FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2004

SFA clarinet and oboe faculty featured in concert

Stephen F. Austin State University music faculty members Christopher Ayer and John W. Goodall will be featured performers in the first concert of the Chamber Music in the Pines Festival at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 17, in Cole Concert Hall.

Performing with Ayer and Goodall will be SFA faculty members Jennifer Dalmas and Evgeni Raychev on violin and cello, respectively; Meredith Maddox, violinist with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra; and David Hermann, associate principal viola with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Ayer, SFA assistant professor and coordinator of clarinet studies, will be featured on W. A. Mozart’s “Clarinet Quintet in A major.”

When Mozart wrote the piece, the clarinet was just beginning to be regarded as a serious orchestral instrument, explained Goodall, SFA professor and artistic director of the Chamber festival.

“Mozart enjoyed writing for clarinet and did so masterfully. At the same time, he did not relegate the string quartet to a mere accompaniment,” Goodall said.

Ayer has been an active adjudicator and performer in solo and chamber recitals throughout the United States and Canada. He is a member of the Stone Fort Wind Quintet and principal clarinet for the Orchestra of the Pines.

After receiving his Master of Music degree in clarinet performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, he earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has studied with Thomas Martin, associate principal clarinet with the Boston Symphony, and Ronald de Kant, former principal clarinet of the Vancouver Symphony.

“Oboe Quintet” by Sir Arnold Bax will feature Goodall, who said the three-movement piece displays an impressive variety of textures and colors.

“The score is filled with tunes and fragments of tunes that are original but sound like Irish folk music which deeply influenced many of Bax’s works,” Goodall explained.

Goodall is a member of the Stone Fort Wind Quintet, is the principal oboe with the Orchestra of the Pines and frequently performs with the Shreveport Symphony and the Longview Symphony Orchestra.

Goodall has served as a clinician and soloist throughout the United States and Europe. Recent venues include the Conference of the International Double Reed Society, the College Band Directors National Association convention, the Texas Music Teachers Association convention, and the Monestary at Orvelte in The Netherlands.

He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas and his Master of Music degree from Kent State University. Both degrees were in oboe performance. He has studied oboe with Joseph Robinson, principal oboe with the New York Philharmonic, and John Mack, principal oboe with the Cleveland Orchestra.

The festival consists of three other concerts: a string quartet concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 20; a piano with strings concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 23; and an all-Bach concert at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 25.

The festival is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and the Department of Music. It is sponsored in part by Ed and Gwen Cole.

Tickets are available for single concerts or for the entire festival. Individual event tickets are $10 for adults, $7.50 for seniors and $5 for students and children. Festival season tickets are $30 for adults, $22.50 for seniors and $15 for students and children.

To order tickets or for more information, please call (936) 468-6407 or 1-888-240-ARTS or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.