Brian Cai, a student of Marcantonio Barone, was a silver medal winner in Level 11 of the 2009 World Piano Competition of the American Music Scholarship Association in Cincinnati this July.  Brian also won second place in the age 16-18 division of the 2009 West Chester University Pre-Collegiate Competition and performed in the winners’ recital at the University in April.

As a bronze medalist of the 2009 Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey, John Carpenter, a student of Marcantonio Barone, performed in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York this June.

Sophia Chen, who studies violin with Iwona Fedoseyev, was accepted to the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra.

Chang-Hee Han, a violin pupil of John Sergovic, is a member of the first-violin section of the Delaware County Youth Orchestra.

June Han, a student of Ellen Fisher Deerberg, won first prize in the Junior Division of the 2009 Young Artist Competition of the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia.  She is a flutist in the Delaware County Youth Orchestra.

At 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, 6 December, Kevin Li, a student of Marcantonio Barone, will perform the third movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto № 3 in C minor with the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Irving Ludwig at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center.  As a winner of the 2009 Katheryn E. MacPhail Young Artists Competition, he will also play the first movement of Beethoven’s Concerto № 5 in E-flat Major with the Pottstown Symphony Orchestra on 6 February 2010.  He was a gold medal winner in Level 11 of the World Piano Competition of the American Music Scholarship Association in Cincinnati this July, and he performed at Montgomery County Community College in May as a first-place winner in the senior division of the Tri-County Concerts Association Annual Youth Festival.  This summer, he participated in the Austrian International Piano Seminar and Festival in Ebenfurth.

Stephen Li, a twelve-year-old piano student of Marcantonio Barone, was a silver medalist in Level 9 of the World Piano Competition of the American Music Scholarship Association in Cincinnati.  He also won second place in the age 9-12 division of the West Chester University Pre-Collegiate Competition and performed in the winners’ recital in April.

Violinist Emily Lu, a pupil of Paul Reiser, and pianist Stephen Li received honorable mention in the Junior Ensemble division of the 2009 Tri-County Concerts Association Youth Festival.

Anna Matlack, a voice student of Kathryna Barone, won the senior music prize at Marple Newtown High School.  She was awarded a partial scholarship at Elizabethtown College, where she will study vocal music and music therapy.

Terry Tan, who studies with Ellen Fisher Deerberg, was named first flute of the Lionville Middle School Band last semester.

Sophia Chen, a violin student of Iwona Fedoseyev, was accepted by competitive audition into the PRYSM ensemble of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.

Ashley Chiang, a flute student of Ellen Fisher Deerberg, is Principal Flute of the Chester County Youth Orchestra.  She and Elizabeth Walker, a piano student of Marcantonio Barone, performed together this autumn in Sounds of Aid, a concert for the benefit of «ConKerr Cancer», and in a concert of the music honor society «Modern Music Masters».

Leah Coppage-Gross, a piano student of Elizabeth Keller, is a member of the Jazz Band at Radnor Middle School.  She also plays french horn in the band and sings in the select choir «Distaffs».

Henry Gao, a piano student of Mackenzie Carlson, accompanied the Bala Cynwyd Middle School Band in Mozart Serenade and Dance at its winter concert in December.  He also plays flute in the Band.

Anna Matlack, a voice student of Kathryna Barone, was elected President of the Marple-Newtown High School Choir.  In December, she sang as a soprano in the Interfaith Choir at a performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Church of Latter Day Saints in Broomall.

FACULTY NEWS

Marcantonio Barone is the pianist, with soprano Barbara Ann Martin and Orchestra 2001 under the direction of James Freeman, on the première recording of A Journey beyond Time (American Songbook II) and Winds of Destiny (American Songbook IV) by George Crumb, released in November by Bridge Records as Volume 13 of the Complete Crumb Edition.

Benjamin Boyle is now Adjunct Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
In December, he performed (as pianist) his Sonata-Fantasy with violinist Timothy Fain at the Kennedy Center in Washington and at Merkin Hall in New York.
His opera The Holly and the Ivy was given its world première by the Chicago Lyric Opera last month.  A new work of his has been commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam for a joint performance that they will give with the New York Philharmonic at the Riverside Church in New York in April.

