The St. Mary's Music Academy welcomes saxophonist Robert Young and pianist Molly Orlando for a concert.

The event is FREE for SMMA students and all youth (18 and under). General admission is $20, available here or at the door prior to the performance.

Program

Lilac Tears (2022)— Jennifer Jolley (b.1981) 

This Earthly Round (Redux) (2014) —Miriama Young (b.1975) 

Romance, Op. 23 (1893) — Amy Beach (1867-1944) (arr. Robert Young). 

A wonderful dream (2024) - Tyree Nesbitt (b.2001)  

Intermission

Sonate en Ut # (1943) - Fernande Decruck (1896-1954) 

    I. Tres modéré, expressif

    III. Fileuse

    IV. Nocturne et Rondel

Come As You Are (2020) - Steven Banks (b.1993)

   Lift My Eyes (My Lord, What A Morning)

   Times of the Storm (Wade in the Water)

   Strength of My Life (His Eye is On the Sparrow)

   Lift My Hands (I Still Have Joy)

Fueled by a deep desire to create enthusiasm surrounding the classical saxophone, ROBERT YOUNG connects with audiences with his musicianship, virtuosity, and authenticity.  Praised for his “effortless expression and facile technique” (The Saxophonist Magazine), Robert maintains an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator.  His artistry has afforded him opportunities to appear with ensembles and musicians from across the globe, including the PRISM Quartet, The Crossing, Chris Potter, Ravi Coltrane, Uri Caine, Charlotte Symphony, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, and the Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra. 

As a chamber musician, Robert collaborated with The Crossing and performed alongside the PRISM Quartet on the GRAMMY Award-winning album "Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century" (available on ECM Recordings). The New York Times praised the collective performance on this album as “superb” and “eloquent.”  Young has appeared with the PRISM Quartet at numerous concerts, including residencies at the Curtis Institute, Shepherd School of Music (Rice University), and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.  He can be heard on several albums with this notable ensemble, including “The Curtis Project,” “Heritage/Evolution, Volume 2”, and “The Book of Days.”  

Appearing with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in the 2023-24 season, he was hailed as “uncommonly expressive…and technically prodigious” (San Francisco Classical Voice) for his performance of Guillaume Connesson’s acrobatic concerto, A Kind of Trane.  He has also been a soloist with the United States Navy Band, performing Quicksilver by Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop, and has been featured as a soloist with the Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra, Piedmont Wind Symphony, UNCSA Symphony, and Zagreb Soloists (Croatia).

Robert holds a teaching position at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as the Associate Professor of Saxophone.  Young’s students have received honors at several local, regional, and national competitions and have been featured at several clinics and conferences throughout the country.  He previously served on the faculties of The Crane School of Music - SUNY Potsdam and Wichita State University. Young is often invited to give guest lectures and classes throughout the country.  In the Fall of 2022, Robert was invited to be a guest teacher for the renowned University of Michigan saxophone studio as a sabbatical replacement for the award-winning saxophonist Timothy McAllister.

Robert earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (2011) and Master of Music (2008) degrees in saxophone performance from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Professor Donald Sinta. At the University of Michigan, he studied jazz saxophone with Dr. Andrew Bishop and was a recipient of the Lawrence Teal Fellowship. Young received a bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance from the University of South Carolina (2006), where he studied with Dr. Clifford Leaman. 

As a Conn-Selmer Artist, Robert Young plays exclusively on Selmer saxophones.  He also serves as a D’Addario artist/clinician and endorses Key Leaves products.

DC Pianist MOLLY ORLANDO is nationally recognized as a pianist, pedagogue, and lecturer. Praised by the Washington Post for her ‘great style’ and performances that are ‘searching’ and ‘edgy’, Molly is equally at home in traditional and brand-new repertoire. An advocate for new music, Molly has premiered numerous works, including a performance as the soloist in the world premiere of Daniel Felsenfeld’s piano concerto The Curse of Sophistication. She has also premiered works by Douglas Boyce, Timothy Dusenbury, John Elmquist, Matt Curlee, and Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis.

