Levine Presents 2021-22

View on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/651611074

Levine is committed to building new audiences for music by offering outstanding performances, master classes, and other musical events free-of-charge. This season of Levine Presents is offered free of charge thanks to the generosity of many donors. Please consider making a gift to support these programs.

Program

Brian Jones, Clarinet
Erin Durham, Violin
Maxfield Wollam-Fisher, Cello
Topher Ruggiero, Piano

Quinn Mason, (b. 1997) Two Fleeting Daydreams for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano
Florence Price (1887-1953), Deserted Garden, violin and piano
Rachel Eubanks (1922-2006), Kiěp Nào Có Yeu Nhau (Vietnamese Love Song), violin and piano
Dolores White (b. 1932) Las Tarantulas, cello and piano
David Baker (1931-2016) Blues: Deliver My Soul, violin and piano
James Lee III (b. 1975), II: Galactic Districts from Piano Trio no. 2 “Temple Visions”

Intermission

Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972), Four Folk Songs for Piano Trio
Paula Gandino and Victoria Di Raimondo, Besos y Flores, cello and piano
Paula Gandino, Tema 1, cello and piano
Brian Raphael Nabors (b. 1991), Bootleg Hoedown, violin, clarinet, cello, piano

About the Artists

Brian Jones, clarinet

Dr. Brian Jones has served on the Levine faculty since 2000. He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1992 after winning a position with The United States Air Force Band. During his tenure there he was invited by the Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor to perform Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet at the U.S. Supreme Court in a recital honoring the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Dr. Jones authored seven articles for The Instrumentalist magazine, presented at the 2007 Virginia MENC conference, and performed at the 2008 International ClariFest. In addition to teaching at Levine, he serves on the faculty of Northern Virginia Community College, and was a member of the 257th Army Band, “The Band of the Nation’s Capital” from 2002-2020.

During his tenure with the 257th, he was the conductor from 2013-2018, the First Sergeant for seven years and as Acting Commander for eighteen months. In 2021, after a national search, he was selected to be Deputy Senior Leader of National Guard Bands, and was promoted to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.

He hold degrees from Catholic University (DMA), Baylor University (MM), and Florida State University (BME) and his teachers include Sidney Forrest, Richard Shanley, and Frank Kowalsky.

Erin Durham, violin

Violinist Erin Durham joined the faculty at Levine Music in 2015, teaching in the Suzuki Strings department. She has appeared as a soloist with the Hilton Head Symphony in South Carolina, and as a winner of the Oberlin Conservatory Concerto Competition. An avid chamber musician, she has performed festival and outreach concerts as a member of the Forte String Quartet, and at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as a prize for her string quartet’s placement in the Chamber Music Foundation of New England Competition. In the Washington DC area, Erin has performed with orchestra and chamber ensembles at Wolf Trap, The Church of the Epiphany, and with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. 

Topher Ruggiero, piano

Topher Ruggiero is on the piano faculty at Levine Music and serves as Associate Chair of Piano of the Virginia campuses. He has performed at many concert halls and universities in the United States. As a promotor of new music, he has recently performed over a dozen world-premiers at a variety of festivals and conferences. His performances have been heard on Indiana Public Radio, West Virginia Public Radio, and other various local broadcasts. Since the completion of his Doctor of Arts degree in piano performance at Ball State University, Topher has served on faculty at Anderson University, Taylor University, and Alderson Broaddus University. He also teaches during the summers at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, MI.

Maxfield Wollam-Fisher, cello

Maxfield Wollam-Fisher is on the cello faculty at Levine Music. He holds performance degrees from Indiana University (B.M.) and the University of Wisconsin (M.M.). Maxfield is an avid teacher, performer and chamber musician; he is particularly interested in new music, innovative performances, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Presently he is working an arranger and cellist with In Series opera company with the production Le Cabaret de Carmen. Maxfield is also the director of Da Capo Tango Orchestra and co-host of “Bienvenido al Tango” on WOWD Takoma Radio.