Mackenzie Carlson, of the Conservatory’s piano faculty, will perform in recital with guitarist Behdad Moghadassi at the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society on 11 January.

Elizabeth Keller is pianist with the Philadelphia Trio.  Their series of concerts at the Main Line Unitarian Church in Devon continues on Sunday, 15 February, at 3:00 P.M. with the Tchaikovsky Trio and the Elgar Sonata for Violin and Piano.  The final concert of the season will take place on Sunday, 19 April, and will feature the Brahms Horn Trio.
Ms. Keller’s chamber-music class «Firenze» at the Baldwin School spent the spring break of 2008 giving concerts in Scandinavia.  The spring of 2010 will see the group performing in the British Isles.
This is also Ms. Keller’s eighteenth year teaching piano performance at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Her class was again invited to play at the Wolf Museum in Lancaster in April.

Samantha van Adelsburg, a voice student of Bronwyn Fix-Keller, will matriculate as a voice major at the State University of New York at Binghamton.  She received the Senior Outstanding Achievement Choral Award at Lower Merion High School and produced and performed a solo cabaret recital as her senior project in June.  She also appeared in Haverford School’s production of West Side Story in March.

Brian Cai, a piano student of Marcantonio Barone, won the Overall Soloist Award for Jazz Band at the “Music in the Parks” competition in Boston in April.

Anil Chitrapu, a piano student of Laurie Ticehurst, is to give his graduation performance (Arangetram) in Carnatic Music at Gwynedd Mercy College on 30 August at 4:00 P.M.

Leah Golub, a voice student of Bronwyn Fix-Keller, received a full scholarship as a voice major at Case Western Reserve University.  She was the assistant director of Harriton High School’s production of The Visit in April.

Kevin Li, a piano student of Marcantonio Barone, was one of the youngest students admitted to study chamber music with members of the Philadelphia Trio at Music in the Mountains in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania, this August.

Gus Longer, a voice student of Bronwyn Fix-Keller, performed in Alice in Wonderland, Jr. at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center in July.

Alex Pack, a voice student of Bronwyn Fix-Keller, was assistant director of Harriton High School’s production of The Visit.

Elizabeth Reeves, a voice student of Kathryna Barone and Perry Brisbon and a piano student of Mackenzie Carlson, will matriculate as a voice major at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  She studied this summer at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

Gloria Sun, a violin student of Iwona Fedoseyev, was accepted by competitive audition into both the Delaware County Youth Orchestra and the Main Line Chamber Youth Orchestra.

Faculty News

Marcantonio Barone gave the world premiere of the Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra by Andrew Rudin at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. in May.  During the summer, he performed at the Delaware Chamber Music Festival, with the Lenape Chamber Ensemble in Pennsylvania, and with the Craftsbury Chamber Players in Vermont.

Ellen Fisher Deerberg will perform as a member of the quartet Volanti Flutes on the concert series Nassau at 4:00 on Sunday, 12 October, at 4:00 P.M., at the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey.

Volanti Flutes will perform again at 7:30 P.M. the following Saturday, 18 October, in the Wind Department Recital of the Westminster Conservatory, at Westminster Choir College’s Bristol Chapel in Princeton.

Bronwyn Fix-Keller will appear as harpsichord soloist in the Brandenburg Concerto № 5 by Johann Sebastian Bach with Camerata Ama Deus Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, 18 October, at 7:30 P.M. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill; and on Sunday, 19 October, at 4:00 P.M. in Thomas Great Hall at Bryn Mawr College.

Andrew Hauze has been named Director of Music at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Springfield, Pennsylvania.

STUDENT NEWS

Samantha van Adelsburg, a voice student of Bronwyn Fix-Keller, was one of twelve performers chosen from a field of fifty-three competitors to sing in the final recital at the Rowan University Young Vocal Scholars Camp.  She was also awarded a position as a member of the professional choir at St. John’s Church in Bala Cynwyd.

Kelly Brobson, a voice student of Judith Malis, sang both alto and soprano solos in the West Chester University Concert Choir’s performances of Handel’s Dixit Dominus under the direction of David P. DeVenney at the West Chester University Performing Arts Center and at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Ardmore in February.