Molly has worked with UrbanArias (Service Provider and Shining Brow), Great Noise Ensemble, and Third Millennium Ensemble, and her recent concert seasons have included solo and chamber recital appearances at the Penn State University, North Carolina School for the Arts, Utah State University, Baylor University, University of Florida, the Arts Club of Washington, North American Saxophone Alliance, and the International Saxophone Symposium, as well as a collaboration with the United States Air Force Band in a program of music by Andy Akiho. Her recently completed projects include a recording of Douglas Boyce’s A Book of Songs with tenor Robert Baker and an album, Tale Still Told,  with saxophonist Carolyn Braus and cellist Devree Lewis.

Because of her success in taking on notoriously difficult repertoire, Molly has a growing reputation among classical saxophonists and is in high demand as a collaborator, reflected in her recent and upcoming performances with saxophonists Jeremy Koch, Robert Young, Kyle Hutchins, Carolyn Braus, David Stambler, Tim Powell, and Branford Marsalis.

Molly teaches at George Washington University and is the owner of Opal Music Studio, a community music studio in Old Town Alexandria, VA. An established teacher and successful business owner, Molly is in high demand as a private teacher and is widely recognized as a pedagogue and entrepreneur. Molly has been a guest lecturer at universities and music teacher associations, including  Penn State University, the University of Florida, the University of Maryland, Shenandoah Conservatory, and the Charlottesville Music Teacher Association; her recent presentation topics have included lectures on building a successful private studio, motivating overscheduled students, and implementing useful strategies to maximize studio results. She has maintained a thriving private studio in the DC area for more than 20 years, where she instructs students of all ages and abilities.

Molly completed her BM and MM degrees at the Catholic University of America, graduating summa cum laude as a scholarship student of Thomas Mastroianni and Marilyn Neeley.

The St. Mary's Music Academy welcomes cellist Grace Anderson and pianist Dmitri Shteinberg for a concert featuring works by Bach, Barber, Prokofiev, and more. 

Praised for her “rapier definition and boundless energy” (New York Concert Review), cellist Grace Lin Anderson has performed across North America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. Following her solo debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, she has appeared at Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Brooklyn’s Bargemusic, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as well as at festivals including Caramoor, Scotia, and Aspen. Internationally, she has performed at festivals in Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Recent highlights include a concert tour of Germany in 2024, where Anderson performed Bach’s Solo Cello Suites and her arrangement of the Goldberg Variations for cello duo with Alan Black at the historical Köthen Castle and the iconic St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.  Her season continued with performances with Queens Chamber Players and with Mallarmé Music, as well as concerts at Duke University, UNC Wilmington, Queens University of Charlotte, and the Carolina Performing Arts at UNC.  She continues the season with recitals in North Carolina with pianist Dmitri Shteinberg and a concerto performance with the Arequipa National Symphony in Peru.

Called ''protean and refined'' by the New York Times, Dmitri Shteinberg recorded for NPR, the Bavarian Radio, Summit Records, Fleur de Son Classics, and Sono Luminus labels and the Yamaha Disklavier; collaborated with the cellists Han-Na Chang and Natalia Gutman, violinists Julian Rachlin and David Garrett, and violist Tabea Zimmermann, and member of the New York Philharmonic. 

Besides solo and chamber music performances, Shteinberg frequently appears in concert lectures; he also plays harpsichord and period pianos. His interest in new music has led to world premieres and numerous commissions, including concertos by Avner Dorman, Jonathan Kolm, and Robert Chumbley and the first-ever recording of Samuel Barber’s recently discovered violin sonata. 

Dmitri Shteinberg is a prizewinner in twenty competitions worldwide, including the first prize in the “Citta de Senigallia'' international piano competition in Italy and the silver medal at the Proto International Piano Competition. In the United States, he won the Naomi Foundation Competition and the Artists International Debut Award and received the Salon De Virtuosi Fellowship Grant. 

