Featuring 3rd Coast Brass with Mark Fisher, conductor
To celebrate Chamber Music on the Fox’s 10th Anniversary season, 3rd Coast Brass will be paying tribute to the legacy of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Conducted by brass legend Mark Fisher, the program includes the Elgar Howarth arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as well as Gunther Schuller’s Symphony for Brass and Percussion. This epic assemblage of eighteen of the finest brass and percussion musicians in the Chicago area is a concert not to be missed!
Program
Overture to Dancer in the Dark …… Björk Guðmundsdóttir (1965 – )
Symphony for Brass and Percussion…… Gunther Schuller (1925—2015)
I. Andante— Allegro— Andante
II. Vivace
III. Lento desolato
IV. Quasi cadenza— Allegro
– INTERMISSION–
Pictures at an Exhibition.….. Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881); arrangement by Elgar Holwarth (1935 –)
- Promenade I
- Gnomus
- Promenade II
- The Old Castle
- Promenade III
- The Tuilerie Garden
- Bydło
- Promenade IV
- Ballet of Chicks in their Shells
- Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle
- Promenade V
- The Weekly Market at Limoges
- Catacombs (Catacombæ – sepulchrum romanum)
- With the Dead in a Language Dead (con mortuis in lingua morta)
- Baba Yaga
- The Great Gate of Kiev
3rd Coast Brass
Trumpets:
Michael Brozick
William Denton
David Inmon
Rebecca Oliverio
Scott Quackenbush
Zack Thomas
Horns:
Jeremiah Frederick
Samuel Hamzem
Momoko Hasselbring
Renée Vogen
Trombones:
Jeremy Moeller
Adam Moen
Bass Trombone:
Mark Fry
Euphonium:
Alex Ertl
Tuba:
Matthew Gaunt
Andy Smith
Percussion: Michael Folker
Timpani: Robert Everson
Artist Biographies
(click each title below to read)
Mark Fisher
Mason City, Iowa native Mark Fisher is Assistant Principal Trombonist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and is just recently retired from the Santa Fe Opera, where he served as Principal Trombonist for 31 seasons. He has performed with virtually every major ensemble in Chicago and as substitute with many of the nation’s leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony.
Fisher has performed as soloist and conductor at several international trombone conferences, and has given world premiere performances of solo trombone works by composers Rob Deemer, Phil Snedecor and John Stevens. He has served on the board of advisors for the International Trombone Association. Also an accomplished euphonium soloist, Fisher has been the top prize winner of both the ITEC (formerly T.U.B.A.) Senior Euphonium Division Solo Competition and the WAMSO Young Artists Competition. His WAMSO prize included a solo performance with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Pinchas Zukerman. His solo euphonium CD Eufish continues to meet with worldwide acclaim.
In addition to his long association with the award-winning Asbury Brass Quintet, Fisher is the founder and director of the Chicago Trombone Consort, one of the world’s leading trombone ensembles. Fisher has been a regular performer with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Music of the Baroque. He performs annually on trombone and euphonium with the Chicago Symphony Brass Section during their December concerts.
Head of the trombone department at DePaul University, Fisher has presented recitals and masterclasses throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada and Japan. Mark’s students include members of many symphony orchestras throughout North America, numerous international competition winners, Fulbright Scholars, college and public school music teachers, and arts administrators. He has served on the trombone faculties of Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, Northern Illinois University and the Banff International Festival, as well as visiting professor of euphonium at the University of Michigan. Mr. Fisher is an honors graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and the New England Conservatory of Music.
Trumpets
Michael Brozick
Mike Brozick is the Second Trumpet of the Grant Park Orchestra and a member of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, and the principal trumpet of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Milwaukee Symphony, and Music of the Baroque. He has recorded Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Chicago Symphony and Richard Strauss’ Elektra, Suite from the Opera with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has performed on the Pittsburgh Symphony’s European tour throughout Spain and in Vienna’s Musikverein. As a chamber musician he is a member of the International Chamber Artists, 3rd Coast Brass, and has performed live on Chicago’s classical music radio station WFMT.
