October 6

Known worldwide not only for his outstanding technical and musical skill, Israeli-born Matt is also known for his highly unusual concert career and repertoire choices. He is as likely to be found playing Bach at a coffee house, jazz or rock club throughout North America as he is in one of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. Matt made his debut in 1984 at age of 13, as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic. At 17 he made his first recording, performing the Saint-Saëns, Lalo, and Bruch concerti with James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has gone on to perform on the world’s most esteemed stages with such orchestras and conductors as the Berlin Philharmonic with James Levine, the New York Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, the English Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatin and the Cleveland Orchestra with Charles Dutoit. Alongside his performing and recording activities, Matt is Professor of Cello at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He has established an award-winning cello studio, with students taking first prize in Canada’s prestigious Eckhardt-Grammatté Competition and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, among others. Prior to joining McGill University, he spent five years as head of the cello program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Matt studied at the Collegiate School in New York and at the Juilliard School, in the final class of Leonard Rose, after which he continued his cello studies with Ronald Leonard and Yo-Yo Ma. In 1996, he received a B.A. magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard University. Matt plays a Venetian cello, made in 1710 by Matteo Gofriller.

October 21

Tales & Scales is the nation’s only ‘music-telling’ ensemble. Since 1986, the troupe of instrumental musicians has worked with the brightest emerging composers, writers, and theatre directors to creative innovative new works each year to ignite the imaginations of children and family audiences. Using minimal sets and costumes, the uniquely-talented musicians of Tales & Scales spin music, story, theatre and dance into an unforgettable ‘musictelling’ performance experience that dazzles audiences of all ages.

November 3

Working in oil, pastel or monotype, Cedar Falls artist Gary Kelley has created illustrations for The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and numerous other publications over the years. He also created the famous author murals reproduced in Barnes and Noble Bookstores nationwide. Gary’s work has earned him 27 gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York since 1981. He has illustrated 16 picture books and was the featured American artist at the prestigious Montreuil Children’s Book Fair in Paris in 1998. In 2002, Gary was chosen to be the official artist for the Kentucky Derby. He has lectured extensively, including at The Smithsonian and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C., the Societies of Illustrators in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas as well as at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Chicago Art Institute.

December 15

A native of Dyersville, Lis March has been playing guitar and singing since she was a small child and later, was a voice and clarinet major at the University of Northern Iowa. Lis has been lead singer, rhythm guitarist, sax and flute player for the regional and local bands Surprise, The Tunes, Mischief, Quickdraw, Remember the Alamo, and Santa Anna Wind. In 1994 she was the Midwest Regional winner of the TNN Be A Star television show competition and the following year Remember the Alamo took 2nd Place out of over 300 bands in the Nationals of the same competition in Nashville. The band also had several regional radio hits with their original songs. From 1996-2001, Lis was Musical Director at the Waterloo Community Playhouse for their productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Annie, Sound of Music, State Fair, Fiddler on the Roof, and Jesus Christ Superstar, in which she also starred as Mary Magdalene. She is a private voice instructor and owner of the Lis March Vocal Academy in Waterloo where she has taught state, regional and national award-winning singers for 16 years.

Cedar Harmony Chorus of Sweet Adelines International is a group of approximately 40 fun-filled, energetic, harmonizing women from a 50-mile radius of the Cedar Falls/Waterloo metropolitan area who meet every Monday night to sing.  Members come from Independence, Waverly, Hudson, Ackley ... all over! (Director Sally Eggleston is from Cedar Rapids!) Singing and ringing chords in the area since May of 1960, the chorus performs at civic functions, festivals, private parties ­ anywhere quality entertainment is desired. In addition to special performances, the chorus presents an annual show featuring the chorus, registered Sweet Adelines International quartets, small groups from within the chorus and invited guest musicians. Cedar Harmony also competes in the Sweet Adelines International Region 22 annual competition each spring in Wisconsin. Chorus membership is open to women age 12 and up, and rehearsals are open. The group rehearses on Monday nights from 7:00 to 10:00 at Valley Lutheran High School on Greenhill Road in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They love visitors, whether they just want to hear the group sing or are considering joining and want to check them out first. They say, please be our guest! For more information about chorus membership contact Lana at 319-277-6715 or lhochreiter@cfu.net. More information about Cedar Harmony can be found at cedarharmony.binhost.com.

