Freeport, Grand Bahama – The Grand Bahama Performing Arts Society (GBPAS) proudly presents Trio con Brio on Saturday, January 22nd at the Church of Ascension at 8pm. “Brio” is Italian for “full of energy, life, enthusiasm”, and the show promises to deliver that and more with the three visiting musicians.
Participating cellist, Kenneth Law who is the Chair of the Performance Department, and Associate Professor of Violoncello at the Petrie School of Music of Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina gives these remarks, “I am excited to perform for the Grand Bahama Performing Arts Society and this will be my first trip to the Bahamas. As a community-minded musician, it is my privilege to help with such a dedicated non-profit organization. I am looking forward to performing with Christy Lee who has been a friend since college days. I’m also looking forward to making music with Christine, and what better way to make a new friend, than by playing chamber music? ”
Returning to Grand Bahama is pianist Dr. Christy Lee Assistant Professor at the College of the Bahamas in Nassau where she teaches piano, theory, and is Director of the COB Concert Choir. “I am eager to return to Freeport to perform again for the GB Performing Arts Society. It is exciting to see the growth that is happening in the artistic community in Grand Bahama. This concert should be a great opportunity to hear the unique and appealing combination of flute, cello and piano,” said Dr. Lee.
Law and Lee will be accompanied by Flutist Christine Gangelhoff, Associate Professor of Music at the College of The Bahamas in Nassau.
In addition to the concert, all 3 musicians will conduct a master class on Sunday the 23rd, also at the church. Information will be going out in the next few days to music schools and teachers, or people can contact us at gbperform@gmail.com if they would like to attend or participate.
A master class provides students a chance to learn first hand from a master in the field. Students can sign up to perform for the master teacher, who then works with them on technique and performance skills to improve their overall performance, all in front of an audience giving them a wonderful well rounded experience. Both students and teachers benefit tremendously from these classes, whether they participate or just watch. Local students as well as teachers are encouraged to take advantage of these classes.
Tickets on sale at Seventeen Shop, Antoni’s Pizza, and Island Java. The Society wishes to thank their sponsors for this event: American Airlines, Pelican Bay Hotel, The Bahamas Weekly and Keen i Media.
About Kenneth Law: Kenneth Law is Chair of the Performance Department, and Associate Professor of Violoncello at the Petrie School of Music of Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In addition to his participation in Ensemble Argos and the Converse Trio, he is a member of the Greenville (SC) Symphony, Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium, and principal cellist of the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Law has appeared nationally as soloist and recitalist.
Chamber music performances include appearances at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jazz at Lincoln Center Concert Series, and Alice Tully Hall in New York City. Mr. Law has also performed in England, France, Scotland, Panama and Puerto Rico as a member of the Converse Trio.
He has collaborated with such artists as Earl Carlyss (Juilliard String Quartet), Michael Tree (Guarneri Quartet), Ying String Quartet, Norman Carroll (concertmaster emeritus, Philadelphia Orchestra), Diane Monroe, and the late Samuel Baron, and has recorded orchestral and chamber music for the New Albion and Telarc labels. In March of 2006, Mr. Law was featured on the nationally televised NAACP Image Awards as a member of the Ritz Chamber Players. Mr. Law gave his first performance at the Piccolo Spoleto Music Festival as a member of the Converse Trio in the spring of 2008, and in the summers of 2009 and 2010 as a member of Ensemble Argos.
Mr. Law is in his 15th year of service to the Petrie School of Music, and is steadily increasing his reputation as a pedagogue. His pre-college and private students have been accepted to the Peabody and Oberlin Conservatories, Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University (Bloomington), Florida State University, and other respected schools of music in the southeast. He is a past president of the South Carolina Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and most recently he received the 2010 Studio Teacher of the Year Award from this organization.
Mr. Law received undergraduate and graduate degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music and Cleveland Institute of Music where his primary teachers were Paul Katz and Alan Harris, and a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory as a student of Stephen Kates. He was also a chamber music fellow at The Juilliard School. During the summer, Mr. Law serves on the faculty of the Five Seasons Chamber Music Festival in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and runs a Summer Cello Institute with cellists Brenda Leonard and Kathleen Foster.
About Dr. Chrisy Lee: Christy Lee is Assistant Professor at the College of the Bahamas in Nassau where she teaches piano, theory, and is Director of the COB Concert Choir. Dr. Lee holds the DM in Accompanying and Chamber Music from Florida State University where she was the recipient of the prestigious University Fellowship. She received the Bachelor of Music degree, magna cum laude, in piano performance from The University of Alabama and the Master of Music degree in collaborative piano from The Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was the recipient of the first Madame Gwendolyn Koldofsky Accompanying Award. She made her orchestral debut with the Jackson, TN, Symphony Orchestra as winner of the 1988 Mid-South Piano Concerto Competition.
In the world of opera, Dr. Lee has worked as pianist, coach, and assistant conductor at Opera Memphis, Chattanooga Opera, Pensacola Opera, Cleveland Opera, Lake Placid International Voice Seminar, Harrower Summer Opera Workshop, Pine Mountain Music Festival, and Dorian Opera Theatre. She made her conducting debut in Mozart, Flute of Heaven while serving as Music Director for the Vocal Arts Apprentice Program of Lyric Opera Cleveland in its 1996 Festival Season. Since 2003 she has been on the musical staff of La musica lirica, assisting in such productions as Donizetti’s Rita and Verdi’s Falstaff and performing in a variety of venues across the Marche region of Italy.
Dr. Lee has held academic appointments at The University of Tennessee, The Cleveland Institute of Music, Encore School for Strings, Delta State University, and Florida State University. She is active as a recitalist and a chamber musician. She was recently honored with the Brooks Smith Outstanding Alumni in Collaborative Piano Award from The Cleveland Institute of Music. Her recording of Belgian music for cello and piano with cellist Wesley Baldwin was recently released on the Centaur label. She spends her free time exploring the beautiful Bahamian Islands and studying Caribbean music.
About Christine Gangelhoff : Flutist Christine Gangelhoff has established her career through solo and chamber performances in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe. As an orchestral player, she has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Portland Ballet, and the Vancouver Island Symphony.
Her festival appearances include the Lake Winnipesaukee Festival (New Hampshire), the Sunriver Music Festival (Oregon), Sound Symposium (Newfoundland), Yale SMN (Serbia) and the Upper Midwest Flute Association (Minneapolis). She is heard on recordings with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Sunriver Music Festival in Sunriver, Oregon, and on the Lifescapes Label. Performances have been broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio, Oregon Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Centre, and Radio Novi Sad.
She holds degrees from the University of Minnesota, Yale University, and the University of North Texas. She has presented masterclasses and clinics in such places as Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, British Columbia, Newfoundland, Labrador, the Bahamas, Serbia, and Tonga. In addition to classical music, she has developed a strong and diverse base of knowledge in the area of non-western and popular music practices. She is currently researching Caribbean art music.