Mr. Brozick earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Duquesne University and a Master of Music in performance from Rice University and was a Fulbright Fellow studying at the Stätliche Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany. Mike is an active recitalist and has been featured as a soloist with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, New Philharmonic, DuPage Symphony, Salt Creek Sinfonietta, and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.
William Denton
Bill Denton is Principal Trumpet with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He is a member of the trumpet faculty at Depaul University and has presented performances and masterclasses at Northwestern, Roosevelt, and Northern Illinois Universities. Bill frequently performs as Principal Trumpet with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a substitute trumpeter and with the Dempster Street Pro-Musica Chamber Ensemble. Prior to moving to Chicago, he was the 2nd/Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Alabama Symphony in Birmingham. Bill was a middle school and high school band director for five years, and has taught as an adjunct faculty member at several universities in Georgia and South Carolina.
David Inmon
David Inmon works as a freelance artist in the Chicago area. He plays frequently with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Orchestra. As a chamber artist, he is a member of the Millar Brass
Ensemble and Tower Brass of Chicago and can be heard on many of their recordings. He also performs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic,
Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, World Festival Orchestra, and Fulcrum Point New Music Project as a regular or substitute player.
David Inmon holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education with a specialization in Performance from Northwestern University. His primary teachers were Vincent Cichowicz and Luther Didrickson. He is an alumnus of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago where he learned from Adolph “Bud” Herseth and Mark Ridenour. Before joining the faculty at University of Illinois in Chicago, David taught at Northeastern Illinois University for seven years. In his free time he enjoys woodworking, astronomy, and hiking with his wife and three children.
Rebecca Oliverio
Rebecca Oliverio is currently a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra. Prior to joining the Lyric Opera, Ms. Oliverio spent one season with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. She received her Master of Music degree at Northwestern University where she studied with David Bilger, Channing Philbrick, Thomas Rolfs, Michael Sachs and Robert Sullivan.
During her undergraduate degree at Boston University she studied in London at the Royal College of Music with Mark Calder and Paul Sharp on natural trumpet. Her teachers at BU were Terry Everson, Thomas Rolfs and Thomas Siders. Summer engagements during her studies included fellowships at the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West and the National Repertory Orchestra. In addition, she was a member of the New England Brass Band as a front row cornet player and soloist. Ms. Oliverio has performed with various Chicago-based ensembles including Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Tower Brass and the Bach Week Festival. She has also performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic and Grant Park Orchestra.
Scott Quackenbush
Scott Quackenbush is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Just as he was getting used to the cold climate, his parents moved the family to Houston, Texas when he was seven years old. He began playing the trumpet at age 11, choosing it for the same reasons that most preteen boys pick the trumpet – it’s small, it only has three buttons, it plays the tune most of the time, and, of course, it’s loud.
Despite his horror at the eventual discovery that the three buttons make things harder, not easier, Scott had to admit that he had fallen in love with the instrument and with music-making in general. He decided that he wanted to be some sort of musician by the time he was in the seventh grade. After hearing a recording of Wynton Marsalis and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, he had decided where he wanted to go to school.
Scott holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with the world-famous teacher Charles Geyer. In 1998, he moved to Evanston, Illinois where he attended Northwestern University under the instruction of Barbara Butler. He was awarded his Master of Music degree in 2000. Scott received additional training from the Aspen Music Festival and the National Orchestral Institute.
For years, Scott played the driving-for-dollars game as he drove around the Midwest going from job to job. He has performed as principal trumpet with the South Bend Symphony and Northwest Indiana Symphony, and as third trumpet with Music of the Baroque. He has performed as an extra with the Milwaukee Symphony, Southwest Michigan Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, and Detroit Symphony and a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony.
Scott joined the Omaha Symphony as principal trumpet in 2008, and has been enjoying the dramatically shorter commute. He has worked with other area ensembles as well, including the Omaha Chamber Music Society, Offutt Brass, and a tour with Brass in Blue. He also maintains his position in Music of the Baroque in Chicago. Scott has performed at the Grand Teton Music Festival and with the Britt Festival. In addition to his performance work, Scott is an artist-in-residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, adjunct lecturer at Creighton University and coaches local players on occasion. He is an active arranger for brass, although he is trying his hand at other ensembles as well with varying degrees of success.
