River Rhapsodies Chamber Series

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra River Rhapsodies Chamber Series performs Mozart Meets P.D.Q. Bach on January 31 at 7 p.m. at the Clinton Center Great Hall. The Chamber Series is sponsored by KLRE Classical 90.5/KUAR FM 89.1.
Single tickets are $22 and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org or over the phone at (501) 666-1761.

Program Details

MOZART MEETS P.D.Q. BACH
Tuesday, January 31 at 7 p.m.
Clinton Presidential Center, Great Hall
MOZART Quintet in E-flat for Horn and Strings, K. 407
David Renfro, horn
Kiril Laskarov, violin
Katherine Reynolds, viola
Ryan Mooney, viola
Daniel Cline, cello
STEINMETZ Common Ground
DDG Trio
Lorraine Duso, oboe and English horn
Beth Wheeler, oboe and English horn
Leanna Booze, oboe and English horn
INTERMISSION
SCHUBERT String Quartet No. 12 in C minor, D. 703 “Quartettsatz”
Rockefeller Quartet
Christian Baker, violin
Darby BeDell, violin
Katherine Reynolds, viola
Daniel Cline, cello
P.D.Q. BACH String Quartet in F Major “The Moose” S. Y2K
Rockefeller Quartet
Christian Baker, violin
Darby BeDell, violin
Katherine Reynolds, viola
Daniel Cline, cello

Christian Baker, violin

Christian M. Baker joined the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and the Rockefeller String Quartet in September, 2004. He is also currently on the faculty at Hendrix College. He began studying piano at age six and violin at age ten. Chris received his Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University (1998), and his graduate degrees in violin performance from Florida State University (M.M. 2000, D.M. 2005). His mentors include Nell Gotkovsky, Eliot Chapo, and Igor Gruppman. Chris’ doctoral research resulted in publication of a book: Violin Artists & Pedagogues: Their Schools and Pedagogical Influences in Historical Perspective (VDM Publishing House, 2009). Chris’ marriage to Michelle has been his most important accomplishment. They are parents to five much-loved children: Clyn, Russell, Hyrum, Benjamin, and Rosemary.

Darby Be Dell, violin

Darby BeDell is in his fifth season as an Arts Partner with the Arkansas Symphony’s Rockefeller Quartet. In 2005, he completed his Master’s of Music degree at the University of Wisconsin where he studied with Professor David Perry and received the graduate fellowship in the Hunt Quartet, the resident string quartet of the Madison Symphony. A native of Illinois, Darby was a Chancellor’s Scholar at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and graduated Magna Cum Laude with undergraduate degrees in music performance and genetic engineering. He has regularly participated in summer festivals including Aspen, Steamboat Springs, Weathersfield, Vermont, and this past summer, the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge.

Leanna Booze, oboe and English horn

A native of Kingsport, Tennessee, Leanna Booze is in her fifth season as Principal Oboist of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, she serves as Adjunct Instructor of Oboe at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and is a member of the Belmont Faculty Woodwind Quintet. Before joining the ICO, she was Principal Oboe with the Kentucky Symphony in Newport, and was Lecturer in Oboe at the University of Louisville’s School of Music. She has held positions with the Lebanon Symphony Orchestra in Ohio and the Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra in Kentucky, and has also performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, and the New World Symphony.

In 2005 she was one of five finalists invited to the prestigious Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox International Oboe Competition, held at the International Double Reed Society conference in Austin, Texas. She also won second prize at the Elizabeth Harper Vaughn Concerto Competition in 2000.

An active chamber musician, Ms. Booze currently performs with the DDG Trio, an exciting double reed ensemble dedicated to the performance of new music, that recently commissioned a new work from nationally acclaimed Los Angeles based composer John Steinmetz. Her woodwind ensemble Trio con brio placed in the semifinals of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Ms. Booze began her studies on piano and oboe, and performed as English hornist of the Kingsport Symphony Orchestra. She attended Vanderbilt University, earning a Bachelor of Music degree at the Blair School of Music and a Minor in Sociology. While at Vanderbilt she co-founded a student service organization dedicated to bringing arts education to Nashville’s low-income schools, a group that remains active to this day. She received a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her primary teachers have included Bobby Taylor, John de Lancie, and Mark Ostoich.

In 2011, she was invited to perform the Strauss Oboe Concerto with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra. Other solo appearances include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra in 2009 and with the CCM Chamber Orchestra in 2002.

Ms. Booze has participated in numerous music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Chautauqua Institute, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Currently, she spends her summers performing with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra in Columbia, Missouri and the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Door County, Wisconsin.

Daniel Cline, cello

Cellist Daniel Cline is currently a member of the Rockefeller String Quartet, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and faculty member at Hendrix College.

Originally from Northfield, Illinois, Mr. Cline was born into a musical family where he began cello studies at the age of five. His father, Roger, is a bassist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His mother, Elizabeth, is a violinist with the Lake Forest Symphony and Peninsula Music Festival in addition to maintaining a large teaching studio, and his sister Jennifer is as a member of the viola section of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.