Brian Cai, a piano student of Marcantonio Barone, received honorable mention in the thirteen- to fifteen-year-old division of the 2008 West Chester University of Pennsylvania Annual Piano Competition.

James Carino, a piano student of Laurie Ticehurst, plays keyboard in the Radnor Middle School Jazz band and was a co-composer of the school musical this year.  He also plays alto saxophone in the eighth-grade band and studied bass guitar at the Summer Music Program at Harcum College over the summer.

Anil Chitrapu, a piano student of Laurie Ticehurst, sang at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia as a member of Wissahickon High School’s Camerata.  As an actor, he performed the rôle of the Old Man in the play Prelude to a Kiss, and in the musical Chess in productions at his school.  He also continues his advanced lessons in Indian classical vocal music and has given concerts at the Bharatiya Temple in Montgomeryville.

Leah Golub, a voice student of Bronwyn Fix-Keller, sang the rôle of Sally Simpson in Harriton High School’s production of The Who’s Tommy in November.

Nathan D’Ignazio, a twelve-year-old piano student of Marcantonio Barone, performed the Schubert Impromptu Opus 90 № 4 at Lang Concert Hall at Swarthmore College in March at a benefit concert for Strath Haven High School’s ‘A Better Chance’ program.

David Lee, a piano student of Laurie Ticehurst and a third-grade student at the Radnor Elementary School, has been asked to play trumpet in the fifth-grade band at his school.

Kevin Li, a piano student of Marcantonio Barone, won first prize in the thirteen- to fifteen-year-old division of the 2008 West Chester University of Pennsylvania Annual Piano Competition and second place in the Junior Piano division of the 2008 Tri-County Concerts Association Youth Festival.

Stephen Li, a piano student of Marcantonio Barone, performed a recital at Beaumont at Bryn Mawr in January.

Mitchell Lyon, a composition student of Benjamin C. S. Boyle, has been accepted as a cello major at the Juilliard School.

Rouzbeh Mashayekhi, a guitar student of Emiliano Pardo-Tristán, performed at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia on 9 March in the public semifinal round of the High School Division of the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society Competition.

Angela Petrone, a piano student of Laurie Ticehurst, was pianist of the 2007 Archdiocesan Jazz Band.  As an oboist, she is a member of the Delaware Valley Young Musicians’ Orchestra, the All-Catholic Band, the All-Catholic Orchestra, and the pit orchestra for the annual musical-theater production of Cardinal O’Hara High School.

Mary Punshon, a voice student of Kathryna Barone, performed in ThespisEtc.’s production of Yeomen of the Guard by Gilbert and Sullivan in February.  A review on the website RyanBunch.com declared that “Punshon is in a class by herself—an accomplished classical singer and a wonderful actor, she is the consummate artist in the role of Elsie.”

Elizabeth Reeves, a voice student of Kathryna Barone and Perry Brisbon and a piano student of Mackenzie Carlson, won the Vocal Prize for area Catholic High School students.

Bronwyn Fix-Keller, a member of the Conservatory’s voice faculty, was mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in a concert of the Ama Deus Ensemble at the Perelman Theatre of Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on 2 November. Ms. Fix-Keller also performed as continuo harpsichordist in an all-Bach concert with the Ama Deus Ensemble on 21 October.

Mackenzie Carlson, of the Conservatory’s piano faculty, performed Cycles of Remembrance, a piano recital with music by Rameau, Debussy, Dukas, Messiaen, Takemitsu, Couperin, and Ravel, at Christ’s Lutheran Church in Oreland in October and at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in November.

The Concerto for Organ and Orchestra by Benjamin Boyle, who teaches composition, theory, and musicianship at the Conservatory, was given its world première by organist Huw Lewis and the Hope College Orchestra at the Dimnent Memorial Chapel, in Holland, Michigan, on 2 November. The Concerto was commissioned by Hope College to celebrate the refurbishing of its Skinner organ. Dr. Boyle’s song cycle Le Passage des Rêves, for baritone and piano will be premièred on 15 January in Washington D.C.

