A concert featuring the chamber music of Darius Milhaud will be presented on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts Recital Hall. A lecture by Dr. John Dunn starts at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m.Admission is free and open to the public. Those attending are asked to wear a mask.
Milhaud was a French composer, conductor and teacher. He was a member of Les Six
also known as The Group of Six and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and Brazilian music and makes extensive use of polytonality. Milhaud is considered one of the key modernist composers.
The concert will feature Kelsey Wright on flute, soprano Dr. Grace Edgar, Dan Ley on piano and the Garcia String Quartet which includes Dania Briceño,Aura Mercedes Hernandez Canedo, Ruth Alejandra Garcia and Paul Christopher.
Briceño began her musical studies at the National School of Music in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She played with the Orchestra Philharmonic of Honduras from 2014-18 and Chamber Orchestra Vivaldi from 2016-18. Her musical experience includes participation in several music festivals including the International Conducting Workshop and Festival at Pittsburg State University in Kansas and The Orchestra of the Americas Honduras, Annual Meeting of Strings in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
In 2018, she began studying at Northwestern State pursuing a Bachelor of Music Performance degree under the tutelage of Professor of Violin Dr. Andrej Kurti. She plays with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra as a violinist.
Christopher received his Bachelor of Music Education from the New England Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Memphis. In 2005, Christopher joined the string faculty at Northwestern State where he currently serves as associate professor of violoncello and music theory. He has appeared as clinician, adjudicator and guest artist throughout the United States and internationally. Christopher’s articles have been published in American String Teacher, Bass World, the Jacques Offenbach Society Newsletter and Strings. In 2017, he was awarded the Mildred Hart Bailey Research Award in recognition of his exceptional scholarship as a faculty member at NSU. In the summers of 1991-2014, Christopher performed as assistant principal cello with the Peter Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon.
Edgar received her Doctorate in Vocal Performance with a minor in directing from the University of Houston. Before beginning her doctoral studies, Edgar was a member of the Opera New Jersey Studio and a resident artist in the Marion Roose Pullin Studio at Arizona Opera. In addition, she has performed with Austin Lyric Opera, Key West Pops Symphony, Opera Company of Brooklyn, New Orleans Opera; Opera on Tap, Belleayre Music Festival and with the Astoria Symphony. Her credits include Zerlina in “Don Giovanni,” Musetta in “La Boheme,” Cherubino in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” Maddalena in “Rigoletto,” La Baronessa di Chamigny in “Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze,” Loma Williams in “Cold Sassy Tree,” the Page in “Salome,” Berta in “Il barbiere di Siviglia,” Carmen in “Carmen,” the Mother in “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and Mrs. Andressen in “A Little Night Music.”
As an actress, Edgar has appeared as The White Witch in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and Henry in “The Industrious Mr. Franklin” for The Traveling Lantern Theatre Company, and Lilly’s Mom in “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse for the Growing Stage.” She has also appeared in many oratorio, concert and recital performances, and made her directing debut at the University of Houston with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” In addition to her performance experience, Edgar is a director, conductor, acting teacher and voice teacher.
Dunn is an assistant professor of fine arts at Northwestern State, where he also serves as the course steward for the core curriculum fine arts courses. At NSU, he has taught Fine Arts Survey, Music History, Music for Stage and Screen, A History of Opera, a seminar on music and disability studies and several music theory courses. He is president of the Faculty Senate and has been the faculty sponsor of the NSU Gamers’ Guild. He recently completed his doctorate at Louisiana State University in musicology. His dissertation explored the representation of disability in the music of Alfred Hitchcock films. His emphasis of study is film music, romantic and 20th century music history, music and disability studies and music in popular culture. Dunn is affiliated with the Film Music Society, Disability Studies Quarterly, the American Musicological Society and the Popular Culture Association.
Garcia began her music studies in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. In 2018, she moved to the U.S. to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Music Performance at Northwestern State under the tutelage of Kurti. She plays as a violist with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Marshall Symphony Orchestra, Monroe Symphony Orchestra, Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra and the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
Canedo was born in Cartagena, Colombia. She began violin studies at the Comfenalco School of Music at the age of 11. She received lessons from Maestro Carlos Rocha. As a member of the Comfenalco Philharmonic Orchestra, Aura had the opportunity to accompany Placido Domingo in 2009 under the baton of Eugene Kohn. She also participated at the Cartagena International Music Festival in 2011.
Canedo has continued her studies with Kurti since 2014. She graduated from Northwestern State in 2019 with a Bachelor of Music, and she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in music performance. She has performed with several orchestras around the region including the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Marshall Symphony Orchestra, Sulphur Symphony Orchestra and Acadiana Symphony Orchestra.
Ley is a music director, pianist and conductor based in Shreveport. He has worked as music director for over 75 professional, academic, and amateur music theatre productions. Daniel works as a pianist at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He has a B.M. in piano performance from Centenary College of Louisiana and a M.M from Northwestern State University.
