June 27th ZALON Program
1. Heather Antonissen and Chérie Roe perform French art songs in the tradition of the original salons in Paris from Cherie’s home in New York City
2. Nancy Laupheimer will perform Imaginary Companions for flute and imaginary string orchestra by Pascal Le Boeuf (2020) with a backing track of remote recordings by cellist Zan Berry from her home studio in Taos, NM
3. Thomas Kraines, cellist, will perform “4:30 at the Ormond,” a set of solo cello pieces based on the “Sirens” chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses from his home in Philadelphia, PA
4. Rachel Segal will perform Kommós for Solo Violin by Melissa Dunphy performed from her home in Philadelphia, PA
5. Fourth Coast Ensemble with Dana Brown, piano perform songs inspired by the life and work of Zen Buddhist Kazuaki Tanahashi: "Encounter" by Wayland Rogers, and a preview of their commission from Andrea Clearfield, "A Brush With Our Time" from their studio in Chicago
6. Maggie Hasspacher, vocalist and double-bassist, performs POMES PENYEACH, settings of James Joyce, by Paul Brantley, performing from Los Angeles, CA
7. Pianist Steve Sandberg will play Chopin’s Mazurka in C# minor; and his own Mazur #2, an original composition/improvisation based on the Chopin, from his apartment in Manhattan’s upper west side
8. More polished than folk and more personal than pop, singer/songwriter Michelle Lewis is performing her original songs for us from her home in Los Angeles, CA
9. Melinda Faylor, piano, electronics, and visuals will perform selected movements from "Holiday", her quarantine inspired visual album from her home in Newark NJ
Performer Bios, Program Information, and Link for Donations
Below you will find links that some of the performers have included where you can buy music and other merchandise, find additional content, or make a donation. Please consider supporting these musicians for donating their time and artistry this evening!
During these trying times for performers, your contributions are greatly appreciated.
For donations please click here, where you could contribute to the most current performance. To donate to specific performers, please see the links under their bios for the Zalon in which they performed.
Donations for the current Zalon will be collected on behalf of all performers by our fiscal sponsor, Crossroads Music. For questions about donations, please contact Gerardo Razumney at Zalon.Donations@AOL.com.
The Zalon is a labor of love. All team members are volunteering their time, including Andrea, who is also covering expenses. You may contribute to cover part of the Zalon expenses, by indicating this on the PayPal donation form.
Heather Antonissen
Heather Antonissen is a classically trained singer, playwright, conductor, composer, and teacher from Anchorage, Alaska. A “charming singer and actor,” her singing is praised as “controlled and elegant, fun, fresh, everything a performance should be.” A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Heather has performed throughout the United States as concert soloist, opera lead, recitalist, and featured cabaret artist. She has performed with Chautauqua Opera, Opera San Jose, Regina Opera, North Bay Opera, and others. Her competition honors include winner in the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition and finalist in the Pacific Region Met Competition. Recent engagements include appearing as Carmen with New York City’s Amore Opera, concerts at Columbia University with special guest Jon “Bowzer” Bauman, and soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem at First Presbyterian in Greenwich, CT. Heather’s love of the interdisciplinary arts, and her desire to empower others with their own love of music, has inspired her to create shows that interweave genres and styles to include a spectrum of the arts in single productions. These have led to the writing and producing of one-woman shows that have been featured throughout the southwest including performances in San Francisco, Palm Springs, Dallas, Santa Fe, and Taos, New Mexico. Her latest project, The Air We Sing, is a full-length opera theater work that is currently being workshopped and has been praised by news anchor and author Gretchen Carlson who said, “I love it!” Follow Heather on social to learn more.
Instagram: @singingwildflrw
Facebook and YouTube: Heather Antonissen
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Loungeware-Vol-1-feat-Omar-Rane/dp/B005UWFDKU
Ohio farm girl Chérie Roe is a collaborative pianist and vocal coach in NYC. She has performed in concert all over the world including Carnegie Hall 9 times and counting, Merkin Hall, The Greene Space for WQXR Live, as well as concerts in the Czech Republic, Belarus, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Singapore. Chérie’s extensive piano background includes working for great organizations such as Juilliard Global, Classical Singer NY, Quisisana, MRL International Festival in collaboration with Beijing Conservatory, and Classic Lyric Arts: Italy and France. She has also served as music director and coach of the opera programs at Virginia, Cleveland, and Charlottesville Opera companies as well as at University Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Akron. Chérie also spends time in the musical theatre world directing high school, college, and professional level productions. Prior to starting her own private coaching studio in Manhattan, Ms. Roe was on staff at Juilliard, Mannes, and NYU. Chérie holds a graduate diploma in Collaborative Piano from The Juilliard School, as well as a master’s degree in Collaborative Piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
website: cherieroe.com
facebook: @cherieroemusic
instagram: cherie.roe
Nancy Laupheimer
Nancy Laupheimer moved to Taos from New York in 1979 after being invited to teach and perform with the New Mexico Music Festival. Since then she has had a varied career that has included composing, playing in jazz and world music groups, for children’s and community theater, dance productions, and on river rafting trips. In addition, Nancy has performed with many classical music organizations in New Mexico such as the Santa Fe Symphony, Desert Chorale and Music from Angel Fire. In 1993, she founded the Taos Chamber Music Group which has presented 28 seasons of concerts and educational programs. Nancy's diverse musical experiences and friendships, as well as a deep sense of connection to the land, continue to inform the unique character of TCMG which brings together some of New Mexico’s finest musicians as well as artists from around the world. Nancy holds BA and MM degrees from Vassar College and Boston University's School of Music, and received fellowships to the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals.
