Woodwinds Faculty
Claudia Anderson - flute (YAS, JSS1 JSS2)
CLAUDIA ANDERSON is known for her originality and brilliance as a solo and chamber music performer across the U.S. She is a founding member of the innovative flute duo ZAWA! and of New Prairie Camerata, a chamber initiative that showcases a community’s historical and architectural gems through performance and stimulates community participation. A Fulbright scholar to Italy, Ms. Anderson was subsequently principal flute of the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo in Palermo. She is presently principal flute with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony in Iowa, a guest artist and clinician at many colleges and music series around the country, and on the faculty of Grinnell College. She serves also as flute faculty and program director during the summers at Rocky Ridge Music Center (www.rockyridge.org).
Equally at home in both the standard and contemporary repertoire, Dr. Anderson has commissioned and arranged works for solo and duo format and has moved into composition more recently. Writing about artistry in flute playing and chamber music as community is a current passion, as well as riding her Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. Other faculty positions have included the Universities of Iowa and Northern Iowa, Ithaca College and the University of California at Santa Barbara. National Flute Association positions have included Coordinator for the Chamber Music Competition and adjudicator for HS Soloist, Young Artist, and Convention Performers Competitions. Claudia’s artistic and pedagogical inspiration came from the following great artists who were her teachers: Severino Gazzelloni, Thomas Nyfenger, Geoffrey Gilbert, William Bennett, and Peter Lloyd. Her recorded solo and duo performances can be found on the Centaur, Neuma and CRI labels. Her solo CD, American Flute (Centaur, 1994), was awarded five stars from Classical Pulse. Duo CDs include ZAWA! (Neuma, 2001), ZAWA2 (ZawaMusic, 2006) and Duos for Flute and Oboe (Centaur, 2005).
Kassey Plaha started her musical studies at the age of 11 in New Mexico and by 13 she was awarded a full college scholarship to New Mexico State University as a promising young talent. Ms. Plaha is an accomplished soloist and chamber musician, and has won several national and regional competitions including the National Flute Association Masterclass Performers Competition and the Leni Febland Competition.
In June 2003 Kassey graduated from University of California at Santa Barbara with a Master of Music, where she was the Flute Studio Teaching Assistant and studied with Jill Felber, internationally acclaimed soloist and chamber musician of ZAWA! Her other teachers include Tadeu Coelho, Valerie Potter, Jenny Kreuger and Claudia Anderson, and also holds a B.M. from the University of New Mexico. Kassey is an avid supporter of new works and has been involved in several commissioning projects for various chamber music combinations. She has been a performer at several National Flute Conventions and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. Students from Plaha Flute Studios has won numerous solo and chamber music competitions on national, Southwestern regional, New Mexico state, and California state levels in addition to holding high ranking positions in youth symphonies across the San Francisco Bay Area. Kassey has a full private flute studio in Mountain View and Saratoga of the San Francisco Bay Area. For full bio, please visit www.kassey.com
Recognized for his flexible tone and warm, singing style, Peter Cooper is in demand as a soloist and teacher in Asia, Europe and the United States. Principal oboist of the Colorado Symphony since 1993 and faculty member at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Cooper also held positions as associate principal oboist of the San Francisco Symphony and principal oboist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. A strong believer in expanding the solo repertoire for the oboe, Cooper has commissioned and premiered five oboe concertos. In 2000 he premiered David Mullikin’s Oboe Concerto with the Colorado Symphony and recorded it in 2001 with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in London for Summit Records. This disc also includes Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto.
In its review of this CD, BBC Music Magazine praised Cooper as, “a first rate soloist.” In addition to this recording, Cooper previously recorded Swiss composer Heinrich Schweizer’s Oboe Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He also premiered concertos by Bill Douglas and Gregory Walker with the Colorado Symphony, and Chen Gang’s Oboe Concerto with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. In 2010 the Shanghai Philharmonic invited him to Shanghai to perform Chen Gang’s Oboe Concerto as part of the Shanghai International Arts Festival. . In 2000 Summit Records released Cooper’s Whispers of the Past, a collaboration recording with harpist Marcia LaBella that garnered critical acclaim. Classical London Magazine lauded the CD as “a well recorded disc with stylish and charming performances,” and the American Record Guide critic stated, “Mr. Cooper has my favorite type of oboe sound: sweet, not too harsh, no sharp edges, just a melting soft pastoral tone.” Excerpts from Whispers of the Past are frequently heard on National Public Radio. Invited to perform as guest principal oboist with many noted ensembles, Cooper frequently plays with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, including tours and recordings. Others noted ensembles with which he has performed as guest principal oboist include the Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, Milwaukee and San Diego symphonies, and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
A prizewinner in the Tokyo International Oboe Competition, he performed as soloist with orchestras in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and England, as well as with the San Francisco Symphony. He has been a frequent soloist with the Colorado Symphony. In 1988 he played the first performance of the Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto in China with the Central Philharmonic in Beijing. He has coached and toured with the Asian Youth Orchestra in the Far East and the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Since 2001, he has performed as principal oboist of the Grand Teton Music Festival, and he has performed as principal oboist in the Oregon Bach Festival, St. Barth Music Festival, El Paso Chamber Music Festival and Strings in the Mountains. Cooper plays on oboe made by Marigaux, Paris, Marigaux has sponsored him in a series of master classes and recitals in the United States and overseas in Hong Kong, Japan and China. A 1981 graduate of Northwestern University, Peter Cooper studied with Ray Still and Gladys Elliot.
