Event Calendar & News: Faculty News

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Jazz Studies Area

Rick Roe, Instructor of Jazz Piano

Rick Roe, part-time jazz piano instructor at MSU since 2001, was appointed a full-time position as instructor of jazz piano. Roe has won first place in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and was twice a semifinalist in Thelonius Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. He has performed at the jazz festivals of: Savannah Onstage International Arts, Jacksonville, Detroit, Birmingham, Lansing, Flint, and Hawaii. Roe has served as an educator/clinician at the University of Arizona, North Texas University, University of Nevada, University of Michigan, and the Montreaux/ Detroit Jazz Festival. He has performed with Marcus Belgrave, Donald Walden, Frank Foster, Dwight Adams, and many others.

Sunny Wilkinson, Assistant Professor of Jazz Voice

Sunny Wilkinson, part-time jazz voice instructor at MSU since 1994, was appointed a full-time position as assistant professor of jazz voice. One of the most inventive and flexible singers of her generation, Wilkinson is a mischievous vocal stylist who loves to toy with rhythm and tonal color. Her wide range, marvelous intonation, effortless agility, and passion for what she sings make her a one-of-a-kind artist. Wilkinson has performed with the Count Basie Band, Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Mark Murphy, Milt Hinton, Marvin Stamm, Bill Mays, and Bill Watrous, among many others. Wilkinson performs regularly at jazz festivals and clubs across the country. She is co-founder of the Sisters in Jazz mentoring program, which has been implemented internationally through the International Association of Jazz Educators.

Keyboard Area

Marie-France Lefebvre, Assistant Professor of Piano

French-Canadian pianist Marie-France Lefebvre was appointed assistant professor of piano in August 2004. She served as diction coach, prompter and rehearsal pianist for the Washington Opera, and taught at the Curtis Institute prior to joining the MSU faculty. She has also worked with The Santa Fe Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Wolf Trap Opera, and Aspen Music Festival. In addition, she served as director of the Song Integration Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and taught at the University of Maryland. Lefebvre has won prizes in solo piano and chamber music at the Conservatoire du Québec, and has performed throughout Canada and the United States as soloist, chamber musician and accompanist. She holds a DMA from the University of Michigan and an M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music.

Panayis Lyras, Professor of Piano and Artist-In-Residence

Panayis Lyras was appointed professor of piano and artist-in-residence in August 2004. He won the silver medal in the 1981 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition; the silver medal in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Israel; the University of Maryland International Piano Competition; and the Three Rivers Piano Competition in Pittsburgh. Lyras has been seen and heard by millions of television viewers on PBS and the Arts and Entertainment Network. He has performed at various international venues, including the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California; Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City; and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He has performed with the Philadelphia, San Francisco, Minnesota and Dallas Orchestras, the Buffalo and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Boston Pops, among numerous other prestigious ensembles.

George Vatchnadze, Visiting Assistant Professor of Piano

George Vatchnadze was appointed visiting assistant professor of piano in August 2004. He has appeared with orchestras, in recitals, and at prominent festivals throughout the world. Live Broadcasts include Dutch National Radio, BBC, and NPR’s Performance Today. In 1999, Vatchnadze made his New York recital debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Recent engagements include several performances with the Kirov Orchestra at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater and London’s Covent Garden; London’s Wigmore Hall; and New York’s Miller Theater. Winner of numerous international piano competitions, Vatchnadze has won first prize at the 1998 Palm Beach invitational Competition, 1996 Alabama competition, and 1997 World Piano Competition; and fourth prize at 1994 Gina Bachauer Competition.

Music Education

Sandra Snow, Associate Professor of Music Education and Choral Conducting

Sandra Snow was appointed professor of music education and choral conducting in August 2004. Prior to her appointment, she served on the faculties of the University of Michigan and Northern Illinois University, and as music director of the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus. Her recent guest conducting engagements include the Pacific International Children’s Choir Festival in Eugene, Oregon; Treble Choir Symposium in Los Angeles; and Texas Music Educator’s All-State Women’s Choir. Snow edits the In High Voice choral music series for Boosey & Hawkes, and recently co-authored a chapter in the revised edition of the textbook, Dimensions of Musical Learning and Teaching.

Vocal Arts

Margaret Brand (Soprano), Instructor of Voice

Margaret (Peggy) Brand graduated Cum Laude from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Music in voice performance, where she studied with Virginia MacWatters and Walter Bricht. She also studied at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Germany and Austria, and then stayed in Germany on a guest contract with the Giessen Stadttheater. She is currently finishing up her Master of Fine Arts in voice from the University of Minnesota. She has sung with the Washington Opera Society, Atlanta Chamber Opera Society, and Minnesota Opera Company. When she resided in Minnesota, she performed with many musical organizations, including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Duluth Symphony, and Dale Warland Singers. She formerly served on the voice faculty at Carleton College (Northfield, MN) for 24 years.

Molly Fillmore (Mezzo-Soprano), Assistant Professor of Voice

Molly Fillmore was appointed assistant professor of voice (mezzo-soprano) in August 2004. She made her professional solo debut while still an undergraduate in Washington Opera’s world premiere of Dominick Argento’s The Dream of Valentino. She also sang six seasons as a principal soloist with the Cologne Opera, including the roles of Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi, and Ramiro in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. Audiences this past season saw her as Marguerite in La damnation de Faust with the Utah Symphony, as Carmen with the Eugene Opera, and on an all-Gershwin concert at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall. She is a former faculty member at the St. Alban’s School and the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C.

Richard Fracker, Assistant Professor of Voice (Tenor)

Richard Fracker was appointed assistant professor of voice (tenor) in August 2004. He has performed regularly in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, including nine seasons at New York’s Metropolitan Opera (MET), where he will appear in Turandot during the 2004-05 season. Fracker sang the leading role in Philip Glass’ The Voyage, also at the MET, and in the same composer’s Civil Wars, which premiered at Carnegie Hall. He has also appeared at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan, and on a concert tour in the People’s Republic of China with three other MET singers. Most recently Fracker sang a series of performances in Norway as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca.

Woodwinds

Caroline Hartig, Assistant Professor of Clarinet

Caroline Hartig was appointed assistant professor of clarinet in August 2004. She is an acclaimed clarinet soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. She has appeared with orchestras and contemporary ensembles in major concert halls including Carnegie Hall, where she made her solo debut in 1994. Widely recognized and sought after for her new-music collaborations, Hartig can be heard on the CD Dancing Solo, featuring her solo and chamber clarinet works of composer Libby Larsen. Her most recent CD, Clarinet Brilliante, was honored by the American Record Guide as a ‘Critic’s Choice.’ She has appeared at many national festivals and presented master classes nationally and internationally. Prior to joining MSU, she served as professor of clarinet at Ball State University.