Thomas Kraines
Cellist THOMAS KRAINES, a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, has forged a multifaceted career as a cellist and composer, equally comfortable with avant-garde improvisation, new music, and traditional chamber music and solo repertoire. Mr. Kraines has performed around the world as the cellist of the Daedalus Quartet and also frequently performs with the Network for New Music and the Philadelphia-based free-jazz groups The Great Blue Heron and Basquiat Blues.
“Point No Point” by Nick Millevoi
“To April” - poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, music by Tom Kraines - with Maren Montalbano
“Simpatico” by Tom Kraines
Rachel Segal
Rachel Segal , a native Philadelphian, is a violinist, educator, and dog Mom. She began her violin studies at age three, and went on to study with Jascha Brodsky, Sidney Harth, Paul Kantor, and other notable teachers. Rachel has premiered, commissioned, and performed many works of contemporary composers and is particularly interested in performing works by women and composers from diverse communities. She has performed and recorded with pop, hip-hop, and rock artists, including Devotchka, the Extasis Argentine Tango band, and Reef the Lost Cauze. She has arranged music for string quartet, voice and piano, and solo violin. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan and her Master of Music degree from Yale School of Music. Ms. Segal spent twelve years as a tenured member of the Colorado Symphony and Concertmaster of the Central City Opera Orchestra, and has served as Interim Concertmaster of the Orchesta Sinfonica Portugesa in Lisbon, Portugal, and Fourth Chair of the Tampere Filharmonia in Tampere, Finland. She began her performance career as Concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony. Ms. Segal is the Founder and Executive Director of the Primavera Fund, Associate Director of the Young Musicians Debut Orchestra, and a core member of the Fairmount String Quartet. Rachel’s hobbies include taking singing lessons, running, playing chess with her Dad, and traveling to play chamber music with friends.
The Primavera Fund: www.primaverafund.org
Personal Website: www.rsegalviolin.com
Quartet album: https://springgardenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/spoken-with-strings
Quartet Single: https://springgardenrecords.bandcamp.com/track/amazing-grace
Fourth Coast Ensemble
Fourth Coast Ensemble is a classical vocal quartet specializing in the unique style and repertoire of vocal chamber music. Celebrated for its "horizon-expanding programming", (Chicago Classical Review), Fourth Coast Ensemble embraces a repertoire that spans the history of the genre, from Schubert and Brahms to composers of the present day. Founded in 2013, the ensemble commissioned its first world premiere song cycle in 2018, I-Thou, by Wayland Rogers. In 2019, Fourth Coast produced the Chicago premiere of songSLAM, an art song competition. Apart from its Chicago-area concert season, Fourth Coast has accepted festival residencies, led university panel discussions, and performed as guest artists throughout the Upper Midwest region. The ensemble has earned a reputation of excellence "built on the quality of its small roster of artists" (Vocal Arts Chicago) - soprano Sarah van der Ploeg, mezzo-soprano Bridget Skaggs, tenor Ace Gangoso, and bass-baritone David Govertsen.
Like Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fourthcoastensemble
Subscribe to Our Blog: https://www.fourthcoastensemble.com/blog
Make a Donation: https://www.fourthcoastensemble.com/give.html
Subscribe to Our Channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMwllqEFlicoz0t-2F3ZTDw
Follow Us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fourthcoastensemble/
Maggie Hasspacher
Maggie Hasspacher is an actively performing bassist/vocalist based in the Detroit area. Currently a doctorate student at the University of Michigan in classical bass, she performs regularly with Wild Up in Los Angeles and around the country as a singer/songwriter. She just released a solo album of songs entitled We Shall Overcome and collaborates with composers regularly on new pieces for double bass/voice. Her 2014 solo performance with Wild Up at the Boston Court in Los Angeles was attended by Alex Ross and reviewed by the LA-based blog The Artificialist. She has been mentioned in the LA Times and featured as a solo artist on KPCC Los Angeles’ “Global Village,” performing her tunes live on the radio. In 2013, she completed studies in Vienna after winning a Kate Neal Kinley Fund fellowship for classical bass contemporary music studies abroad, culminating in the premiere of a piece written solo bass/voice by Anna Mikhailova at the Impuls festival in Graz, Austria. She loves to run, pet beagles, and make soup.