Scott can be heard on several albums released by Music of the Baroque, as well as their PBS holiday broadcast. He can also be heard, if you turn the volume way up and listen very closely, on Pete Yorn’s album Back and Fourth.
Scott lives in Papillion, Nebraska with his wife, Maria, a music teacher in Bellevue Public Schools, and with his son Jacob. In any free time that his eleven-year-old allows him, Scott is an avid homebrewer, and a voracious collector and player of any type of game you can imagine.
Zachary Thomas
Zachary Thomas joined the Toledo Symphony as principal trumpet in October 2022. Prior to his appointment, he played lead trumpet at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, for seven seasons. Thomas has also performed with the Florida Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, and at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, among others.
Growing up in the Detroit metropolitan area, Zack first began studying trumpet with his grandfather, Merrill “Mert” Thomas. He went on to attend Northwestern University, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Thomas also spent a year during his undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England.
Horns
Jeremiah Frederick
Jeremiah Frederick is the Assistant Professor of Horn at the University of Memphis’ Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. He is currently the second horn of the South Bend Symphony, a regular substitute of the Memphis Symphony and a member of the Chicago Philharmonic and IRIS Collective. In addition, Jeremiah has played with other Chicago-area ensembles including the Lyric Opera, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Grant Park, Elgin, and Rockford symphonies. He served as the fourth horn of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic for several seasons and has played in orchestras nationwide, including the Omaha Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic and the Philly Pops Orchestra in Philadelphia.
Frederick enjoys new music performance and has played with contempo at the University of Chicago and on the Chicago Symphony’s MusicNow series. Solo engagements have included performances of Schumann’s Concertpiece with both the Fox Valley Symphony and South Bend Symphony, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Jacob’s Concerto For Horn and Strings at Northwestern University. In October of 2018, Frederick was the artist-in-residence for the Racine Symphony, giving numerous recitals and masterclasses in the community, culminating in a performance of Mozart’s Concerto No. 3 with the orchestra.
Frederick, an avid chamber musician, is a Millar Brass Ensemble member and has played with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Pandacat Players, Rona Quartet and Midsummer’s Music in Door County. He is also a founding member of Quintet Attacca, a wind quintet and winner of the 2002 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition’s Grand Prize. Following this honor, Quintet Attacca has toured extensively in the Midwest in addition to concerts in New York City and Italy. Quintet Attacca resided at The Music Institute of Chicago and was formerly with the Chicago Chamber Musicians’ Community Engagement Program.
Frederick is a frequent pit musician in Chicago and beyond. He has been a part of over 35 different musicals and productions. He has performed the pre-Broadway world premieres of Tootsie, The Addams Family and Big Fish. In the summer of 2023, he performed the horn part in the Goodman Theatre’s new production of The Who’s Tommy, directed by Tommy’s original director Des McAnuff. He has also performed with many Broadway in Chicago and local theater productions, including The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Shrek The Musical, Les Miserables, and Sunset Boulevard.
Before starting at the University of Memphis, Frederick was on faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Elgin Community College, and Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. His students have gone on to receive numerous honors and many have gone on to study in some of the nation’s top music schools.
Jeremiah graduated from Northwestern University in 2000 with a master’s degree in horn performance and received his Bachelor’s in performance from Lawrence University. His primary teachers have included Gail Williams, Dale Clevenger, Bill Barnewitz, and James DeCorsey.
Samuel Hamzem
Samuel started playing the French horn with his cousin in 1987, no one could imagine how far this young boy would be some years later. Throughout Samuel’s career, he has performed with significant orchestras such as Music of the Baroque in Chicago, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony in DC, Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop from 1997 to 2016, Sao Paulo Municipal Orchestra, Brasilia Philharmonic, Del Maggio Musicale with Zubin Mehta, Minas Gerais Philharmonic and Pacific Music Festival Orchestra with Charles Dutoit in Japan. He participated in several tours with the Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra: Latin America, United States, Europe and Brazil.