Saturday, January 12

Violinist and composer Philip Wharton has toured with the Guildhall Wind Ensemble and also with Gidon Kremer and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie. Performers have commissioned his music for recitals at two International Double Reed Society Conferences, the International Trombone Society Conference, and for the ClarinetFest. Philip has worked with the Dale Warland Singers on my first setting of Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky. The Iowa Arts Council and Dorian Opera Theatre jointly commissioned his children’s opera … and out the other side. Interested in collaborative projects, he worked with choreographer Jay Franke to produce Five Steps to Murder. Philip also wrote two short comic operas, The Soap Opera and Two Saintes Caught in the Same Act, for an evening entitled Four Short-Ordered Operas at Lincoln Center. In 2005, he also wrote and performed his own violin concerto at Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Symphony. The 2005-06 season featured a new work, There was a Star Danced commissioned by the Alabama Orchestra Association, which was then performed by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony. Philip holds degrees from The Juilliard School (DMA), Eastman School of Music (MM), and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Adv. Cert.).

Saturday, February 2

Claudia Anderson joined the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony as Principal Flute in 2005.  A performer and teacher in demand throughout the U.S., she has taught in Iowa at the Universities of Iowa and Northern Iowa and is currently on the faculty at Grinnell College. Other teaching positions have included Ithaca College and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Claudia's orchestral career began in the Toledo (OH) Symphony while still a student at the University of Michigan. From there she journeyed to Italy on a Fulbright Scholarship and became Principal Flute of one of Italy's major opera houses, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo where she played opera, chamber and symphonic music for five years. Since her return to the U.S., Claudia has been very active as a solo, chamber, and orchestral performer as well as a frequent guest artist/clinician at colleges and regional flute festivals around the country.  She played Solo Piccolo with the Cedar Rapids Symphony for ten years (1986-1996) and earned her DMA at the University of Iowa in 1990.  She is active in the National Flute Association, performing and adjudicating at numerous national conventions. Claudia's chamber collaborations have always held high priority in her musical life, and she has had successful duos with guitar (Le Due), flute (ZAWA!), cello, and oboe.  Equally at home in both the standard and contemporary repertoire, Claudia has commissioned and arranged works for solo and duo format; she and oboist William McMullen recently released a CD on Centaur Records of duos for flute and oboe. Other solo and duo recordings appear on the Neuma and Centaur labels. Her recent chamber initiative, New Prairie Camerata--a core ensemble of flute, violin and harp based in Grinnell--links performance with history and architecture by performing in nontraditional spaces that showcase local gems and stimulate community participation.

Sunday, February 17

Ed East is Panamanian. His upbringing in Panama City meant noise, hustle, bustle, and those chaotic smells and sights so characteristic of any Third World metropolis. It also meant a fierce need for individuality and lots of musical innovation and creativity, as expressed in the work of his compatriot, Ruben Blades. Karin Stein, his Columbian partner, brings to the music of Calle Sur the perspective of her rural upbringing. Very rural, that is. She is a cowgirl from the eastern Llanos or plains of Columbia. No kidding. While he rode buses and watched T.V., she rode horses and watched the red ibis stalk across emerald green rice fields. There was no T.V. in her neck of the woods. No electricity for that matter. Only a small transistor radio which sometimes worked, and from which she gleaned tidbits of an outer world. His veins were filled with the fusion of world beats, converging in a big city. Her soul harbored haunting cowboy tunes from her traditional Llanero culture, a fascinating people whose music remains one of Latin America’s best kept secrets. Calle Sur (Kah-yeh SOOR), Spanish for ‘South Street’, has traveled nationwide and internationally, has been featured on a variety of T.V. shows, and has provided the film score for three documentaries. Calle Sur’s lively concerts are sprinkled with anecdotes and humor, which will make you remember these charismatic and talented Latin musicians for years to come.

