Calgary-based duo joins School of Music performers

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BRANDON, MB – Saturday evening, three faculty members of the School of Music and the Conservatory— violinist Kerry DuWors, violist Robert Richardson Jr., and ‘cellist Leanne Zacharias — will be joined on the Lorne Watson Recital Hall stage by two musical friends from Calgary. At this performance, violinist Brinna Brinkerhoff and pianist Jeffrey Neufeld will make their pro series debut.

No strangers to the pro series, DuWors and Zacharias balance their teaching duties with performing. Lauded by the Winnipeg Free Press for “finding the music behind the notes”, DuWors, a former winner of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, has given recitals and chamber concerts throughout North America and in Europe, and has been an Assistant Professor of Violin and has taught chamber music classes at Brandon University. Among the artists and ensembles with whom she has collaborated are James Ehnes, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Angela Cheng, Denise Djokic, Marc André Hamelin, Andrew Dawes, Scott St. John, the Lafayette, St. Lawrence and Penderecki Quartets, and the Gryphon Trio. She is currently on sabbatical, studying at the Eastman School of Music and returning to Brandon for this concert. Currently a faculty member at the Eckhardt-Grammate Conservatory, Robert Richardson Jr. maintains an active performing and teaching career. Equally accomplished on violin and viola, Richardson is a frequent guest artist and clinician at many Suzuki and pedagogy conferences on the continent.

Approaching her music-making with cutting-edge thinking, Zacharias has worked with choreographers, writers, architects and visual artists, the Miro Quartet, Edgar Meyer, the Weakerthans and the Mountain Goats, among others, as well as with more traditional collaborators, like the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Along with commissioning several new works, she has worked with composers like Arvo Pärt, Krystof Penderecki, Joan Tower, John Adams and George Tsontakis, and performed in Canada, the United States and in Europe. As well, she was finalist in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition.

Sharing both DuWors and Zacharias’ sense of musical adventure, Brinkerhoff is a member of the University of Calgary String Quartet. She has given chamber concerts with Clive Greensmith and Kikuei Ikeda of the Tokyo String Quartet, cellist Paul Katz, and pianists Peter Frankl and Robert Roux. As well, she often collaborates with Neufeld, who has been lauded by CBC Radio Two hosts for his “power, confidence and thought”. These two visiting musicians have given performances, individually and together, in venues around the globe.

The pro series concert featuring Kerry DuWors, Leanne Zacharias, Robert Richardson Jr., Brinna Brinkerhoff and Jeffrey Neufeld will take place Oct. 30, at 8 p.m., in the Lorne Watson Recital Hall, located in the Queen Elizabeth II Music Building, on the Brandon University campus. Their programme will include works by Kodály, Prokofiev and Schumann.

The next pro series performance will feature School of Music faculty member, flutist Nancy Hennen. She will share the stage with fellow flutist David Gerry. This recital will take place at 8 p.m., on Tuesday, November 2, also in the Lorne Watson Recital Hall.

Tickets to all pro series concert are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, alumni and students, and $8 for Conservatory students. Subscriptions for the pro series’ entire season can also be purchased, ranging from $70 for adults, to $35 for seniors, alumni and students, to $25 for Conservatory students. Tickets the James Ehnes Trio performance on December 20 are $25 each for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for students. Tickets and subscriptions can be bought at the door or in advance at the School of Music. Seating is limited and programmes are subject to change.

The pro series and the School of Music gratefully acknowledge the generous support of The Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and of the Province of Manitoba, through a Consolidated Arts Programming Grant from Culture, Heritage and Tourism.
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For more information, please contact:
School of Music
Brandon University
(204) 727-9631
or visit: www2.brandonu.ca/music/events/events.asp for updated events listing

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