Artists |
James Dunham
Featured Guest Artist, Professor of Viola at Rice University
Violist James Dunham is active as a recitalist, guest artist and teacher. He has collaborated with such renowned artists as Emmanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Cho-Liang Lin and members of the American, Cassatt, Guarneri, Juilliard, Takács, Tokyo and Ying Quartets. An advocate of new music, he recently premiered and recorded two works by Libby Larsen: her Viola Sonata (2001) and “Sifting Through the Ruins” (2005) for viola, mezzo soprano (Susanne Mentzer) and piano, due for release by Naxos. Summers are spent at festivals including Sarasota, Amelia Island (FL), Aspen and le Domaine Forget (Quebec), with past participation in the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, Festival der Zukunft (Ernen, Switzerland), the San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival and three summers at the Marlboro Music Festival.
This season features concerts and classes throughout the U.S. with a special appearance at the Lübeck Hochschule für Musik in Germany and the Smithsonian Institute performing quartets on a set of Nicolò Amati instruments. Highlights of recent seasons included a pair of concerts with the Takács Quartet in Carnegie Hall, concerts in Reykjavik, Iceland, returns to San Diego, San Francisco, New York, Vermont and regular engagements with Houston Friends of Music and Da Camera Society of Houston. Other recording projects have included Glyph by Judith Shatin for solo viola with String Quartet and Piano, the Bach Sonatas for Viola da Gamba with harpsichordist John Gibbons and the 2008 Grammy nominated Telarc recording of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence with the Ying Quartet and ‘cellist Paul Katz. Violist of the 1996 Grammy Award winning Cleveland Quartet for eight years, he performed throughout North America, Europe, the Far East and the Soviet Union.
Founding violist of the Naumburg Award winning Sequoia String Quartet, Mr. Dunham formerly taught at California Institute of the Arts, the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, where he also Chaired the String Department and received the Louis & Adrienne Krasner Teaching Excellence Award. Mr. Dunham is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music where he directs the Master of Music in String Quartet program. His recordings can be found on labels including Telarc, Nonesuch, Delos, Naxos and Crystal. Mr. Dunham performs on a Gaspar da Salo viola, ca. 1585.
This season features concerts and classes throughout the U.S. with a special appearance at the Lübeck Hochschule für Musik in Germany and the Smithsonian Institute performing quartets on a set of Nicolò Amati instruments. Highlights of recent seasons included a pair of concerts with the Takács Quartet in Carnegie Hall, concerts in Reykjavik, Iceland, returns to San Diego, San Francisco, New York, Vermont and regular engagements with Houston Friends of Music and Da Camera Society of Houston. Other recording projects have included Glyph by Judith Shatin for solo viola with String Quartet and Piano, the Bach Sonatas for Viola da Gamba with harpsichordist John Gibbons and the 2008 Grammy nominated Telarc recording of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence with the Ying Quartet and ‘cellist Paul Katz. Violist of the 1996 Grammy Award winning Cleveland Quartet for eight years, he performed throughout North America, Europe, the Far East and the Soviet Union.
Founding violist of the Naumburg Award winning Sequoia String Quartet, Mr. Dunham formerly taught at California Institute of the Arts, the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, where he also Chaired the String Department and received the Louis & Adrienne Krasner Teaching Excellence Award. Mr. Dunham is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music where he directs the Master of Music in String Quartet program. His recordings can be found on labels including Telarc, Nonesuch, Delos, Naxos and Crystal. Mr. Dunham performs on a Gaspar da Salo viola, ca. 1585.
Dr. Kimberly Sparr
Assistant Professor of Viola at Texas Tech University
Equally skilled as a solo, chamber, and orchestral violist, Kimberly Sparr was the assistant principal violist of the Richmond (VA) Symphony from 2008-2013 and is a founding member of the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble. During the summers, she is the assistant principal viola of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra.
As an orchestral violist, Kimberly has performed with National Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra, among others. She has performed under Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, James Levine, Kurt Mazur, Seiji Ozawa, Gunther Schuller, Leonard Slatkin, and Yuri Temirkanov. Kimberly has appeared as a soloist with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra.
Her chamber music collaborations include performances with Lara St. John, Boris Allakhverdyan, Simone Dinnerstein, New Music Raleigh, Festival Mozaic, Lake George Music Festival, and Washington Musica Viva. She was a recipient of a three-year New Horizon Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival where she studied with Heidi Castleman and Victoria Chiang. She also was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and the Sarasota Music Festival.
Kimberly earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she studied with Martha Strongin Katz. She holds a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory where she studied with James Dunham, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Maryland, where she studied under Daniel Foster.