Daniel decided to pursue music as a career, rather than aviation, which led him to Rochester, New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music. Mr. Cline also holds a Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His teachers have included Hans Jorgen Jensen, Steven Doane, Richard Aaron, and Stephen Geber. Daniel’s master class performances include those for Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, and Janos Starker.

In addition to music, Daniel enjoys pursuing interests in hiking, sailing, cooking and electronics. Mr. Cline is also a licensed pilot, skydiving enthusiast, and a runner – having completed six marathons.

Lorraine Duso, oboe and English horn

Lorraine Duso plays Second Oboe in the Arkansas Symphony. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Central Arkansas teaching double reeds and adjunct oboe instructor at Hendrix College. She was born and raised from a family of nine in Flint, Michigan. Her father was a factory worker and her mother was a nurse. Although they did not pursue musical careers, they encouraged their children to play an instrument. Out of the nine children, Lorraine and her brother went to college to study music. Her brother chose to be a high school band director and she chose to perform in an orchestra and teach college students. After her studies and performing in groups all over the world, in 2000 she moved to Conway to teach at UCA and play Second Oboe with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. She plays in other community orchestras such as Principal Oboe in the Conway Symphony and Principal Oboe in Pine Bluff Symphony. She has also performed in orchestras outside of the State of Arkansas such as the Knoxville Symphony, TN, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Estado de Mexico and Orquesta Sinfonia de Jalapa in Mexico. As a soloist she has performed with the Fuzhou Philharmonic Orchestra in Fuzhou, China, and the Little Rock Wind Symphony. Dr. Duso spends her summers in Sidney, Maine teaching oboe at the New England Music Camp, a seven-week summer program for junior and high school students. She received her Bachelor of Music degree at Indiana University, her Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. Her teachers include Jerry Sirucek, Joseph Robinson, Tom Stacy and Harry Sargous.

Kiril Laskarov, violin

Kiril Laskarov is currently in his 12th season as Co-Concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and 6th year as Orchestra Director at the Episcopal Collegiate School. A native of Bulgaria, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State Academy of Music in Sofia and Master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. A winner of the 1995 Bulgarian National Competition, Laskarov has appeared as a soloist with the Arkansas Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Southern Illinois Symphony, Abilene (TX) Philharmonic, and Texarkana (TX) Symphony, and also presented recitals in Little Rock, Memphis, Kansas City, and Dallas.

Ryan Mooney, viola

Ryan Mooney started violin at the age of four with his aunt, Margaret Pressley. He then switched to viola at age 15 and went on to study with Ian Swenson and Jodi Levitz at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has attended such music festivals as Roundtop and Tanglewood where he had the pleasure of performing with the Mark Morris Dance Troop at Jacob’s Pillow. He was also a fellow of the Carnegie Hall exchange program where he performed with his quartet in Carnegie Hall and on a Central Asian tour.

David Renfro, horn

A native of Kingsport, Tennessee, hornist David Renfro received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Horn Performance from the Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music. His primary teachers have included Myron Bloom, Michael Hatfield, and Richard Seraphinoff. In recent years, David has performed with the Memphis, Illinois, Missouri, Owensboro, and Greenville Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.

Currently, David resides in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he is Principal Horn of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 he also became the symphony’s Orchestra Personnel and Operations Manager. Prior to that appointment, David taught horn and music at Ouachita Baptist University and Henderson State University. In addition to his duties with the orchestra, David maintains an active teaching studio and performs regularly as a chamber musician and soloist. In 2010, David performed as soloist in Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 2 with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, a performance that was lauded as “sparkling” and a “musical glory” by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Other recent solo engagements have included both Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4, K. 495 and his Sinfonia Concertante, K. 297b with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra as well as American composer James Beckel’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated concerto for horn, “The Glass Bead Game,” with the Henderson State University Wind Ensemble. The 2011-2012 season is David’s seventh season with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

Katherine Reynolds, viola

Katherine Reynolds joined the ASO as principal violist and Arts Partner in 2000. She received a Master of Music degree from SUNY at Stony Brook (NY) and a Bachelor of Music degree from the St. Louis Conservatory. Katherine also holds principal positions in the Conway Symphony and the Pine Bluff Symphony. In addition to teaching private lessons in Little Rock, "Kater" also teaches viola at the University of Central Arkansas. Most recently she was a member of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony and extra with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra.

Beth Wheeler, oboe and English horn

Beth Wheeler is a native of New Rochelle, New York. Her hometown has much to recommend it, including an excellent public school music program. It was in this program that she began playing flute, then oboe and English horn. Beth earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The Hartt College of Music. Upon completion of the Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, she moved to Little Rock and accepted the position of Principal English horn with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Beth is oboist with Etesian Winds, English hornist with the DDG Trio, and has appeared several times on the ASO River Rhapsodies Series. She has participated in the commission of several new chamber works by composers Michael Horvit, Robert Boury, Karen Griebling, John Steinmetz and Scott Millichamp. Primary oboe/English horn instructors have included Lois Wann, Thomas Stacy, Bert Lucarelli and Robert Bloom.

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 45th season in 2010-2011 under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than thirty concerts each year through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series and River Rhapsodies Chamber Series, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 24,000 school children and over 200 schools.