Saturday, March 1

Soprano Rosemary Gast has distinguished herself as a recitalist and soloist in both symphonic and operatic productions throughout the Midwest. She has performed with the Missouri Symphony, the Bel Canto Society of Milwaukee, Western Plaines Opera, Fargo Civic Opera and the Fargo Symphony, among others. Rosemary was a district winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, twice winner of the Bel Canto Regional Artists Competition, two-time recipient of the Fredrich Schorr Performance Prize in Voice and has been a regional finalist at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Auditions. She received her bachelor of music degree from Simpson College. She is a Doctor Musical Arts candidate at the University of Iowa, where she earned her Master of Arts degree in vocal performance and pedagogy. Rosemary has taught music at Augustana College, Concordia College, Drake University, Luther College and is currently teaching voice at Wartburg College. She also maintains a private studio at her hometown of Steamboat Rock.

Bass-baritone John Hines has performed with opera companies, oratorio societies, and symphony orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, including Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Cleveland, Asheville Lyric Opera, Grand Rapids Symphony and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Though his imposing presence, both vocally and physically, make him a natural suitor for the dramatic baritone roles in the operas of Richard Wagner, John’s work encompasses operatic and concert literature of diverse styles. In October he made his Russian recital debut at the Herzen Pedagogical University in St. Petersburg, Russia performing repertoire that ranged from opera to American art song and musical theatre. He has also performed solo cantatas by J.S. Bach as well as orchestrated performances of Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Gerald Finzi’s In terra pax, and Ruth Watson Henderson’s From Darkness to Light. Oratorio engagements include acclaimed performances of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B-Minor, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, both the roles of Raphaël and Adam in Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah and Dettingen’s Te Deum, the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the Stabat Mater settings of Rossini and Dvorak, as well as the requiem masses of Mozart, Brahms, Fauré and Verdi. Most recent operatic engagements include singing the role of the Mandarin in Turandot (Opera Grand Rapids), Baron Scarpia in Tosca (Asheville Lyric Opera), Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro (as Guest Alumni with Kent State University Opera Theatre), and Fritz Kothner in Die Meistersinger (Opera Cleveland). John is an Assistant Professor of Voice at The University of Northern Iowa.

Saturday, April 5

Alexander Solomon, pianist, earned a master’s and performance diploma at Yale School of Music and has worked towards a doctorate at the Peabody Conservatory under pianist and pedagogue Leon Fleisher. Mr. Solomon graduated cum laude in biology from Yale College and with distinction from Stanford Law School, where he was managing editor of the Law Review. His past instructors have included Peter Frankl, Claude Frank, Boris Berman, and Olegna Fuschi. Among Mr. Solomon’s achievements are first place in the William Waite Concerto Competition, the Bergen County Philharmonic Concerto Competition, and the Stanford Symphony Orchestra Competition; second place in the National Federation of Music Clubs National Competition; third place in the Kingsville International Music Competition; and finalist in the Concert Artist Guild Audition. Mr. Solomon was also a semi-finalist in the first International e-Piano Competition and the San Antonio International Piano Competition. At Juilliard Pre-College Division, Mr. Solomon was recognized as one of six outstanding graduates, and at Yale was the recipient of the New Prize for exemplary representation of Jonathan Edwards College. A frequent performer, Mr. Solomon has appeared in the New York area and elsewhere in the United States. Highlights of overseas performances include an appearance with a touring orchestra in Ibiza, Spain and a recital at the Chopin house in Valdemosa, Spain. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Solomon has participated in the Taos, Verbier, Norfolk, Ravinia, and Sarasota summer music festivals. Mr. Solomon has also been a resident artist at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada.

April 26-27

Doug LaBrecque thrilled theatre audiences as The Phantom and Raoul in the Harold Prince production of The Phantom of the Opera.  In addition, he has starred on Broadway as Ravenal in the Hal Prince revival of Showboat, a role he also performed in Canada and Chicago.  Featured in Oscar Hammerstein’s 100th Birthday Celebration on Broadway at The Gershwin Theatre, he toured nationally with Les Miserables. Regionally, Doug has performed leading roles in Candide, A Chorus Line, Man of LaMancha among many others.  A graduate of University of Michigan he was also featured in the world premiere of A Wonderful Life, written by Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo, and starred in the premiere revival of Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner’s Love Life. An active concert performer he has been a soloist with some of the world’s finest symphony orchestras including The National Symphony, The Israel Philharmonic (Tel Aviv), The Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Atlanta Symphony, The San Francisco Symphony, among many others. In the last few years, Doug’s U.S. appearances have included Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, and with Marvin Hamlisch both at the Ravinia Festival with The Chicago Symphony, and with The Pittsburgh Symphony.  He has also hosted the Yuletide Celebration with the Portland and Seattle Symphonies.  International engagements have included The Korean National Symphony in Seoul, Korea, The Shanghai Radio Orchestra in China, The Vancouver and Calgary Symphonies in Canada, The Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro, The Jerusalem Symphony, and numerous return engagements with the Israel Philharmonic. He recently appeared in Alba, Italy as the guest soloist in an all Bernstein concert.   Last season, he appeared with the Cincinnati Pops, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra as well as the National Symphony and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, both conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. For Doug's CD information, log onto www.douglabrecque.com

