School of Music Concert Sept. 18 to Showcase Faculty Talent

Two new faculty members will be among the performers at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, at the annual School of Music Faculty Showcase in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.  Admission is $6 for the general public, $5 for faculty-staff and $4 for students and senior citizens.

The showcase recital is part of the Charles W. Bolen Faculty Recital Series.

Pianist Tuyen Tonnu joined the School of Music faculty this year.  She will perform “Levante: Fantasy on a Chorus from the Saint Mark Passion” by Osvaldo Golijov.  Tonnu, a native of Vietnam, received her doctorate from Stony Brook University, Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and bachelor of music degree from Pacific Lutheran University.  She performs both solo and chamber music and has plays throughout the U.S. and Europe.  A recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, Tonnu was named “Vietnamese Woman of the Year” in 1993 by Women Magazine in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Saxophonist Paul Nolen joined the School of Music faculty this year, having recently completed his doctorate at Michigan State University.  He will perform a Villa-Lobos’ Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Piano, accompanied by pianist Patty Foltz.  Nolan, who previously taught at Central Arkansas and the University of Windsor-Ontario, has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada.  He won the 2003 MTNA National Chamber Music Competition and was a semi-finalist in the 2004 Concert Artist Guild International Competition in New York City.

Other performers on the program will be bassoonist Michael Dicker playing Willson Osborne’s Rhapsody for Bassoon; tenor Christopher Hollingsworth singing “Amorosi, miei giorni” by Donaudy and accompanied on piano by Karyl Carlson; and soprano Michelle Vought singing “Steal Me, Sweet Thief” from Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Old Maid and the Thief.”  Vought will be assisted by pianist Carlyn Morenus.

After an intermission, Morenus will return as a soloist to perform Preludios by Ricardo Catillo.  Clarinetist David Gresham will perform Henri Tomasi’s Sonatine Attique and cellist Adriana La Rosa Ransom will perform Soliloquios, No. 6 by Roque Cordero, Illinois State Distinguished Professor Emeritus.  Baritone John Koch will sing the Cyril Scott arrangement of the traditional  British ballad, “Lord Randall.”  He will be accompanied by pianist Paul Borg.