Rebecca Mindock - oboe (JSS1 & JSS2)
Rebecca Mindock (Oboe, D.M.A., M.M., University of Colorado-Boulder, B.M., College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia) is the Assistant Professor of Double Reeds at the University of South Alabama, and formerly served on the faculties of Texas A&M University-Kingsville and the University of Colorado-Boulder. Dr. Mindock is currently principal oboist of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and plays English horn and oboe with the Victoria Symphony in Texas. She has also performed with the Mobile Symphony, the Meridian Symphony, the Pensacola Symphony, the Corpus Christi Ballet Orchestra, the Kingsville Symphony Orchestra, the Boulder Bach Festival, the Denver Philharmonic, the Fort Collins Symphony, the Longmont Symphony, the Western Nebraska Chamber Players, Colorado Mahlerfest, and the Colorado Symphony. Rebecca's website is at: http://rebeccamindock.com/
Jason Lichtenwalter - oboe, English horn (YAS)
Jason joined the Colorado Symphony in 2002 as oboist/Solo English hornist. Prior positions include Acting Principal Oboe with the Dallas Opera Orchestra as well as Associate Principal/2nd Oboe with the Honolulu Symphony. He has performed frequently with the Fort Worth Symphony and, since 1998, has held the English horn chair with the Britt Festival Orchestra. As a soloist, he has been featured on oboe, oboe d’amore, and English horn.
He received performance degrees/honors from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with James Caldwell and Richard Killmer, respectively.
Jerome Greyson Fleg has played as a freelance, chamber, and orchestral clarinetist throughout the United States, Europe and South America. He is currently principal clarinet of the Wyoming Symphony, Boulder Chamber Orchestra and the Antero Winds, and plays clarinet/bass clarinet with the Central City Opera. Mr. Fleg has toured as the principal clarinet with the Mantovani Orchestra and has played with the Colorado Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic, Ft. Collins Symphony, Gettysburg Symphony, and Columbia Symphony Orchestra. His performances have included many venues such as Carnegie Hall, and he has worked with many musicians such as Grammy award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch.
Mr. Fleg is currently on the faculty of the University of Wyoming. He has presented master-classes and clinics throughout the country and abroad at places such as the University of Kansas, Iowa State University, Archipelago Summer Festival and Carleton College. Jerome has been featured as an adjudicator in competitions such as the National MTNA Competition, Aurora Symphony Concerto Competition, and Colorado Youth Symphony Concerto Competition. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in clarinet performance and music education from the Peabody Conservatory and a Master's degree in clarinet performance from the University of Northern Colorado. His principal teachers have included: Bil Jackson, Andy Stevens, Mark Nuccio, Steven Barta, Dan Silver and Bill Welty.
As a member of the Antero Winds (wind quintet), Mr. Fleg won 1st Prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and silver medal in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The group has also participated residencies with the Aspen Music Festival and the FESNOJIV Youth Orchestra Program in Venezuela. This ensemble has recently performed in New York, Minnesota, and Venezuela and has upcoming concerts in Canada, New Mexico, and throughout Colorado. The Antero Winds have been described as “an inspiring young quintet of young musicians that exude energy.”
Mr. Fleg has received awards such as the 1st place in the University of Northern Colorado Orchestra Concerto Competition, “Best Should Teach” silver award from the University of Colorado, Dean's Scholarship from the University of Northern Colorado, and the "Martha and William Bill" Memorial Prize at the Peabody Conservatory. Also an avid conductor, Mr. Fleg is the conductor of Colorado Youth Symphony's Philharmonia Wind Ensemble, assistant conductor of their Philharmonia Orchestra, and has served as conductor for the Archipelago Music Festival.
