Free | No ticket required

Ben Ferris DMA Bass Recital

Ben Ferris, bass
Jason Kutz, piano

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Ben Ferris is a bassist, composer and educator from Madison, WI. Ben performs regularly in the Midwest, especially with the Ben Ferris Trio, a creative music ensemble that focuses on new compositions by musicians in the band. His group the Ben Ferris Quintet released their debut album, “Home” in 2016 featuring original compositions by Ben and other members of the ensemble. He also leads the Ben Ferris Octet, a group that plays a diverse selection of jazz repertoire. Ben competed as a finalist in the 2017 International Society of Bassists Jazz Performance competition.

Ben is a founding member of “Mr Chair,” a contemporary ensemble of keyboard (Jason Kutz), percussion (Mike Koszewski) and electronic upright bass. As a sideman Ben performs with Darren Sterud, Nuggernaut (jazz-funk), The Jon Hoel Trio (original compositions with saxophone led trio), Gabe Burdulis Band (Nashville based original pop/rock music), as well as a number of performances in the classical, jazz, rock and contemporary music scenes.

A student of NEA Jazz Master Richard Davis, he graduated with a music-education degree from UW-Madison. He recently completed a Masters Degree in String Performance with Peter Dominguez at UW-Madison where he is currently pursuing a DMA in String Performance. Ben is the project assistant for the “Bridge Ensemble,” a combined string quartet and jazz quartet that travels to do clinics and performances in public schools.

As an educator, Ben teaches a studio of private bass students, and has taught K-12 general music, songwriting, strings and jazz ensembles in public schools for seven years. He is on the board of directors and faculty for the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists. More info can be found on his website, www.bferrisbass.com.

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General admission: $15
Students: Free (ticket required)

Mead Witter School of Music Guest Artist Series

Hein Jung, soprano
Grigorios Zamparas, piano

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Acclaimed for her “superior vocal value” (Boston Globe), soprano Hein Jung has performed in major cities throughout the US and Korea. These venues include Opera Tampa, Tanglewood Music Festival, San Francisco Opera Merola Program, Milwaukee Symphony, Madison Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, Bel Canto Chorus, Tampa Oratorios Singers. Equally beloved on the concert stage, Ms. Jung has performed recitals on such prominent series as Artist Series of Sarasota, University of Wisconsin Madison, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Se-Jong Art Hall and American Liszt Society Annual Festival. Last season (2015/16), Ms. Jung made her debut with The Florida Orchestra in both the Master Work Series and Coffee Concert Series. In the upcoming 2016-2017 season, she will be featured in concert with the Sarasota Concert Association, at the prestigious Kumho Recital Series in Seoul, South Korea, International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm, Sweden. Ms. Jung also looks forward to the release of her second CD, performing works by Rachmaninov with Centaur Records. Her recording of Songs of Franz Liszt, released by Centaur Records last year, was praised by American Record Guide: “Hein Jung has the perfect voice-terrific ease in her upper register and a silvery clear tone.”

Recognized as a versatile performer, Ms. Jung has delighted audiences in such varied repertoire as Zerbinetta(Ariadne auf Naxos), Die Königin der Nacht(Die Zauberflöte), Blanche(Dialogue des Carmelites), Romilda(Serse), Lucia(Rape ofLucretia), Sophie(Der Rosenkavalier), and Amina(La Sonnambula). On the concert stage, she has been heard as soloist in Messiah(Handel),The C minor Mass(Mozart), Lord Nelson Mass(Haydn), Gloria(Poulenc), Cantata BWV. 51 and 21(Bach), Bachianas Brazileiras No. 5(Villa-Lobos), Chants D’Auvergne(Canteloube) and Ch’io mi scordi di te, K.505(Mozart).

Praised as an advocate of contemporary music, Ms. Jung performed both the lead roles in the world premiere of Rage d’amour, commissioned by Tanglewood, as well as the lead role of Princess Pocachin in The Red Silk Thread, commissioned by University of Florida and Curtis Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Ms. Jung has won top prizes throughout her career. These include the Metropolitan Opera National Council Upper Midwest Region Audition (1^st place in Wisconsin District and 2^nd place in Upper Midwest Region), Irma Cooper International Competition (2^nd place), Schubert Competition (2^nd place) and Chicago Bel Canto Competition (2^nd place).

