Faculty and Guest Artist Concerts
We are proud to showcase our internationally renowned faculty in exciting individual and collaborative programs at the Don Wright Faculty of Music. In addition to the opportunities listed below, we are proud to host distinguished visiting artists in residence, those visiting for public masterclasses, as well as those who perform each week during our signature "Fridays @ 12:30" concert series.
2022-23 Performances
Joining us on campus for an in-person event? For always-up-to-date health and safety protocols, check our Audience Information webpage before you leave home.
2023
Friday, Jan 13 | 8pm
von Kuster Hall
The Light of East Ensemble
London's own The Light of East Ensemble, joined by Western music students, will perform music of the Near and Middle East including folk and Classical Arabic works, and traditional forms from Armenia, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq and Israel. The Light of East Ensemble is Panayiotis Giannarapis (oud, bouzouki), Mary Ashton (violin), Jedd House (contra basso), Tracey Atin (vocals), Jana Starling (clarinet) and Joel Jacobs (percussion).
Sunday, Jan 15 | 3pm
von Kuster Hall and via livestream
Faculty Concert Series: Morning Music for Brass
Music of hope for chamber brass, including compositions by David Sampson, Viktor Ewald and Henry Purcell. Featuring brass faculty Aaron Hodgson, Shawn Spicer, Ron George, Denis Jiron, Brent Adams and Jonathan Rowsell.
Tuesday, Jan 17 | 8pm
von Kuster Hall
Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
Violinist Scott St. John and pianist Angela Park team up with Don Wright Faculty of Music graduate students, clarinetist Kevin Weiss and cellist Ethan Allers, to perform Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. This concert will also feature a world premiere of Omar Daniel's Intermezzi for solo piano, and other chamber music partnerships between St. John, Park, and Don Wright Faculty of Music students.
Wednesday, Jan 18 | 7:30pm
Paul Davenport Theatre
Canadian Chamber Choir
Julia Davids, BMus'95 (Music Education), BEd'96, artistic director and conductor; with Western University Singers, Mark Ramsay, conductor; Sherryl Sewepagaham, composer.
Friday, Feb 10 | 9pm – Roundtable Discussion - CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS
von Kuster Hall
Friday, Feb 10 | 10pm – Late Night Concert - CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS
von Kuster Hall and via livestream (concert only)
Faculty Concert Series: Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire
Arnold Schoenberg’s 1912 bombshell setting of poetry by Albert Giraud, performed by Western faculty including Patricia Green, mezzo-soprano, Scott St. John, violin/viola, Thomas Wiebe, cello, Stephen Tam, flute, Jana Starling, clarinet, and Stéphan Sylvestre, piano. A roundtable discussion precedes, exploring “Pierrot” from several different angles of expertise; moderator Emily Abrams Ansari joins roundtable panelists including Omar Daniel and Kevin Mooney.
Tuesday, Mar 7 | 7:30pm
von Kuster Hall
musica intima vocal ensemble
With Les Choristes, Tracy Wong, conductor; Andrew Balfour, composer.
Friday, Mar 10 | 8pm NEW DATE
von Kuster Hall
Sanya Eng, harp and Ryan Scott, percussion
Sanya Eng and Ryan Scott join us for a residency. Planned program for their Friday evening concert includes works by Staniland, Ross, Beecroft, Oesterle, Simms, and Frehner. They will also join us the preceding evening for a Masterclass in Studio 242 with a reading of student compositions .
*These events were previously scheduled for February 6 and 7, 2023.
Past events - Fall 2022 Term
Sunday, Sep 25 | 3pm
von Kuster Hall and via livestream
Faculty Piano Duo
Piano faculty member Kyung Kim and Dean Michael Kim present a piano duo performance in celebration of Homecoming weekend at Western. Program to include works by Mozart, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Bizet/Anderson.
Saturday, Oct 1 | 4pm – Masterclass
Saturday, Oct 1 | 6pm – Concert
von Kuster Hall
In Transit – Explorations of Colors and Styles for Saxophone and Piano
The duo of Henning Schröder and Yu-Lien The presents works for saxophone and piano by Decrück, Schulhoff, Washington, and Zupko. The various elements and influences of their eclectic program of original compositions include Impressionism, Dadaism, various Blues and Jazz styles, Salsa, and more.
Henning Schröder, saxophone
Saxophonist Henning Schröder has performed throughout Europe, Asia and North America, both as a soloist and in groups as diverse as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Max Raabe & Palast Orchester. As baritone saxophonist of the Capitol Quartet and with his duo partner, pianist Yu-Lien The, Henning explores both the standard and contemporary repertoire of his instrument. A Yamaha Performing Artist, he has been featured in performances, lectures, clinics and as a composer at international conferences and festivals in Europe and the US.
>Henning holds degrees in saxophone performance and saxophone pedagogy from the University of Arts Berlin, Western Michigan University and the University of Illinois. He studied with Debra Richtmeyer, Johannes Ernst, Trent Kynaston and Chip McNeill. Henning teaches at Western Michigan University, and he spends his summers in North Carolina as a member of the Brevard Summer Music Festival Artist Faculty.
Yu-Lien The, piano
Yu-Lien The has appeared throughout the US, Europe, and Southeast-Asia, as a soloist with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Kammerorchester Hannover, and the Baroque Orchestra L'Arco. As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has performed at the Gilmore Keyboard Festival and venues such as Detroit Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall. A prizewinner of the 12th International Piano Competition Viotti-Valsesia (Italy) and the Deutsche Musikwettbewerb, she was admitted to the National Concert Podium for Young Artists (Germany), which led to several concert tours with violinist Tomo Keller. Dr. The has been involved in many commissions and world premieres. She frequently collaborates with saxophonist Joe Lulloff and champions new works by composers such as Dorothy Chang, Stacy Garrop, and Carter Pann.
