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  10th Anniversary Celebration

  Soprano Susan Young is a faculty member of the University of Victoria School of Music. In addition to her teaching, she maintains a demanding performance schedule. She has performed in Canada, the United States, Spain, France and Austria. Educated as both pianist (B Mus Brigham Young University) and singer (M Mus University of Calgary), she is known for the diversity of her skills, and though her first and enduring love is the art song, she is equally at home singing Bach cantatas, Verdi's Requiem, Schœnberg's Pierrot Lunaire, or more recent chamber works by Canadian composers such as Christopher Butterfield and Douglas Schmidt. She is also sought after as a choral conductor, clinician and adjudicator and loves nothing more than to be involved in the performance of good music. Pianist Bruce Vogt, ARCT (Toronto), B Mus (Western Ontario), M Mus (Toronto), has been teaching at the University of Victoria since 1980. He appears regularly in concert and on the CBC within Canada, but he has also inspired audiences in England, the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Japan and China. Born in southern Ontario, Bruce Vogt completed his initial studies with his mentor Damjana Bratuz at the University of Western Ontario. Later, he studied in the United States, England, Switzerland and Italy as well as in Canada. His repertoire encompasses music from the sixteenth century to the present. As well as his active solo career, he has enjoyed chamber music and partnerships with singers throughout his professional life. Susan and Bruce have enjoyed a fruitful musical collaboration for over 20 years. Together they have presented numerous "specialty" concerts of works by Schubert, Liszt, Debussy, Poldowski, Hindemith and Schoœnberg, and have amassed a huge repertoire from the works of other composers: Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Alfred Fisher, Harry Somers, John Weinzweig, Benjamin Britten, Lili Boulanger, Richard Strauss and Johannes Brahms, to name but a few.

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  • Price: 30.54 EUR excl. shipping
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  Coast Road

  A musician, teacher and promoter, it would be no exaggeration to say that Karen Ryan lives and breathes traditional Irish music. Born in London to Galway and Mayo parents, it was a strong Connemara tradition of melodeon players and traditional singers on her mother's side that initially fired her love of the music. Karen started playing music at the age of nine, taught by the North Leitrim musician Tommy Maguire at the London Irish Centre, where she herself now teaches. It was here that she met lifelong friends and fellow fiddle players, Elaine Conwell and Teresa Connolly (née Heanue), with whom she won the under 12 Trio competition at the All-Ireland Fleadh in 1985. 'That a London style of traditional Irish music has evolved from the 1960s to the present day, is generally accepted worldwide. The product of great immigrant musicians from all parts of Ireland getting together. Goodwill and good will music being foremost at the London sessions. Listening to Karen's recording of 'The Coast Road' deos great justice to these musicians past and present. Sweet and neat would not be a sufficient description of this no leass than great recording. Musical sincerity and a yearning for the fifth dimension comes to mind. Well done, Karen and Pete and guests.' - Danny Meehan, musician. Karen was fortunate to hone her musical skills through playing with a vast array of musicians in the vibrant London Irish session scene and during frequent visits to musical gatherings in Ireland and the US. Whilst gleaning much from all these players she cites Brian Rooney, Brendan McGlinchey, Danny Meehan and the recordings of Andy McGann as having the most influence on her fiddle playing. 'Karen Ryan is one of our great musicians here in London. Lucky for me, I've known her since she was a little girl playing whistle and bangjo but as she got older she favored the fiddle which she plays in her very popular band, The London Lasses. Karen plays with fluency, great control and beautiful tone, listening to her playing reminds me of when me and my siblings were young - we used to play football but when we got tired we used to sit by the stream which ran at the back of the house and listen to the water flowing. I think that's the best way to describe her beautiful, flowing music.' - Brian Rooney, musician. As a founder member of the renowned traditional Irish six-piece, The London Lasses and Pete Quinn, Karen has performed at some of the world's most prestigious festivals and concert halls, including the Royal Albert Hall, where the band performed the first ever BBC Proms céilí in 2008. The band have recorded four albums to date. 'This is a lovely CD from Karen displaying her numerous skills on a variety of instruments. She has a personal style with strong, rhythmical, expressive tones. Karen is one of the legacy of the great immigrant musicians of the 1950s and 1960s to England. She also carries on the teaching tradition of Tommy Maguire and Breandan Mulkere. Hundreds of young people have benefited from her teaching skills, taking part successfully in Fleadh Britain and Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. Irish traditional music is safe in her hands.' - Brendan McGlinchey, musician. Whether as a teacher with Meitheal Cheoil in north London, a workshop leader or an adjudicator both in the UK and overseas, Karen continues to pass on the tradition to both young and old.

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  • Price: 15.48 EUR excl. shipping
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  Portrait of a Trumpet

  Richard Byrd is an acclaimed musician in the central Kentucky region and frequently performs music from classical to jazz. His classical experiences include performing with the Indianapolis Symphony, the West Virginia and Lexington Philharmonic Orchestras, the Opera of Central Kentucky, and the Lexington Brass Band. During his tenure with the Lexington Brass Band he was a featured soloist for the band's England tour in 2000. Byrd has performed with several prominent jazz artists, including Doc Severinsen, Allen Vizzutti, Maynard Ferguson, Byron Stripling, Louie Bellson, Bob Mintzer, James Moody, Take 6, and the Manhattan Transfer. Other jazz experiences include work in studio recording, several regional big bands, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and shows with such artists as Robert Goulet, Rosemary Clooney, Frankie Valle, Lou Rawls, Loretta Lynn, and Carol Channing. His lead trumpet abilities with the DiMartino-Osland Jazz Orchestra (DOJO) are showcased on their CDs entitled 'Off the Charts' and 'Quotient', and with the Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra on their CD entitled 'Flying Home.' He has also appeared on the Kentucky Educational Television's broadcast of 'In the Mood: The Big Band Era in the Bluegrass' with DOJO and 'Ellington and Beyond with Louie Bellson' with the Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra. After receiving his Bachelor's degree in trumpet performance at DePauw University, Byrd earned both his Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Music Theory from the University of Kentucky. During his doctoral studies he was awarded the prestigious Dissertation Year Fellowship for his research on the solo and chamber music of Fisher A. Tull. Byrd is Professor of Music at Easten Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. He has gained a prominent reputation among schools in the Commonwealth as a private brass teacher. Many of his students have won awards, performed as soloists with several bands and orchestras, and won competitions, including the International Trumpet Guild and the National Trumpet Competitions. He is also active as an adjudicator and clinician. He has been a full-time artist-in-residence with the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts since 1989 and serves as the Chair of the Instrumental Music Division and the Dean of Faculty.

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  • Price: 25.63 EUR excl. shipping

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