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Grigorios Zamparas has received critical acclaim for his versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician in Greece, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, former Yugoslavia, Russia, Latin America, South Korea and the US. He is a frequent guest at numerous festivals worldwide, having performed several times at the prestigious Newport Music Festival (Newport, RI), the Mainly Mozart Festival (Miami, FL), The Artist Series of Sarasota and The Salon of the Arts (Sofia, Bulgaria), among others.

He has been featured as a soloist in more than 20 different piano concertos with orchestras such as the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, Boston Neo-Politan Chamber Orchestra, Togliati Philharmonic (Russia), the Sofia Soloists (Bulgaria) and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic of the Czech Republic, to name a few. In May 2013 he gave two piano recitals in Vienna, Austria. At The University of Tampa he was the recipient of the Outstanding Scholarship or Creative Work Award for the 2010-2011 academic year. His recordings have been released by Centaur Records.

Free | No ticket required
Also streaming live

Hannah Gardner Senior Saxophone Recital

Hannah Gardner, Andrew MacRossie, Joshua Baker, Daniel Ripp, saxophone
Wade Troyer, piano

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Program

Wedding Day at Troldhaugen (1896)       Edvard Grieg/arr. Nicki Roman

Yes, No, Maybe? (2022)      Jennifer Higdon

Sonata in C# (1943)      Fernande Decruck
1. Très modéré
2. Noel
3. Fileuse
4. Nocturne et Rondel

Intermission 

Sonata (1972)       Robert Muczynski
I. Andante maestoso
II. Allegro energico

Tent of Miracles (1984)     Martin Bresnick

Grave et Presto (1938)    Jean Rivier
Featuring Andrew MacRossie, Daniel Ripp, Joshua Baker

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Hannah Gardner is a senior Saxophone Performance major under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Koester.

Free | No ticket required

Xinzhe Ning DMA Violin Recital

Xinzhe Ning, violin
Eric Tran, piano

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Program

Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 105          Robert Schumann

Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, Op. 13      Gabriel Fauré

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Currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, violinist Xinzhe Ning has been passionate and devoted to music throughout her career. Starting her violin training at the age of five, Ms. Ning studied with Professor Xiong Da Jiang, she was a member of the Beijing Sun Youth Orchestra from 2006 to 2015, she has performed chamber and orchestral works throughout China and the United States in the Forbidden City Concert Hall, the Beijing Concert Hall, the National Centre of the Performing Arts, and the Hamel Music Center. Being a member of the orchestra, she won the first prize in The Hong Kong International Chamber Music Competition in 2015.

Studies with Dr. Dawn Wohn at the Mead Witter School of Music, she had masterclasses with Martin Chalifour, Ronald Patterson, Rachel Barton Pine, Si Yan Darren Li, Katherine McLin, Helen Kim, Katie Kadarauch, and Barbara Bogatin. She was a recipient of the Lieber Violin Scholarship, Evert B. Person Scholarship, and Roxy Roth Scholarship. Ms. Ning was appointed as graduate teaching assistant of Professor Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2019, where she was pursuing her Master of Music degree. She served as assistant concertmaster of the university symphony for two years. In 2023, she was selected to produce the opera La Traviata with the UW-Madison School of Music musicians and vocalists.

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Riley Smith DMA Classical Guitar Recital

Morphy Recital Hall
Humanities Building

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Riley Smith, a native of Michigan, was introduced to the classical guitar at a young age and he quickly became enamored with the instrument. While in Michigan, Riley studied privately with Dr. Brad DeRoche. In 2016, Riley began his undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee under the tutelage of René Izquierdo. Riley received his MM from Columbus State University studying with Dr. Andrew Zohn. In 2022, Riley taught at Carver Elementary and Arts Magnet School as a full time guitar instructor. He is currently pursuing a DMA in guitar performance from the University of Wisconsin Madison, Studying under Javier Calderon.