The musicians in residence and Harriet Hale Woolley scholars are looking forward to seeing you in the Grand Salon on Sunday, May 12th for the penultimate Rendez-vous Musical of the season. This informal concert series is an opportunity for them to present the pieces they are working on, and for the audience to (re)discover classical, contemporary and sometimes even new compositions in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
The Program
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Bachianas Brasileiras No.5
Elias Rodriguez, clarinet & Sergio Herrera, guitar
Alexandre Delgado (1965-)
The Panic Flirt
Thomaz Tavares, flute
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Passacaglia
Nicole León, violin & Andrew Briggs, cello
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
After Suite No. 7 in G minor for Harpsichord
Nicole León, violin & Andrew Briggs, cello
Jörg Widmann (1973-)
Fantasy for solo clarinet
Elias Rodriguez, clarinet
The Musicians in Residence
Originally from Colorado, Andrew Briggs completed a master’s degree in cello performance at the prestigious Juilliard School. Open to all genres, he performs Baroque to contemporary style, and has had the opportunity to practice his talents internationally. Andrew has been a featured soloist at the Aspen Music Festival, the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, and the Holland Music Sessions; an Artist in Residence at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; a member of Axiom Contemporary Ensemble, the Madison Bach Musicians, and the Colorado Symphony; and a guest artist at music series in Chicago, New York, and Paris. Andrew is a recipient of the 2018-2019 Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship.
Sergio Herrera is a composer-guitarist currently based in Paris. He received his B.M. in Music composition and theory from Florida State University where he studied composition with Dr. Clifton Callender and jazz theory and arranging with Bill Peterson. During his time at Florida State, Sergio was a recipient of both the Presser Scholarship and the David Ward-Steinman undergraduate composition award. He has written for a wide variety of ensembles ranging from chamber to jazz big band. Distinguished by an ever evolving rhythmic vitality, Sergio’s music synthesizes elements of jazz and Latin-American music to create a uniquely personal compositional voice. Sergio has attended festivals such as the TALIS Music Festival in Switzerland and the EAMA Nadia Boulanger Academy in Paris where he worked with composers Miguel del Aguila and David Conte. Sergio was granted the Fondation des Etats-Unis Harriet Hale Woolley scholarship for the 2018-2019 academic year. He is currently studying harmony, composition, and musical interpretation with Narcis Bonet at the Schola Cantorum de Paris.
Clarinetist Elias Rodriguez made his national solo debut at the age of 16, after performing on a live broadcast of NPR’s « From the Top. » He has since appeared in international music festivals throughout the Americas and Europe, from the Grafenegg Festival in Austria to teaching masterclasses in Cali, Colombia. He is an alumnus of the New York based ensemble, «The Orchestra Now,» with which he has performed as a soloist on New York public radio, recorded a CD on Hyperion Records, and played a concert series at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City. Elias was awarded the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship and an artist residency at the Fondation Des États-Unis.
Thomaz Tavares Paes has been praised by the Virginia Gazette as having a “pure, direct sound, never wavering from the mission at hand and embracing the work’s lyrical and virtuoso demands.” A native New Yorker with Brazilian heritage, Thomaz Tavares completed his Bachelor’s degree in flute performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Thomas Robertello and is currently pursuing his diploma of superior execution at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris under the tutelage of international soloist Jean Ferrandis.
Guest Violinist
Violinist Nicole León has performed in concert halls throughout the United States and France, such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the United Nations, Salle Pleyel, Salle Cortot and the Philharmonie de Paris. She has also performed at prestigious music festivals such as the Perlman Music Program, the Aspen Music Festival, Music at Menlo, and the Fontainebleau Festival in France. Nicole holds degrees from the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Itzhak Perlman, and an Artist Diploma from the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP). During her studies, Nicole embarked on a three-year interdisciplinary project with the conservatory’s dance department to explore the link between music and dance. Nicole also recorded the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Paris Conservatory’s Laureate Orchestra. In 2016, Nicole won a tutti position with the Paris Chamber Orchestra.