Samuel has taught in important festivals in Brazil and Argentina and he is very proud to be a regular and tenured member of the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra.
Momoko Hasselbring
Committed to artistic integrity as a classical musician while evolving an authentic and personal approach to DEI values, Momo is expanding vocabulary on the French horn by drawing repertoire and stylistic, technical, and conceptual principles from world folk and contemporary genres. Momo teaches a full studio of horn students at several local high schools and has performed with classical ensembles such as the Pocket Philharmonic, Ensemble Dal Niente, Folks Operetta, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, and Music of the Baroque, as well as novel ensembles such as The Shins, Chico Freeman’s Legacy Project, Mik Nawooj, the Braeburn Brass quintet, and French horn and guitar duo Momo and Alvin. She is the 2023 winds fellow of the Chicago Luminarts Foundation. An Evanston native, she received her BM summa cum laude at DePaul University and her MM from Northwestern University in 2023.
Renée Vogen
Renée Vogen, a Chicago based freelance musician and teacher, currently holds positions as Third Horn with the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Instructor of Horn at Northern Illinois University.
Additionally, Renée performs regularly with ensembles all over the Midwest including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra and Elgin Symphony Orchestra. She has also been a frequent guest principal with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Peoria Symphony Orchestra, and Rockford Symphony Orchestra. Renée has performed on the Wagner tuba with many ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and New World Symphony. Renée was previously second horn with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra (Ohio) and a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Outside of her work in the Midwest, Renée has performed as a substitute musician with the New World Symphony, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2019 Renée was awarded honorable mention at the International Women’s Brass Conference Susan Slaughter Solo Competition (Category II) in Tempe, AZ. Other awards include winning first place at the International Horn Society’s Horn Quartet Competition with the #quartet in Los Angeles in 2015, and being named runner-up at the IHS Dorothy Frizelle Mock Audition Competition (Low Horn) in San Francisco in 2011.
Renée’s wanderlust has taken her to China, where she was a teaching fellow at the Youth Music Culture Guangdong in Guangzhou in 2020 – Iceland, where she played as a substitute musician with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in Reykjavîk – Italy, where she performed with the Gil Evans Chamber Jazz Ensemble, a headlining group at the Umbria Jazz Festival in 2012 – and Germany, where she studied the German language as a DAAD summer exchange fellow at the Universitat Potsdam.
In addition to her role at Northern Illinois University, she is also adjunct faculty at DePaul University, where she teaches upper brass methods, and is the adjunct professor of horn at Concordia University Chicago.
Renée has given masterclasses at Penn State, Western Michigan University, Illinois State University, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and has led a career seminar for the Eastman School of Music Horn Studio.
Renée earned her Master’s degree in horn performance from DePaul University under the tutelage of James Smelser, and her Bachelor’s in horn performance, Performer’s Certificate, and Arts Leadership Certificate from the Eastman School of Music under the instruction of W. Peter Kurau.
Trombones
Jeremy Moeller
Jeremy Moeller was appointed Principal Trombone of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra by Music Director Sir Andrew Davis in 2009. He also currently serves as Assistant Principal/Second Trombone for the Grant Park Orchestra during the summer season, a post he has held since 2004, and Principal Trombone with the Chicago Philharmonic. Prior to his appointment at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Jeremy served as Acting Second Trombone with the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops for two seasons.
He has also performed with the Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, San Antonio, Charleston, and Grand Rapids Symphonies, and the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center.
As a chamber musician, Jeremy has performed and can be heard on recordings with the Chicago Symphony Brass, Chicago Symphony Brass Quintet, Chicago Trombone Consort, the Burning River Brass, the Tower Brass of Chicago, and the Avatar Brass Quintet. He has also performed on Chicago WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” and ABC’s “News This Morning”.
Adam Moen
Adam Moen currently holds the positions as section trombone with Elgin Symphony and the Chicago Philharmonic. He performs regularly with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater and the Illinois Philharmonic. As a substitute player, he has performed with the major orchestras of Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee, St. Louis, as well as the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Grant Park Symphony.