Born in the Netherlands, Yu-Lien The received most of her musical training in Germany, where she obtained degrees in both piano and recorder performance and pedagogy from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover. She has earned an Artist Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik Detmold as well as a D.M.A. in piano performance from Michigan State University. Her principal piano teachers were Arie Vardi, Anatol Ugorski, and Deborah Moriarty.
A dedicated pedagogue and sought-after clinician, Yu-Lien The is an Assistant Professor of Keyboard Studies at Western Michigan University and has previously served on the faculties at Bowling Green State University, Valparaiso University, and Kalamazoo College.
Tuesday, Oct 4 | 8pm
von Kuster Hall
First Light – Alan Klaus, trumpet
Alan Klaus’ debut solo album shines "First Light" on a stunning array of new and unrecorded Canadian repertoire themed on the spiritual and celestial, struggle and hope, darkness and light. Colours include trumpet with piano, trumpet with recorded strings, trumpet with recorded piano and strings, and trumpet with electronics. The program will be selected from commissions by Gilliland, Staniland, Teehan, and Brennan, arrangements by Meechan and Nishimura, and a bonus existing work by Gougeon that has long deserved to be commercially recorded.
Thursday, Oct 6 | 8pm
von Kuster Hall
Artists-in-Residence: New Orford String Quartet
The New Orford String Quartet, consisting of Andrew Wan and Jonathan Crow (violins), faculty member Sharon Wei (viola), and Brian Manker (cello), perform Dinuk Wijeratne’s A Letter from the Afterlife, Kelly Marie Murphy’s Oblique, Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte. The evening ends with Schubert’s G major string quartet D.887 for which the quartet won a JUNO award.
Wednesday, Oct 12 | 6–7:30pm
von Kuster Hall
Kenneth Thompkins, Principal Trombone, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, will play a half recital followed by a masterclass with current Music students that the public is welcome to stay for.
Friday, Oct 21 | 7:30pm – Concert
Saturday, Oct 22 | 10am – Masterclass
von Kuster Hall
Parsons and Poole Concert and Masterclass
We are honoured to welcome internationally renowned pianist Louise Bessette as the guest artist for this year's Parsons and Poole Concert and Masterclass.
Concert Tickets | $45/$20 in advance (additional $5 at the door)
Masterclass | Free Admission
Sunday, Oct 23 | 3pm Rescheduled from Sep 18
von Kuster Hall
Updated Sept. 22
Previously cancelled due to illness, we are pleased to have been able to reschedule this performance for today!
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Faculty Concert Series: Operantics!
An afternoon of opera arias and ensembles featuring voice faculty members Margie Bernal, soprano; Bethany Hörst, soprano; Chad Louwerse, bass-baritone; and Sophie Roland, mezzo soprano; joined by James Smith, tenor; and Sarah Bowker, piano.
Friday Oct 28 | 8pm
von Kuster Hall
Musicians from Marlboro
Musicians from Marlboro kick off their North American tour right here in London before they head off to Carnegie Hall, Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia! The program features nine outstanding musicians performing works from three centuries. Respighi’s rarely performed Il Tramonto for voice and string quartet is a hauntingly affective work that tells the story of two lovers and their tragic fate. Rene Orth’s You Shattered My Deafness incorporates text by St. Augustine in a dramatically reflective work. The evening continues with Brahms String Quartet in B flat major and ends with one of the most beloved chamber music works: Mendelssohn’s effervescent String Octet, a piece brimming with bustling energy and beautiful melodies. Lauren Pearl, soprano; Abigail Fayette, Alina Kobialka, Anna Lee and Scott St. John, violin; Kei Tojo and Sharon Wei, viola; Tony Rymer and Judith Serkin, cello. Marlboro Music expresses sincere appreciation to Dr. Güneş N. Eğe-Akter for making this concert possible.
Saturday, Nov 12 | 3-4:30pm
von Kuster Hall
Brass Day Concert
Brass Day includes concerts, clinics and a vendor room, and is open to brass enthusiasts of all ages. This year's event will feature Karen Donnelly, principal trumpet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.
Sunday, Nov 27 | 3pm
von Kuster Hall and via livestream
Faculty Concert Series: War and Peace
Exploring the dual themes of war and peace in music and poetry, from Baroque to contemporary. Featuring vocalists Sophie Louise Roland and Seokho Park, pianists Stéphan Sylvestre, Tina Yanchus, James Hibbard, Simone Luti and Connor O'Kane, violinist Joseph Lanza, bassist Joseph Phillips, and Borys Medicky, harpsichord.
Thursday, Dec 1 | 8pm
von Kuster Hall
St. John-Mercer-Park Trio
Violinist Scott St. John, National Arts Centre Orchestra Principal Cellist Rachel Mercer, and pianist Angela Park collaborate with Don Wright Faculty of Music students, violinist Yanet Campbell and violist Tasman Tantasawat, to perform Charles Koechlin's Piano Quintet. The St. John-Mercer-Park Trio will also present Kevin Lau's piano trio Under a Veil of Stars (2022). Trio members Scott St. John and Rachel Mercer are also giving masterclasses on dates close to this concert.
Funding for this concert has been generously provided by Madeline and Tom Lennon.
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