September Breezes - Woodwind Quintet
Saturday, September 23
7:30-9:00 PM
$20 ($15 for MAC Members)
Program:
Umoja by Valerie Coleman
Quintet No. 2 Four Winds by Elaine Fine
Cape May Breezes by Daniel Dorff
~Intermission~
Quintet by Paul Taffanel
Performers:
MARTINA ADAMS
Martina Adams has performed with The Florida Orchestra, the Philly POPS, the York Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony in C. She has toured Italy as principal horn with the Philadelphia All-City Orchestra and has performed with the multi-national classical crossover vocal group Il Divo and punk band The Bouncing Souls. Mrs. Adams has appeared on FOX 29’s Good Day Philadelphia and on WRTI radio. She was accepted to the AIMS Graz in 2020 and has attended the Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Horn Workshop, the Csehy Summer School of Music, Curtis Summerfest, the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, and the Philadelphia International Music Festival. She has been working at the Philadelphia International Music Festival since 2018 in different roles, and has been their Orchestra Program Director since 2021.
Mrs. Adams holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Temple University, where she studied with Jeffrey Lang. She started to play horn at age nine and studied with William Bonnell at Settlement Music School. In the Spring of 2023 she received her Master’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with both Jennifer Montone and Jeffrey Lang.
RICK BARRANTES
Rick Barrantes Agüero is the Principal Bassoon and President of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Chamber Orchestra and holds faculty positions at the Community Music Scholars Program at Temple University, The Music School of Delaware, and The Philadelphia Orchestra All-City Fellowship. A 1st Prize Winner of the COFCAM Püchner Competition, he has played as a soloist with the New Jersey Chamber Orchestra, Delaware Youth Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Sinfonia, GGS Chamber Orchestra, and Youth Orchestra of Guatemala.
Mr. Barrantes regularly appears as a guest bassoonist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, APEX Ensemble, and Symphony in C. He has also previously played with the York Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Toronto Concert Orchestra, Niagara Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica.
Additionally, he appeared as principal bassoon with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (Switzerland), AIMS Festival Orchestra (Austria), Brevard Music Center Institute, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and Youth Orchestra of Central America. Passionate about teaching young musicians, Mr. Barrantes previously served as bassoon teacher at the SiNEM (El Sistema) Costa Rica, School of Symphonic Music of Pérez Zeledón, and ANC Young Music Camp in Panama City.
He has also guest taught at the Interlochen Arts Camp, the University of Delaware, the University of the Pacific, the Guaranda International Music Festival (Ecuador), and the National Music Conservatory (Honduras). Mr. Barrantes earned degrees from the National Music Institute of Costa Rica, the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and Temple University in Philadelphia. He is currently working on his Doctor of Musical Arts at Temple University, majoring in bassoon performance and minoring in orchestral conducting. His main teachers include William Short, Danny Matsukawa, and Glenn Einschlag.
MARY ROBINSON
Mary Robinson, a South Jersey native, earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Oboe Performance from Houghton College (nka Houghton University) and Temple University, respectively. She won the Greatbatch School of Music Presidential Scholarship as an entering freshman and the music Presser Scholarship during her junior year in Houghton. At Temple University, she studied oboe and English horn with Jonathan Blumenfeld while performing in a variety of area ensembles and gigs. After graduating, Mary moved to NC where she served as principal oboe of the Chapel Hill Philharmonia and Raleigh Civic Orchestra. Upon returning to NJ, she studied with Pedro Diaz and recently performed in a masterclass with Julia Del Rosa at Montclair State University. Mary currently enjoys musical opportunities with friends and in churches on oboe and piano.
BETH VILSMEIER
Beth Vilsmeier is a graduate of the University of the Arts where she studied with Guido Mecoli. Following graduation, she continued her studies with Anthony Gigliotti. Ms. Vilsmeier taught instrumental and choral music in high schools throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for fifty years while maintaining an active performing career. Currently, she is Principal Clarinetist with Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, Main Line Symphony Orchestra, Warminster Symphony, Wilmington Ballet, and the Doylestown symphonic Winds and maintains a busy private teaching schedule.
FAITH WASSON
Faith Wasson is an international performing artist, having performed throughout Europe and North America as an orchestral, chamber musician, and soloist. She is currently the piccolo/3rd flutist with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra. She also manages her own monthly chamber music series entitled, Flute with Faith & Friends, featuring an array of diverse repertoire and instrumentation. She teaches flute, piccolo and chamber music online and at her home in Glenside, PA. www.flutewithfaith.com