2005-2006 Pelican Series Artist Biographies

Katherine Kemler is the Carl Prince Matthies Professor of Flute at LSU, as well as flutist with the Timm Wind Quintet, and a regular visiting teacher at the Oxford Flute Summer School in England. A graduate of Oberlin, she received her M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook. She has taught master classes and performed solo recitals at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China and the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts. She has appeared as soloist with the British Chamber Orchestra in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, and with the Orchestra Medicea Laurenziana throughout Italy, including Florence, Naples, and Salerno. She has recorded three CDs with Centaur Records: Virtuoso American Flute Works (with pianists Jan Grimes and Kathleen Rountree), Sky Loom (with harpist Ann Benjamin), and Sonatina (with pianist Michael Gurt). She has also recorded on the Orion and Opus One Labels.

James Ryon, oboe, is currently the Principal Oboist of the Baton Rouge Symphony as well as Associate Professor of Oboe at Louisiana State University, where he is a member of the Timm Wind Quintet and the Burle Marx Trio. He holds the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, a degree in Engineering & Applied Science from Yale University and has received performance fellowships at the Aspen, Berkshire, Blossom, Kneisel Hall and New College Music Festivals. He has also served as Principal Oboist with the Akron Symphony and Professor of Music at the University of Akron, where he was a member of the Solaris Qiuintet. His CD of 20th Century Brazilian Chamber Music for Oboe, Cello and Piano with the Burle Marx Trio has been released by Jeanné Digital. His two recordings with Solaris may be found on Capstone Records.

Justin O'Dell, clarinet, is the newest addition to the woodwind faculty in the School of Music at Louisiana State University. He recently graduated from the University of Michigan with the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and he holds a Master of Music degree from Yale University and Bachelor of Music degree from Western Michigan University. Before attending Yale, O'Dell received an Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Grant and a WMU Presidential Grant, which supported further study in Germany with Wolfgang Meyer at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe. He has appeared at various music festivals around the world, including the Leipzig Summer Music Academy, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Londrina (Brazil) Festival for Music and Art, and the Coursi dei Maestri in Montepulciano, Italy.

William Ludwig is the Julian and Sydney Carruth Professor of Bassoon at LSU. He also serves as principal bassoonist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, bassoonist with the Timm Wind Quintet, and director of the LSU Chamber Winds. During recent summers, he has been in residence at the Brevard Music Center and the Highlands (NC) Chamber Music Festival.  Ludwig has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout the United States and Europe, including performances with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and with the Ars Nova Wind Quintet at the Prague Spring International Music Festival. His recordings include a solo CD with Centaur Records and a series of wind quintet recordings for the Musical Heritage Society and two soon to be released CDs with Mark Records.

Griffin Campbell, saxophone, has appeared to critical acclaim as a performer throughout the United States and in China, Italy, Great Britain, and Japan. Conference performances include solo appearances at meetings of the World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, the Society of Composers, Inc., the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, and the International Computer Music Conference. His recordings can be found on the Capstone, Centaur, Electronic Music Foundation, SEAMUS, Vestige, and WorldWinds labels. He holds degrees from Michigan State University and Pfeiffer College. He is the Regional Director for the Southeastern US and Puerto Rico for the North American Saxophone Alliance, and is Professor of Saxophone and Chair of the Instrumental Performance Division of the LSU School of Music.

Seth Orgel, horn, is originally from Syracuse, New York, and attended Northwestern University, where he studied with Dale Clevenger and Richard Oldberg. After receiving his degree he joined the horn section of the Syracuse Symphony, performing with the orchestra for over ten seasons. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Filarmonica de Caracas, and played principal horn with the Rhode Island Philharmonic as well as with other orchestras throughout the Northeast and Southeastern United States. Mr. Orgel is an Assistant Professor of Music at Louisiana State University where he performs with both the Timm Woodwind Quintet and Norem Brass Quintet. He is also a member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet.