David Shea currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Clarinet at
Texas Tech University, and is also principal clarinet in the Abilene
Philharmonic and Lubbock Symphony Orchestras. He has earned degrees from
the Oberlin Conservatory (BM), the University of Illinois (MM) and Indiana
University (DM). His teachers have been Howard Klug, Lawrence McDonald,
Eli Eban, James Campbell and Ronald Phillips.
Shea has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Brazil and Chile. As a member of Trio Montecino, he recently toured in Belgium, Germany, and the United States to promote the release of their second CD, Nuevo Sonido: Latin- American Trios, which is available on the Eroica Classical Recordings label (http://www.eroica.com/triomont-music.html). Shea has performed at the International Clarinet Association Clarinetfests in Chicago, Columbus, Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Kansas City, as well as the OU Clarinet Symposium, University of Montevallo Clarinet Symposium and most recently, at Klarinetstage, Belgium. Shea was a finalist in the Boosey and Hawkes North American Clarinet Competition and was a concerto competition winner at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Colorado Springs Summer Music Festival.
In addition to his solo and chamber music performances, Shea has performed as an orchestral musician with the Indianapolis Symphony, Fort Wayne Symphony, Columbus Philharmonic, Champaign-Urbana Symphony and the Sinfonia de Camera. He has also been involved in numerous CD recording projects for Crystal, Naxos, Delos, Opus One, Indiana University Recordings and Hal Leonard Productions where he worked with such artists as Eugene Rousseau and the Indiana Clarinet Trio.
As a teacher, Shea has given master classes throughout the US and South America. He has been invited twice to teach as a sabbatical replacement at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He has also participated in a Big 12 Fellowship grant with Dan Silver at UC-Boulder, where innovative teaching pedagogies were discussed and demonstrated during week-long residencies at both campuses. In 2005, Shea was awarded the Texas Tech University President's Excellence in Teaching Award, and most recently, was inducted into the Texas Tech University Teaching Academy.
David Shea is a Buffet-Crampon USA Performing Artist and is the Texas State Chair for the International Clarinet Association.
Kaori Uno - bassoon ( YAS, JSS1, JSS2)
Kaori Uno is currently pursuing her Artist Diploma in Bassoon Performance at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received her Master of Music degree at University of Colorado at Boulder, and graduated from the Aichi Prefecture University of Fine Arts and Music in Japan as one of four outstanding graduating seniors in the class of 2003. Her principal teachers include Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, Ryohei Nakagawa, Yoshiaki Aotani and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi.
Kaori has performed nationally and internationally as both soloist and chamber musician, earning many awards and much recognition including the Honor Competition at the University of Colorado (2004 and 2007), fifth of 137 bassoonists at the 24th Japan Wind and Percussion Competition in 2007, and a finalist in the Tsuyama Japan International Double Reed Competition in 2003.
Kaori was a member of the Arundo Winds, the award-winning graduate woodwind quintet at the University of Colorado, from 2004-2008. While she was a member, Arundo won first prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and a silver medal in the wind division of the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In 2008 the Arundo Winds was a semifinalist of "Le Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon" in France. Also they participated outreach programs at Venezuela in 2006. In the summer of 2008, former Arundo members formed the “Antero Winds” as a professional woodwind quintet based in Boulder, CO. Their upcoming recitals include a New York City debut in January ‘09, Carleton College in Minnesota in May ’09, and many outreach concerts and recitals in Colorado. For more information, please visit www.anterowinds.net
Kaori participated in the National Repertory Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and School, Kyoto International Music Student Festival, and the Colorado Mahler Fest Orchestra. As a member of the Japanese Double Reed Society bassoon ensemble, she performed at the conference of the 2001 International Double Reed Society in West Virginia. Kaori has also performed in a bassoon octet at the fifth Tokyo Double Reed Festival in 2002.
Grant Larson - saxophone (JSS1, JSS2)
Grant Larson obtained his Master of Music degree in Saxophone Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder; and his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Performance at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. As a student at both of those institutions, Larson won numerous competitions that allowed him to make solo appearances with the Concordia College Band, the Concordia College Orchestra, and the University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
Grant Larson has served on the faculty at Concordia College, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Boulder Arts Academy. He has performed on stage with notable artists such as Art Lande, Brad Goode, Johannes Weidenmueller, Peter Erskin, Ray Charles, Gregg Bissonette, and Ignacio Berroa. Larson has studied saxophone with Tom Myer, Peter Sommer, Russell Peterson, Ron Wray, and oboe with Jennifer Peterson. Grant is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Saxophone Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
A Rocky Ridge Day