Composer and cellist, Paul Brantley, is a five-time MacDowell Colony Fellow who has also received fellowships from Banff Centre and The Anderson Center. He has given composition seminars at Yale School of Music, Hunter College (Anthropology Dept.), and The University of Michigan School of Music. He has recently enjoyed performances of his music by The Knights, Horszowski Trio, Flux Quartet, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, New Esterházy Quartet, and Memphis Symphony. Brantley recently composed a cello concerto, The Royal Revolver, for Eric Jacobsen (The Knights) premiered by the University of Michigan Symphony conducted by Kenneth Kiesler. The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra will give 25th anniversary performances of his On the Pulse of Morning this May, with Abigail Fischer, soprano, Fall 2021. It was recently announced that Brantley is one of three winners of the ALIENOR COMPOSITION COMPETITION sponsored by the Historical Keyboard Association of North America. He co-founded the Seal Bay Festival and was artist faculty at Yellow Barn Music Festival. In addition to positions at Syracuse University and Washington and Lee University, Brantley was a Manhattan School of Music artist faculty from 2000 to 2014. He was invited to give a composition seminar at Yale University in 2012. He is director and cellist of the newly formed Mercury Chamber Players. His music is published by Oxford University Press and Bill Holab Music.
Publisher:
www.billholabmusic.com/composers/paul-brantley/
soundfiles:
https://soundcloud.com/paul-brantley-music
Facebook Artist's Page:
https://www.facebook.com/ComposerCellist/
Direct donations to Paul can be via paypal at: pbrantley@mac.com
Steve Sandberg
Three-time Emmy-nominated pianist/composer Steve Sandberg is a musical shapeshifter, remixing classical music, world music and jazz with the excitement of virtuosic improvisation. A long-time pupil of Seymour Bernstein, he leads the Steve Sandberg Quartet, whose concerts combine performances of Chopin, Ravel, Bartok, Debussy, and Liszt with improvisations on Mr. Sandberg’s original compositions that are based on these pieces and also draw from Latin, African, Balkan, jazz and East Indian traditions. Steve grew up playing classical piano, then became part of New York’s vibrant Latin music scene. His mentor in the field of jazz and Latin music was multi-instrumentalist Mario Rivera, a member of the Dizzie Gillespie, Tito Puente, and George Coleman ensembles. Steve has also performed with Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades, David Byrne and Bebel Gilberto. In addition to performing solo and with the Steve Sandberg Quartet (featuring Snarky Puppy's Zach Brock), Steve teaches on zoom and in his private studio in New York.
"A breathtaking composite of world music, jazz, and classical expressions...an exultant music...incredibly personal and precise in its direction, yet universal in its language and ability to connect." - Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
Sign up for Steve’s mailing list and see videos and purchase recordings here: stevesandbergmusic.com
For information about my teaching studio: stevesandbergstudio.com
For information about my scoring: stevesandbergcomposer.com
Donate to Steve:
Venmo: Steven Sandberg @stevensandbergmusic
Michelle Lewis
Many performers live for applause. Michelle Lewis just wants to make you cry. If that sounds like a lot of despair, it isn't. The sad songs leave you smiling. Her joyful songs leave you in tears. As an artist, she lives for the paradox of the uplifting lament. Her sorrow is always a totem for love. Your tears flow for the strength of the bond not the pain of the fracture. This duality makes hers such a fascinating voice.
Website: MichelleLewisMusic.com (download music, buy CDs and merch here)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellelewismusic/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichelleLewisMusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/michellelewis
Donate on Venmo @Michelle-Lewis-Music or paypal.me/MichelleLewisMusic
Michelle is also offering personalized video and song dedications, online guitar lessons, private Zoom concerts, and in-person outdoor concerts this summer. Get in touch at michelle@michellelewismusic.com.
Melinda Faylor
Melinda Faylor is a Brooklyn-based pianist and multimedia collaborator/curator who works with multimedia, dance, theater, film, and electronics. Her current and past collaborators have included dancer Loren Groenendaal and the Vervet Dance company, the chamber group the Curiosity Cabinet, composer and interdisciplinary theater artist Sugar Vendil, and composer Joe Diebes. She has performed at the SEAMUS and OCEAN festivals, the NYC International Fringe Festival, the Great Hall at Cooper Union, National Sawdust, the Stone, the Stone at the New School, Knockdown Center, the Joyce Theater, Dixon Place, Roulette, Issue Project Room, and the Target Margin Theater. A graduate of Oberlin College and the Manhattan School of Music, Melinda is currently employed as organist/pianist for the Lutheran Church of Our Savior, and was artistic director of the Areté Venue and Gallery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
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