He served as 2nd Trombone/Assistant Principal with the Lyric Opera for the 2007-08, 08-09 seasons. Adam has extensive experience performing in chamber and contemporary ensembles. The list includes Chicago Chamber Musicians, Fulcrum Point, ICE, Pink Martini, Music Now, Contempo and The Rembrandt Chamber Players.
Bass Trombone
Mark Fry
Bass Trombonist Mark Fry has been one of the leading freelance musicians in Chicago for over two decades. From 2018 – 2024 he was the acting bass trombonist of Lyric Opera of Chicago. Mr. Fry is currently the bass trombonist of 3rd Coast Brass, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Philharmonic. He has performed with numerous orchestras in the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Music of the Baroque – Chicago, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Britt Festival Orchestra (Oregon), Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and Spoleto Festival – Italy.
Mr. Fry has performed with the Chicago Symphony in Carnegie Hall during the fall of 2001 and the Houston Symphony during their 2010 tour of England and Scotland. Before moving to Chicago, he was the bass trombonist of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra in Honolulu.
Mark Fry is currently the Artistic Director of Chamber Music on the Fox, an organization which he co-founded in 2015 with cellist Sara Sitzer. Chamber Music on the Fox is a vibrant chamber music series which serves Aurora, Elgin and the greater Fox Valley area. In the fall of 2023, a partnership was announced with the Woodstock Opera House to bring Chamber Music on the Fox’s concerts to this historic venue.
Mr. Fry has been a guest clinician and performed solo recitals across the US. He recently recorded an album of solo and chamber works for the bass trombone that are all premier recordings entitled, “Flaming Angel”.
Mark Fry also frequently doubles on euphonium and bass trumpet. He has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing the tenor tuba part on Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, as well as performing euphonium on the annual CSO Brass concert.
Mr. Fry appears on recordings with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mannheim Steamroller, New Black Music Repertory Ensemble and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. His principal teachers were Allen Barnhill, Jay Friedman and David Waters.
Euphonium
Alex Ertl
Trombonist Alex Ertl will begin as a Regular Member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in the fall of 2024. He has frequently been a guest musician in orchestras around the Midwest, including those of Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Toledo, Elgin, and Des Moines.
In 2022, Alex was the winner of the DePaul University Concerto Competition, where he performed Paul Creston’s Fantasy for Trombone and Orchestra with the DePaul Symphony Orchestra. He also enjoys specializing in auxiliary low brass instruments, and is seen frequently performing on alto trombone, euphonium, and bass trumpet.
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Alex sought professional musical training in Chicago, where he studied Trombone Performance at DePaul University (B.M., summa cum laude) and Northwestern University (M.M.). In addition to his collegiate studies, Alex has studied as a fellow at the Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival.
Tuba
Matthew Gaunt
Tubist Matthew Gaunt enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator. He has recorded and toured internationally as a former member of Burning River Brass, Proteus 7, and Boston Brass. He has also performed with Empire Brass, Center City Brass Quintet, Rhythm & Brass, Chicago Chamber Musicians, and the Millar Brass Ensemble. Mr. Gaunt performed as the tubist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra from 2017-2020. He has also performed in concerts and tours with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Lyric Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Festival Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Cincinnati Pops, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Ballet, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarasota Opera, and many regional orchestras in New England and around Chicago. He has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician at festivals such as Tanglewood, Ravinia, Blossom, Chautauqua, and Music Masters MMCK.
Since 2017 Matthew has been on the faculty of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University teaching tuba, euphonium and coaching chamber music.Hr is also on the faculty at Northern Illinois University and Wheaton College. Formerly visiting assistant professor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Gaunt also has served on the faculties of the VanderCook College of Music and the Peck School for the Arts at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee as well as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, South Shore Conservatory, and Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. He received a bachelor’s degree in tuba performance from Boston University and has studied with J. Samuel Pilafian, Gary Ofenloch, and Chester Schmitz.
Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith, from Amarillo, Texas, received his Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Tech University, where he studied with Kevin Wass. He has also studied at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with Dan Perantoni.
Andrew Smith was appointed to the Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestra in January of 2012. He began performing with the group in September of that same year. Prior to winning the Lyric Opera position, Smith was a highly sought after tubist in Texas, where he performed regularly with the Lubbock and Big Spring Symphonies.