Tickets - General admission $20
FREE for SMMA students and all youth (18 y.o. and under)

Join us for an unforgettable afternoon with a virtuoso clarinetist Ruslan Usaev, a 2023 prizewinner at the Manhattan International Music Competition, in collaboration with a UNCSA piano professor Dmitri Shteinberg. Works by Brahms, Debussy, Lutoslawski and Sancan.

FREE for SMMA students and all youth (18 y.o. and under). General admission - $20.

Tickets

Join us for an Afternoon of Song and Opera featuring Fellows of the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the UNC School of the Arts, with Carolyn Orr, Soprano, Danielle Romano, Mezzo Soprano, David Maize, tenor, Kevin Spooner, baritone, and Daria Ruzhynska, piano . A staple of the Triad performing arts scene, Fletcher opera presents the rising opera stars in full productions and recitals, with most former Fletcher Fellows now enjoying major opera careers. Don’t miss this remarkable event!

PROGRAM:

A Charm of Lullabies Op. 41
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
1. Cradle Song
2. The Highland Balou
3. Sephestia's Lullaby
4. A Charm
5. The Nurse's Song
Danielle Romano, mezzo-soprano; Daria Ruzhynska, piano

Three Sonnets by Petrarch S. 270
Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886)
No. 47 Benedetto sia 'l giorno
No. 104 Pace non trovo
No. 123 I' vidi in terra angelici costumi
David Maize, tenor; Daria Ruzhynska, piano

INTERMISSION

Stille Tränen Op. 35 No. 10
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Everything Taken Away from Me Op. 26 No. 2 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1874-1943)
I am Alone Again Op. 28, No. 9 Sergei Rachmaninoff
Youth and Love from “Songs of Travel” (1904) Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Kevin Spooner, baritone; Daria Ruzhynska, piano

Cantata for Voice and Piano (1964)
by John Carter (b. 1930)
Carolyn Orr, soprano; Daria Ruzhynska, piano

Please join us for our  2023 Fall Open House! 

Come and learn about our programs, hear our faculty and students perform, meet and talk to our teachers. Wrap up your experience with light refreshments!

The event is FREE, but reservation is strongly suggested. You can reserve your spot here. 

Margaret McDonald - a founding director and leader of St. Mary’s Music Academy for more than twenty years will be celebrated with a beautiful program performed by colleagues, friends, family members and former students.

General Admission $20 - Tickets

FREE for Academy students and all youth (18 and under).

Interview with Marjorie Bagley

Violinist Marjorie Bagley made her Lincoln Center concerto debut in 1997 with the Little Orchestra Society after beginning her performing career at the age of nine in her home state of North Carolina with the Asheville, Winston-Salem, and North Carolina Symphonies. Having graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in the first class of Pinchas Zukerman, she is active as a recitalist, chamber musician, and teacher. Marjorie has also performed as soloist with the Utah Symphony, Idaho Falls Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, the University of Michigan Symphony, and the Washington Square Music Series. As first violinist and founding member of the Arcata String Quartet, Marjorie performed in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, London’s Wigmore Hall, and across Western Europe and the United States. She is also an active proponent for new music and has premiered works by Paul Chihara, David Noon, Nils Vigeland, and Judith Shatin. Through her travels to music festivals, Marjorie has had the opportunity to play with some of the great artists of our time including Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Joseph Kalichstein, members of the Guarneri, Emerson, American, Tokyo, and Borromeo String Quartets. Ms. Bagley can be heard on recordings for the VOX, New World and Summit labels, and a recording of music for violin and percussion on the Equilibrium label featuring a concerto by Lou Harrison. Marjorie is the Co-Director of the Juniper Chamber Music Festival in Logan, Utah, which is becoming one of the most elite chamber music festivals in the nation. Ms. Bagley has been on the faculty of Ohio University, Utah State University, and the International Music Academy in Pilsen, Ms. Bagley has also taught at the Brevard Music Center, the Perlman Music Program, the Kinhaven Music School, and the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Program.