As a member of Volanti Flutes, a flute quartet based in Princeton, Ellen Fisher Deerberg, flute teacher at the Conservatory, performed in a concert of 19th- and 20th-century French music at Westminster Choir College’s Bristol Chapel on 25 November. She is a collaborative artist on the compact disc The Colors Fall, featuring flutist Lisamarie McGrath, and will perform in a CD-release recital on 2 December at St. John Lutheran Church in Center Square, Pennsylvania.

Viaje a través de la Guitarra Clásica, a new compact disc by guitarist and composer Emiliano Pardo-Tristán, of the Conservatory’s faculty, including music by Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, Brouwer, Reis, Barrios, Tárrega, and Calevaro, is soon to be released on the Fermata label. With guest artists Anna Noggle, singer, and Luigi Mazzocchi, violinist, Dr. Pardo-Tristán will perform a CD-release recital at Temple University’s Rock Hall on 1 December.

Rhonda Stull, a member of the piano faculty at the Conservatory, will perform with her husband, clarinettist Norman Stull, at their annual Christmas Concert on 1 December at Pocono Manor in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. On 16 December, Mrs. Stull will direct the cantata One Small Child, arranged by Benjamin Harlan, at the Trinity Great Swamp Church in Spinnerstown, Pennsylvania.

STUDENT NEWS

Stephen Li, 10, a piano student of Marcantonio Barone, won Honorable Mention in Level 8 at the 51st World Piano Competition of the American Music Scholarship Association in Cincinnati in June.

Richard Shapp, a voice student of Kathryna Barone, sang to critical acclaim in a production of Iolanthe at the The 14th International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England, this past August. In November, he sang the rôle of Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, K.C.B. in Utopia, Limited with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Chester County. He appears with the Society in their current production of Trial by Jury.

Kelsey De Angelis, a voice student of Bronwyn Fix-Keller, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the grand opening of the new Radnor Middle School on 13 October.

Samantha Sutliff, a voice student of Perry Brisbon, performed the rôle of Mrs. Walker in Harriton High School’s production of the musical Tommy in November.

Patrick McMillan, a piano student of Rhonda Stull, performed at the Valley Forge Elementary School in November.

• Oliver Hsu, teacher of cello at the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music, toured Korea this summer as guest performer with the New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra.

Student News

• Ashley Chiang, flute student of Ellen Fisher, was appointed Principal Flute of the Conestoga High School Orchestra.
• Anil Chitrapu, piano student of Laurie Ticehurst Poole, was chosen to sing the National Anthem at a Phantom’s Hockey Game in Philadelphia, and travelled to India to sing a full length recital of Indian music and appear on Indian Television. He also starred in the MTI- and Disney-sponsored Broadway Junior Production of “Cinderella”.
• Nicole Farbes-Lyons, voice student of Kathryna Barone, is a new member of the Di Capo Opera Company of New York City.
• Chelsea Grossman, piano student of Laurie Ticehurst Poole, was piano soloist in concert at the Chester County Branch of Jewish Community High School at Gratz College in Philadelphia.
• Lisa Kim, flute student of Ellen Fisher, was selected to join the flute section of the Delaware County Young Musician’s Orchestra.
• Benjamin Lei, violin student of John Sergovic, has become Principal Second Violin in the Conestoga High School Orchestra.
• Grace Li, piano student of Laurie Ticehurst-Poole, was awarded a $2,000 Grant from the George H. Slick Arts Endowment. The honor also includes a solo recital to be performed during her Junior year at Strath Haven High School in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
• Mitchell Lyon, composition student of Benjamin Boyle, was chosen to conduct and record a concert performance of his own composition Gnomic Migration with the Lower Merion Senior High School Orchestra.
• Edward Poll, composition student of Benjamin Boyle and piano student of Marcantonio Barone, was the recipient of the 2007 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. He was chosen from a national field of over 600 contestants.
• Daniel Sacerio, piano student of Laurie Ticehurst Poole, travelled to France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany with the American Music Abroad Bronze Tour.
• Gregory Wang, violin student of John Sergovic, is now Assistant Concertmaster of the Wissahickon Middle School Orchestra.