musicians and the acclaim of critics. Recently praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer as a "charismatic pianist," Ms. Kanamaru has collaborated with a wide range of world-renowned artists, from Barry Tuckwell to Branford Marsalis.

She has appeared in such venues as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater and Stefaniensaal in Graz, Austria. She was the featured soloist for the Savannah Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and most recently for the Toledo Symphony. Ms. Kanamaru has recorded for Nippon Columbia, and has been heard in radio broadcasts and in commercials and on television. She has co-edited numerous piano works with the Yamaha Music Foundation.

An alumna of Musashino Academia Musicae, The Juilliard School, and University of Cincinnati, Tomoko Kanamaru is currently on the faculty at The College of New Jersey.