Ināra Zandmane is one of the leading collaborative pianists of North Carolina. She has performed with such artists as Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Augustin Hadelich, Ray Chen, Sergei Antonov, Yura Lee, Martin Storey, Paul Coletti, Ian Clarke, and Branford Marsalis, in addition to regularly performing with Blue Mountain Ensemble and in duos with saxophonist Susan Fancher and violinist Fabián López. In 2008, Ināra teamed up with Latvian violinist Vineta Sareika on a tour leading them to Boston, Cleveland, and Toronto, before culminating in an invitation-only performance at the Kennedy Center arranged by the Latvian Embassy in the United States. In 2012, Ināra stepped in on a short notice to perform with violinist Ray Chen at the Aspen Music Festival, followed by a recital in Lima, Peru. In 2014, she was invited to the International Saxophone Symposium and Competition in Columbus, Georgia to present a recital with Vincent David.

Ms. Zandmane is frequently invited to serve as an official accompanist at national conferences and competitions, among them the North American Saxophone Alliance conference and MTNA National competition since 2005. She is the accompanist in residence for the South Eastern Piano Festival that takes place in Columbia, SC every June. Ināra Zandmane is the staff accompanist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she performs with students and faculty more than fifty different programs per year.

Ināra Zandmane’s solo recordings include the piano works by Maurice Ravel, recorded together with her husband Vincent van Gelder, and the complete piano sonatas by Alexander Scriabin. Ināra Zandmane has collaborated with leading Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, giving Latvian premieres of his piano works The Spring Music and Landscapes of the Burnt-out Earth and recording the latter one on the Conifer Classics label. She also can be heard in various chamber music collaborations on Navona Records and Centaur Records.

General Admission $20

Tickets

FREE for Academy students and all youth (18 and under).

Jodi Burns has been described as singing with a “plush voice and rich expressivity”(The New York Times). In her appearance as Anna Sorenson in Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, (Piedmont Opera), The Winston-Salem Journal notes, “Burns dazzle[s] with her lustrous soprano and bright charisma. The production is elevated whenever she appears on stage." Whether performing in intimate venues or on the opera stage, she appeals to a rich and diverse audience.

In her most recent appearance with Piedmont Opera in March 2019, Jodi gave, “another rather perfect performance”(Opera Lively), and “her Adina was fanciful but honorable… the ascents to the top Bs adroitly managed. Burns delivered the cantabile ‘Chiedi all’aura lusinghiera’ in the duet with Nemorino with dulcet tones…”(Voix des Arts).

Roles include, Anna Sorenson (Silent Night), Adina (The Elixir of Love), Ann Trulove (The Rake's Progress), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Micaela (Carmen), Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Barbarina (The Marriage of Figaro), the Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel), Ida (Die Fledermaus), Maria Stuarda (Maria Stuarda), Mary Turner (Of Thee I Sing, Gershwin) and she has performed time and again with Piedmont Opera, The Princeton Festival, The Opera Theatre of the Rockies, The Mozart Club, The Piedmont Wind Symphony, The Winston-Salem Symphony, Magnolia Baroque Festival, the Carolina Chamber Symphony Players, Carolina Symphony SummerFest, and toured with The North Carolina Symphony, .

In summer of 2018 Jodi appeared in a concert series with composer and pianist Ken Frazelle, collaborating on a program of music from his song sets "Appalachian Songbooks I and II" and "Songs from the Rearview Mirror".

A performer with a great deal of range and versatility, Jodi collaborated with The Piedmont Wind Symphony on a concert of her own compositions along with her band Judy Barnes. She duetted with Ben Folds at his 2015 “Home for the Holidays” Concert.