Debbie Gravitte's varied career has taken her from the Broadway stage to the symphony hall and points between. She won the prestigious Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Jerome Robbins’s Broadway, along with a Drama Desk Award Nomination and New York Showstopper Award. After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of They’re Playing Our Song, she went on to appear in Perfectly Frank (Drama Desk Award nomination), Blues in the Night, Ain’t Broadway Grand, Zorba, Chicago and Les Miserables. Debbie has appeared in the Encores series productions of The Boys from Syracuse, Tenderloin, and Carnival at New York’s City Center. Debbie has performed her nightclub act worldwide, from New York’s Rainbow and Stars to London’s Pizza on the Park and back home again to Atlantic City, where she’s had the honor to perform with Jay Leno, Harry Anderson, and the legendary George Burns. She has sung with numerous symphony orchestras including the National Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), the Boston Pops, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, Atlanta Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Utah Symphony, as well as the St. Louis, Houston and San Diego Symphonies. Overseas, Debbie has sung with the London, Aalborg, and Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, the Stockholm Philharmonic, the Gotesborg and Jerusalem Symphonies, Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Symphonica of Brazil. In May of 2007, she performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in The 3 Broadway Divas. On television,  Debbie co-starred on the CBS series Trial and Error, was seen on NBC’s Pursuit of Happiness, and has starred in several specials for PBS, including /i>Live from The Kennedy Center, The Boston Pops Celebrate Bernstein, Rodgers and Hart for Great Performances and Ira Gershwin’s 100th Birthday Celebration from London’s Royal Albert Hall and also from Carnegie Hall. Debbie recently released her latest CD, Defying Gravity and recently debuted with the New York City Ballet, singing in Peter Martin’s Thou Swell at Lincoln Center. She appeared with Bette Midler in the Universal Feature Isn’t She Great? and can be heard as one of the voices in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Jan Horvath was a member of the original Broadway company of The Phantom of the Opera where she performed the roles of Christine and Carlotta. Other Broadway credits include The Threepenny Opera starring Sting, Sweet Charity starring Debbie Allen, Stardust Express and Oliver! In addition to her Broadway credits Ms. Horvath sang the leading role of Grizabella in the National Touring Company of CATS. Off Broadway credits include the Mother in Yoko Ono's New York Rock (Original cast recording on Capitol Records), Svetlana in the revised version of Chess, and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Internationally, she starred as Queen Isabella in the world premiere of Encounter 500 at La Sistina in Rome, Italy, and was featured in The Bernstein Mass at the Vatican as a part of the Jubilee Celebration. She made her Carnegie Hall debut singing in Bernstein’s Mass in 2002 and appeared with The New York Pops and the late Skitch Henderson in The Three Broadway Divas concert. Regionally, Ms. Horvath has performed a variety of roles including Eva Peron in Evita, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Chairy Barnum in Barnum. She sang on the sound track for the animated film Anastasia. For the past ten years Ms. Horvath has been the soprano soloist with Bravo Broadway and is featured on the CDs BRAVO Broadway! and BRAVO Broadway II. She has worked with such legendary talents as Marvin Hamlisch, Doc Severinsen, Erich Kunzel, Richard Hayman, Skitch Henderson and has appeared as a guest soloist with over one hundred orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic (Tel Aviv), National Symphony, New York Pops, Minnesota Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Radio Orchestra in China among many others. In May, 2007, Ms. Horvath traveled to Hong Kong to perform with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and in July, she performed in an all Andrew Lloyd Webber concert in Palermo, Italy. Ms. Horvath is a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She is currently featured on the recently released CD entitled The 3 Broadway Divas with fellow Divas Debbie Gravitte and Christiane Noll.