She has participated in master classes and coachings with members of the Cleveland and Guarneri Quartets, Daniel Avshalomov, Lawrence Dutton, Jeffery Irvine, Karen Ritscher, Yitzhak Schotten, and Robert Vernon. In 2001, Kimberly was a Piatigorsky Foundation Artist and was the recipient of the Gunther Schuller Award from New England Conservatory.
Dr. Sparr has served on the faculties of the College of William & Mary and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. An avid proponent of teaching, Kimberly has been a teaching assistant to James Dunham and Daniel Foster and has coached young musicians in the Washington D.C. Youth Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, and at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
As an orchestral violist, Kimberly has performed with National Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra, among others. She has performed under Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, James Levine, Kurt Mazur, Seiji Ozawa, Gunther Schuller, Leonard Slatkin, and Yuri Temirkanov. Kimberly has appeared as a soloist with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra.
Her chamber music collaborations include performances with Lara St. John, Boris Allakhverdyan, Simone Dinnerstein, New Music Raleigh, Festival Mozaic, Lake George Music Festival, and Washington Musica Viva. She was a recipient of a three-year New Horizon Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival where she studied with Heidi Castleman and Victoria Chiang. She also was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and the Sarasota Music Festival.
Kimberly earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she studied with Martha Strongin Katz. She holds a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory where she studied with James Dunham, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Maryland, where she studied under Daniel Foster.
She has participated in master classes and coachings with members of the Cleveland and Guarneri Quartets, Daniel Avshalomov, Lawrence Dutton, Jeffery Irvine, Karen Ritscher, Yitzhak Schotten, and Robert Vernon. In 2001, Kimberly was a Piatigorsky Foundation Artist and was the recipient of the Gunther Schuller Award from New England Conservatory.
Dr. Sparr has served on the faculties of the College of William & Mary and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. An avid proponent of teaching, Kimberly has been a teaching assistant to James Dunham and Daniel Foster and has coached young musicians in the Washington D.C. Youth Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, and at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Dr. Blair Williams
Assistant Professor of Music Education / Director of the TTU String Project
Dr. Blair A. Williams is Assistant Professor of String Music Education and Director of the String Project at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education, string methods and orchestral techniques, conducting, supervises string student teachers, and advises graduate students. She earned a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, Masters in Music from Kansas State University, and a Bachelors of Music Education from Baylor University.
Previously, she held positions as Director and Associate Director of Orchestras in Midway ISD, Waco, Texas teaching orchestra in grades 5-12. Currently, she serves as the co-founder and co-conductor of the Lubbock Civic Orchestra and is on the conducting faculty for both the TTU Academy and TTU Band and Orchestra camps. Additionally, she is an active clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the country. Most recently, she conducted Region and Festival ensembles in Ohio, Texas, Kansas, and Oregon. She has also conducted youth orchestras in Texas, Ohio, and Kansas—including a performance at the Midwest Clinic in 2010.
Additionally, she serves on the Editorial Review Committee and reviews new materials for American String Teacher, as NAfME-Texas Member-At-Large, as TMEA Region 16 College Chair, and as an advisor for the Epsilon Pi chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon and the ASTA Student Chapter at Texas Tech University.
Previously, she held positions as Director and Associate Director of Orchestras in Midway ISD, Waco, Texas teaching orchestra in grades 5-12. Currently, she serves as the co-founder and co-conductor of the Lubbock Civic Orchestra and is on the conducting faculty for both the TTU Academy and TTU Band and Orchestra camps. Additionally, she is an active clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the country. Most recently, she conducted Region and Festival ensembles in Ohio, Texas, Kansas, and Oregon. She has also conducted youth orchestras in Texas, Ohio, and Kansas—including a performance at the Midwest Clinic in 2010.
Additionally, she serves on the Editorial Review Committee and reviews new materials for American String Teacher, as NAfME-Texas Member-At-Large, as TMEA Region 16 College Chair, and as an advisor for the Epsilon Pi chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon and the ASTA Student Chapter at Texas Tech University.
Claire Howard
Kripalu Yoga Instructor
Claire Howard is a native of Texarkana, TX and a 2016 graduate of Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, AR, where she studied music education. In addition to her passion for music, Claire believes deeply in the mental and physical benefits of yoga. In 2014, she completed the 200-hour yoga teacher training at Kripalu School of Yoga in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She is currently a graduate student in Flute Performance at Texas Tech University, where she studies with Dr. Lisa Garner Santa and is a teaching assistant for Dr. Garner’s Yoga for the Creative Arts course.
http://practiceroomyoga.net
http://practiceroomyoga.net
A Note from Claire About Yoga at Viola Rodeo
Students will participate in a beginner-friendly yoga class designed specifically for musicians. Breathing and physical exercises will be offered to aid in warming the body up for practice and battling performance anxiety.