Jodi holds a Masters of Music from the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where studied with Dr. Marilyn Taylor and Jamie Allbritten. BME from The Ohio State University.

Join us for an evening of beautiful music performed by faculty members of the Academy! Learn about our programs! And choose a right instrument for your child! FREE Admission.

Program

Fantasia N. Sokolova

Lidia Silberman, piano (studio of Yulia Roubtsova)

Moran’s Return from the Patrick Weston Joyce Collection

Planxty George Brabazon T. O’Carolan

Medley: Calum’s Road Donald Shaw; The Ramnee Ceilidh Gordon Duncan; The Musical Priest Traditional, arr. by Harpers Bridge

Harpers Bridge Duo: Mike Connors; Julie Gorka, Irish harps

Lilac S. Rachmaninov

Aria of Lauretta G. Puccini

Ranara Rahimova, soprano; Yulia Roubtsova, piano

Violin Sonata C. Franck

I. Allegretto ben Moderato

Nathan Thomeer, violin; Olga Steinberg, piano

Impressões Seresteiras -Minstrel Impressions H. Villa-Lobos

Jessica Oliveira, piano

Waltz J. Brahms

Raelynn & Reena Buendia, Violin I & II (studio of Kelsey Philbrick)

Sonata No. 1 in G Minor for solo violin J. S. Bach

I. Adagio

Kelsey Philbrick, violin

Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 L. Beethoven

II. Rondo

Abril Morales-Palma, piano (studio of Dr. Saviola)

English suite No. 4 in F Major J. S. Bach

Stephen Saviola, piano

Sonatine M.Ravel

I. Modere

Claire Monson, piano (studio of Dr. Saviolal)

intermission

Little Dance F. J. Haydn

Joy Mena, flute (studio of Lucian Rinando)

Fantaisie Georges-Hüe

Lucian Rinando, flute; Charles Hogan, piano

Gavotte F. J. Gossec

Gideon Gould, cello (studio of Samuel Magill)

Pezzo Capriccioso Op. 62 P. I. Tchaikovsky

Samuel Magill, cello; Dmitri Shteinberg, piano

Andrei’s Aria from “The Cossack beyond the Danube” S. Hulak-Artemovsky

Rafael Sarkisian, tenor; Dmitri Shteinberg, piano

Trio for flute, cello, and piano Op. 45 Louise Farrenc

Lucian Rinando, flute; Samuel Magill, cello & Charles Hogan, piano

Free Admission

Charles Hogan, Piano

L. Beethoven Sonata #8 in C Minor, Op. 13 (Sonata Pathétique)
J. Brahms Waltzes, Op. 39
C. Debussy Estampes
A. Ginastera Danzas Argentinas, Op. 2

FREE for Academy students, children and youth. General Admission - $20.

Charles Hogan enjoys a vast spectrum of activity as a pianist, collaborator, conductor, choir trainer, composer, organist, and scholar. At the University of Kentucky, he concurrently earned Bachelor of Music with High Distinction and Master of Music degrees, being a student in the University Scholars Program. From Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano and choral conducting with further instruction in organ. He attended the Vancouver International Song Institute, where he was in the first class of apprentice pianists of their SONGFIRE theatre of artsong program. He conducted the Cincinnati Cathedral choir’s recording O Still, Small Voice of Calm (Pro Organo Records, 2010) and wrote a book on the development of Anglican evensong and modern interpretations of it (MorningStar Publishers, 2015). He is currently working on transcriptions and modern translations of late-medieval Sarum chant to be published in 2020 as an appendix to that. He has taught at such institutions as Elon University, the University of Dayton (Ohio), Earlham College (Indiana), and the University of Kentucky.

Artists’ Concert Series presents Dmitri Vorobiev, Piano.

William Grant Still Three Visions (1935)

Dark Horseman

Summerland

Radiant Pinnacle

Franz Schubert. Drei Klavierstucke

Allegro assai

Allegretto

Allegro

Intermission

Johann Sebastian Bach Partita #1 In B flat Major BWV 825

Praeludium

Allemande

Corrente

Sarabande

Menuet !

