JSS Saxophone Program to be Offered May 2011

We are pleased to have Grant Larson joining our faculty for the Junior Student Seminars this summer. With this talented addition to our faculty, we are able to broaden our offerings to include saxophone this summer. If you are a currently enrolled JSS student, you can now add saxophone as a secondary instrument in either session. It's not too late. New applications are now being accepted for saxophone (as well as a few other primary instrument areas that still have openings). Please forward this message to your saxophone-playing friends and help us spread the word!

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.

 

Rocky Ridge 2011 Summer Brochure Now Available

Now celebrating its seventieth season, Rocky Ridge Music Center has published and distributed the new 2011 Summer Programs brochure. The new brochure provides an overview of all seminars, faculty, and concerts scheduled for the 2011 summer season. 

The brochure features a handy calendar of activities for each of the intense summer months.

Copies were distributed to those on the Rocky Ridge mailing list. Additional copies have been posted around Estes Park and elsewhere and are available to anyone asking.

 

Karen Dusek Named Rocky Ridge
Administrative Manager

 

Rocky Ridge Music Center is pleased to introduce Karen Dusek who will begin her post as Administrative Manager on December 1st. Karen brings an infectious enthusiasm and experience as an arts administrator and a personal dedication to music education. In her prior position, she served as Program Director and clarinet teacher at the Parlando School of Music and the Boulder Arts Academy for over a decade. In her new role as Administrative Manager, she will work closely with the Director of the Center to manage operations including registrar, scheduling, communications, marketing, information management, and coordination of seasonal staff. Karen holds a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music and has performed as bass clarinetist with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra for 22 seasons. Please join us in welcoming Karen to the Rocky Ridge administrative team!

Rocky Ridge Music Center, founded in 1942 by pianist Beth Miller Harrod, is one of the oldest residential summer music programs in the country. It is located at the foot of Longs Peak (14,256 ft.) in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park. The historic Hewes-Kirkwood Inn and cabins on 17 acres with a stream provide a stunning backdrop for performances, practice, lessons, chamber music, reflection, dining, residence and friendships. Rocky Ridge summer programs for youth (ages 10 to 24) and adults are designed to improve and broaden musical skills in areas of strings, woodwinds, brass, piano and voice through solo, chamber, orchestral, and composition studies, all under the guidance of artist-faculty. 

(Announced November 18, 2010).

List item one

End of Summer
Piano Sale
Baker's Piano, Boulder, CO

 

 

 

Baker's Piano provided Rocky Ridge Music Center with numerous grand and vertical pianos this past season.  These were used in the 2010 summer season and are now available for sale starting September 9th at

Baker's Piano Center,
3111 Walnut St.
Boulder, CO 80303

 

All pianos will have complete warranties and include Baker's full service prep, delivery and tuning in the home.  If you are interested in investing in a piano, this would be a great opportunity to get an exceptional value, and at the same time help to maintain this very beneficial relationship between Baker's and Rocky Ridge.

For more information on what is available, contact Paul Jarvis at Baker's Piano Center, 303-449-3177 or his cell 303-931-7809.

In addition to the pianos used at Rocky Ridge, Baker's has a stock of over 100 new and used pianos starting under $1000.

 

2010 JSS2
Concerto Competition Winners

 

Violinist Sofya Norman as the winner of the 2010 Junior Student Session 2 (JSS2) Concerto Competition held August 10.  Sofya, a 13 year old student of Ruth Engle Larner of Fort Collins, Colorado, gave a winning performance of Concerto in A minor, op. 104 no. 9, by De Beriot. This is Sofya's first year at Rocky Ridge, where she studies with Philip Wharton.

Two students received honorable mentions for their inspired performances: 13 year old pianist Antonia Rohlfing for her performance of Concerto no. 2 in F Major by Shostakovich, and 13 year old violinist Alexi Whitsel of Longmont, Colorado, for his performance of Mendelssohn's Concerto in E minor, op. 64. Antonia studies piano with Karen Boe and Gloria Chuang and cello with Lawrence Levinton in Madison, Wisconsin, and Alexi studies violin with Catherine Limon in Longmont, Colorado.

Sofya was one of fourteen outstanding contestants to sustain the high artistic standards of Rocky Ridge. Accompanied by James Welch, the young musicians performed before fellow students and all Rocky Ridge faculty.

Sofya will perform with an orchestra comprised of faculty, staff, and top students conducted by maestro Amir Kats during the JSS2 Final Concert, Sunday August 15 at 10:30 a.m. The concert, held at the picturesque Rocky Ridge campus, will be free and open to the public and will include the Rocky Ridge wind ensemble conducted by Claudia Anderson, student choir conducted by Helen Ihasz, and the student orchestra conducted by Maestro Kats. Along with other traditional works, Kats will also conduct a prize-winning work by 16-year-old Minneapolis composer Chris Neiner, and the world premiere of a group composition project by all the students currently in JSS2.

 

2010 YAS
Concerto Competition Winners

Winners of the 2010 YAS Concerto Competition are: (from left to right), Luke Swanger, Carol Tsai, Simon Berry, Minda Cowen, Aurora DePaul, Ben Pfeil, and Jason Weisinger.  Primary winners are Jason Weisinger, tenor, with Donizetti's Quanto e bella, quanto e cara/ Una furtiva lagrima; Carol Tsai, cello, with Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations Op 33; Simon Berry, flute, with Ibert's Flute Concerto Mvt 3; and Aurora DePaul, soprano, with Puccini's Si Mi chiamano Mimi and Donde Lieta from La Boheme. 

Honorable mentions went to Luke, Minda, and Ben (unranked). 

Student performances will be held for Jason and Carol on July 17 @ 3 p.m. and for Aurora and Simon on July 31 @ 3 p.m.

 

2010 JSS1
Concerto Competition Winners

Rocky Ridge Music Center is proud to announce pianist Jessica Schwartz as the winner of the 2010 Junior Student Session 1 Concerto Competition. Jessica, a 14 year old student of Naoko Takao and Mikhail Volchok of Great Falls, Virginia, gave a winning performance of the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in c minor, Op. 37.

Four students received honorable mentions for their inspired performances: tied for first honorable mention are Ben Nead (student of Mary Beth Tyndall, Tucson, AZ) and Mary Bleile (student of Beth Root Sandvoss, Calgary, Canada); second honorable mention is Andrew Peeples (student of Richard Slavich, Thornton, CO), and third honorable mention is Danielle Schwartz (student of Irena Orlov, Great Falls, VA).

Jessica was one of twelve outstanding contestants who set a high artistic standard for the summer. Accompanied by James Welch, the young musicians performed before fellow students and all Rocky Ridge Faculty
.
Jessica's debut performance as a featured soloist with orchestra will take place Sunday June 27 at 11am. The concert, held at the picturesque Rocky Ridge campus, will be free and open to the public. This is Jessica's fourth year at Rocky Ridge, where she studies with Catherine Herbener.