In addition to his duties in the pit, Smith was appointed to the Grant Park Orchestra as principal tuba in 2018. Smith has also performed with many different orchestras in the Midwest including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Philharmonic. Smith was the winner of the 2010 International Tuba and Euphonium Association’s Arnold Jacobs Mock Orchestra Audition.
Percussion
Michael Folker
Michael Folker has been performing in the Chicagoland area for the past 28 years. In addition to being a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta, he is also percussionist with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Philharmonic.
Mr. Folker is also principal percussionist with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Joffrey Ballet Orchestra. Additionally, he has performed and recorded with the Chicago Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Milwaukee Symphony. He has also performed with pop groups such as the Moody Blues, Kansas, and Styx as well as classical performers such as Luciano Pavarotti and Victor Borge.
Mr. Folker has performed both on stage and on television with such artists as Celine Dion, Linda Ronstadt, Andrea Bocelli, Art Garfunkel, The Three Tenors, Doc Severinsen, The Irish Tenors, Johnny Mathis, Charlotte Church, and Mannheim Steamroller.
In addition to live concerts, he has recorded for both television and radio commercials, including Kellogg’s Cereals, United Airlines, McDonald’s, and Nintendo.
Mr. Folker is a graduate of DePaul University where he earned a Master’s Degree in Performance, where he studied with Mr. Al Payson of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Mr. Michael Green of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Performance from Millikin University during which time he also studied with Mr. Tom Akins, timpanist of the Indianapolis Symphony.
When not performing, Mr. Folker also teaches percussion at Wheaton College’s Music Conservatory in Wheaton (IL). He is also Director of Percussion at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn (IL) and Judson University in Elgin (IL). Mr. Folker is the creator of “The Magic of Music” and “The Magic of Rhythm”, both of which are educational programs that incorporate his talents as a professional illusionist/magician and are designed to teach young audiences about the wonders of live music.
He is married to violinist Daniela Folker, and they are the proud parents of son Christopher who creates the magic in both their lives.
Timpani
Robert Everson
In his debut performance as a soloist, Robert Everson was hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “a most outstanding performer,” the Chicago Sun Times has called him a “Master Timpanist” and the Chicago Classical Review said of a recent performance with the Chicago Philharmonic: “Spectacular timpani playing”. Although soloing on the timpani is relatively rare, he has done so many times, playing Darius Milhaud’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra with the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago String Ensemble, and the Illinois Philharmonic. With the Sinfonietta, he has also performed Georg Druschetzky’s Concerto for Oboe and Eight Timpani, Russell Peck’s Harmonic Rhythm, and the world premiere of Jiri Gemrot’s Concertino for Flute, Bagpipes and Timpani. He has performed the Phillip Glass Concert Fantasy for Two Timpanists with the San Francisco Ballet. Most recently he has performed Michael Daugherty’s Timpani Concerto “Raise the Roof” with the Chicago Philharmonic.
Bobby performs with several orchestras in the Chicago area, including the Chicago Philharmonic, the Elgin Symphony, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Lake Forest Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Joffrey Ballet, and many touring ballets companies when they perform in the Chicago area, and the Midwest Mozart Festival. He has also performed as an extra with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Grant Park Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and has performed on Chicago Symphony recordings under Bernard Haitink and Pierre Boulez, one recording winning the Grammy award for best orchestral performance in 2001. He has played with hundreds of pop artists, and for many Broadway shows, commercial jingles and TV broadcasts.
Mr. Everson earned his Bachelor and master’s degrees in Percussion Performance from DePaul University and is the percussion instructor at Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, IL and at the Birch Creek Music Performance Camp in Door County, WI. He performs solo in-school percussion demonstrations for the International Music Foundation of Chicago. He also participates in the educational outreach Seed Program with the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Academy of Music Performance with the Chicago Philharmonic. He is a life-long resident of the Chicago area with his wife Ellen and their son Ian, a singer, songwriter, and music producer now living in Los Angeles.
Thank you to Our Concert Sponsors
John and Gwen Gage