Menuet II

Gigue

Sergei Rachmaninov Sonata #2 in B flat minor op. 36 (1931)

Allegro agitato

Non allegro - Lento

Allegro molto

General Admission $20; Free for Academy’s students.

All proceeds will go towards Ukrainian refugees

Lucian Rinando, flute

Polina Khatsko, piano

Sam Magill, cello

Dmitri Shteinberg, piano

Mike Connors, harp

Dmitri Vorobiev, piano

Grace Anderson, cello

Stephen Saviola, piano

Free Admission

Polonaise in C-sharp Minor, Op. 26, No. 1. F. Chopin

Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2 . F. Chopin

Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66. F. Chopin

Sonata in D Major, Op. 78. J. Brahms

Gargoyles, Op. 29. L. Liebermann (b.1961)

GRACE LIN ANDERSON, cello
CHARLES HOGAN, piano

General Admission $15
FREE for Academy's students

GRACE LIN ANDERSON
Dr. Grace Lin Anderson has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout United States and Europe, appearing at Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Aspen Music Festival, Caramoor Festival, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Miami’s Lincoln Theater. Her chamber music performance of the Schubert String Quintet was featured on BBC to commemorate 9/11. Abroad, she has performed in music festivals in Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Highlights of her chamber music collaborations include concerts with Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Judith Ingolfsson, Zuill Bailey and Fred Sherry and the late Bernard Greenhouse.

Since moving to North Carolina in 2006, Grace has established the Triad Chamber Music concert series (2006-2010). As its Artistic Director, Grace producing concerts at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, UNC School of the Arts and UNC-Greensboro. In addition, Grace founded and directed the Young Performers Chamber Music Workshop (2008-2020), training teenage musicians in the art of playing chamber music, and earning her two time nomination for the Swalin Outstanding Educator Award by the North Carolina Symphony. Grace has also taught at UNC Charlotte, UNC School of the Arts Summer Chamber Music Intensive, Mallarmé’s chamber music program in Chapel Hill, and is an adjunct instructor at Queens University. Locally, Grace has performed at the Eastern Music Festival, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC School of the Arts, and at Wake Forest University in collaboration with Grammy award dancer Savion Glover. In addition to teaching, she enjoys directing and arranging music for the cello choir. She authored Artistry and Cello Technique in which she details her extensive studies with Bernard Greenhouse and approaches to playing Beethoven, available on Amazon. Live recordings can be found on SoundCloud.

B.A. Harvard University, M.M. The Juilliard School, D.M.A., UNC Greensboro.

CHARLES HOGAN

Dr. Charles Hogan enjoys a vast spectrum of activity as a pianist, collaborator, conductor, choir trainer, composer, organist, and scholar. At the University of Kentucky, he concurrently earned Bachelor of Music with High Distinction and Master of Music degrees, being a student in the University Scholars Program. From Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano and choral conducting with further instruction in organ. He attended the Vancouver International Song Institute, where he was in the first class of apprentice pianists of their SONGFIRE theatre of artsong program. He conducted the Cincinnati Cathedral choir’s recording O Still, Small Voice of Calm (Pro Organo Records, 2010) and wrote a book on the development of Anglican evensong and modern interpretations of it (MorningStar Publishers, 2015). He is currently working on transcriptions and modern translations of late-medieval Sarum chant to be published in 2020 as an appendix to that. He has taught at such institutions as Elon University, the University of Dayton (Ohio), Earlham College (Indiana), and the University of Kentucky.

J.S.Bach. Italian Concerto, BWV 971

L.W.Beethoven. Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28, “Pastoral”

W.A. Mozart. Sonata No. 17 in B Flat Major, K 570

F. Mendelssohn. Variations sérieuses, Op. 54

Tickets $15/free for Academy students

Tickets $15/free for Academy students