Mini-Recital 2
Monday, June 25 • 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Presenters: Wanda Brister-Rachwal, Errik Hood, Christian Bester, Bronwen Forbay, Stephen Pierce, Julia Bentley, Tatiana Lokhina
Introduced by: Randall Umstead
Location: Partagas
In this mini-recital session, attendees will enjoy exposure to a wide variety of literature and in some cases be introduced to new literature for use in the studio. This session will include:
- Wanda Brister – The Cabaret Songs of Madeleine Dring
- Errik Hood - Do not forget me quite - A Lecture-Recital Concerning the Performance and Teaching of the Art Songs of Ivor Gurney
- Bronwen Forbay, Christian Bester, and Stephen Pierce - An Introduction to Afrikaans Art Song Literature
- Julia Bentley, Mezzo-soprano; Tatiana Lokhina, piano – Southern Harmony: a song recycle VIEW NOTES
About Wanda Brister
Wanda Brister is associate professor of voice at Florida State University. She has worked with the repertoire of Madeleine Dring since 2000, when she began research for a dissertation about Dring’s art songs. An avid performer and researcher of art song, Brister has worked closely with this topic. She supervised recordings of all of the published Dring art songs, over 40 of the cabaret songs, and has done additional research uncovering dozens of art songs, cabaret songs, and selections from West End musical revues.
About Errik Hood
Errik M. Hood, baritone, has appeared professionally with Utah Festival Opera, Madison Opera, Dayton Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Columbus, Opera Project Columbus, Chautauqua Opera, and Opera New Jersey, as well as with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Springfield Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra, Gallion Community Orchestra, Yellow Springs Community Orchestra, Capriccio Vocal Ensemble, Bach Society of Dayton, and with resident orchestras of Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Wright State University, and Northern Kentucky University. Hood holds degrees from Wright State University, The Bienen School of Music of Northwestern University, and The Ohio State University. Dr. Hood has taught voice at the University of Dayton, Northern Kentucky University, Wright State University, and is currently assistant professor of music and Voice Area Head at Utah State University.
About Bronwen Forbay
A Fulbright Scholar born in Durban, South Africa, Bronwen Forbay, soprano, received a B. Mus. from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban), an M. M. from the Manhattan School of Music, an Artist Certificate from Southern Methodist University, and a DMA from the University of Cincinnati. She has sung principal roles with opera companies throughout the US and South Africa including Cape Town, Santa Fe, and Wolf Trap. Critically acclaimed operatic successes include the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, Violetta in La Traviata, Velmyra in the Dallas World Premiere of Wading Home (2015), and Adina in L’élisir d’amore (2016). Concert appearances as a featured soloist include performances throughout South Africa, the US, Northern-Italy, and at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England. Forbay served as tour-manager and soprano soloist for the Lonestar Classical Voices Quartet’s national tour of South Africa (2015). She has taught at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Sam Houston State University, and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Dr. Forbay is currently assistant professor of voice and opera at McLennan Community College in Waco, TX.
About Christian Bester
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “impressive,” native South African Christian Bester currently serves as visiting assistant professor of voice at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. Christian made his debut as Schaunard in La Bohème for Pro Musica Theater in South Africa. Roles include: Don Giovanni, Count, Belcore, Marcello, Enrico, Aeneas, Papageno, Bob, Moritz Popolescu, Basil, Germont, Guglielmo, Escamillo, Gianni Schicchi, and Pan Jan Zaremba. Orchestra engagements include: Fort Worth Symphony, Kwazulu Natal Philharmonic, Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Allen Philharmonic, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra League. Recent festival appearances include California’s Songfest, Italy’s Amalfi Coast and recitals for the Grahamstown and FynArts Festival in South Africa. As soloist, Christian partook in the prestigious Van Cliburn Foundation Concert series in Fort Worth, Santa Fe Concert Series, and the Americke Jaro Festival in the Czech Republic. A frequent recitalist, Christian appears regularly throughout the United States, Australia, Wales, and South Africa.
About Stephen Pierce
South African pianist Stephen Pierce enjoys a multi-faceted career as a performer, teacher, presenter, clinician, and scholar. At the USC Thornton School of Music he serves as the Director of Secondary Piano and Keyboard Pedagogy and teaches applied piano, and courses in piano pedagogy and keyboard literature. Pierce previously taught at the University of Northern Colorado, and Oberlin Conservatory. He was second prizewinner of the National Piano Competition in South Africa and has performed as a soloist with orchestras in South Africa and Cincinnati, while his performances have been broadcast on South African television and radio. He has presented at conferences such as the MTNA National Conference, and the Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (GP3), and published in the journals American Music Teacher, Clavier Companion, Piano Pedagogy Forum, The California Music Teacher, and The South African Music Teacher. He currently serves as editor of the peer-reviewed journal, CAPMT Connect.
About Julia Bentley
Since completing degrees at Indiana University and apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera and the Chicago Lyric Opera, mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley has appeared in leading operatic roles from Anchorage to New York, and been featured as a soloist with orchestras led by George Manahan, Raymond Leppard, Oliver Knussen, Robert Shaw and Pierre Boulez. She has performed with Chicago's many fine ensembles, including the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Lyric Opera. She has appeared to critical acclaim at Weill Hall with Pierre Boulez as the soloist in Le Marteau Sans Maître. After teaching at the DePaul University School of Music, Concordia University and the graduate Art Song Seminar at North Park University, she is currently the newest addition to the voice faculty at the University of Missouri-Columbia, teaching voice and graduate voice pedagogy. Her discography includes the complete Jugendlieder by Alban Berg with pianist Kuang-Hao Huang, and the 2015 Grammy-nominated As Dreams Fall Apart (Cedille Records).