Michael Gurt, Professor of Piano and keyboard division chairman at LSU, is also the head of the piano department at the Sewanee Summer Music Center. He has served as Piano Chair of the Louisiana Music Teachers Association, and he has taught at two summer music seminars held at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan. Gurt holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School. In 1982 he won First Prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and he was also a prize winner in international competitions held in Pretoria, South Africa, and Sydney, Australia. Gurt has performed as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Capetown Symphony, and the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa. He has made solo appearances in Alice Tully Hall in New York, Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, City Hall in Hong Kong, the Victorian Arts Center in Melbourne, Australia, Baxter Hall in Capetown, South Africa, and the Attaturk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Turkey. He has recorded on the Naxos, Centaur, and Redwood labels.

Jennifer Hayghe, piano, has performed in solo recitals and orchestral appearances throughout the world, including the United States, Europe and Asia. She is currently a visiting profeesor of piano at Ithaca College, on leave from LSU. Prof. Hayghe received her bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees in piano performance from The Juilliard School, where she was the last student of the legendary artist-teacher Adele Marcus. Hayghe won every award possible for a Juilliard pianist to receive, including the William Petschek Debut Award, resulting in her New York City recital debut at Alice Tully Hall.  Also an accomplished chamber musician, Hayghe continues to collaborate with members of the New York Philharmonic and has performed in major chamber music series, including the Museum of Modern Art's "Summergarden" series and Bargemusic in New York. She has also performed as a chamber musician in the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center and has taught chamber music throughout the United States and Central America.

Lori Bade, mezzo-soprano, serves as Associate Professor of Voice and Vocal Arts Area Coordinator at LSU. Prof. Bade has achieved great success throughout the South, Southwest, and Washington state. She has appeared with numerous opera companies including the Shreveport, Austin Lyric, Pensacola, Mobile, Spokane, and New Orleans Opera. She has performed the major concert works of J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Duruflé, Handel, Haydn, Mahler, Mozart, Rutter, Tippett and Vaughan Williams with such orchestras as the Austin, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Flagstaff, Santa Fe, Memphis, Virginia, Rapides, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, Pensacola, University of Chicago, and Louisiana Philharmonic.  Prof. Bade has been awarded prizes from the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, MacAllister Awards for Opera Singers, and the National Federation of Music Clubs. She holds a D.M.A. in Vocal Performance from The University of Texas at Austin and she received an Outstanding Young Graduate Award from Texas Lutheran University (1996) and Tiger Excellence in Teaching Awards from Louisiana State University (1997 and 2005).

James Alexander, violin, is a graduate of Louisiana State University. He continued his studies in New York with Ivan Galamian and later in London with Yfrah Neaman and Edith Vogel. He was awarded the Concert Recital Diploma (Premiere Prix) from the Guildhall School of Music in London. He served for three years as Associate Principal of the second violins in the Southwest German Philharmonic and held the same position for nine years in the St Gallen Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland. He has also worked regularly with the OSESP Orchestra in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since 1998, Mr Alexander has been a member of the faculty at Louisiana State University teaching violin. In addition,
he is an active chamber musician and soloist having performed throughout central Europe, the United States and in Brazil.

Kevork Mardirossian, violin, is a native of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and Associate Professor of Violin at LSU.  He studied at the Plovdiv Music School and the Bulgarian National Conservatory in Sofia where he graduated as master of music in 1980. He was a student of A. Hadjiatanasov and Vladimir Avramov, and during that time won the highest national awards offered in Bulgaria: 1st prize in the National Instrumental Competition, 1st prize in the Svetoslav Obretenov National Competition, and a Gold Medal in the Katia Popova International Music Festival. He later continued his studies with Arthur Grumiaux and Yfrah Neaman. As a concert artist of the Bulgarian State Agency, he has performed regularly throughout Bulgaria, former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe (over 250 performances between 1980-1985), as concerto soloist and as recitalist, establishing himself as one of Bulgaria’s leading and best-loved artists.  He has appeared as guest artist at International music festivals in Cheltenham, England, the European Cultural Months, the International Chamber Music Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the Czech Festival in Trento, Italy, and the Sofia Musical Weeks.

Alan Bodman began violin study at age four with his father, Lyman Bodman, Professor Emeritus of Violin and Viola at Michigan State University, and his career has been marked by success ever since. He received his B.M. from Michigan State University and his M.M. from the University of Michigan. His major violin studies include work with Ivan Galamian, Dorothy DeLay, and Paul Makanowitzky. In 1973, he joined the Washington State University faculty and became well known as a soloist with numerous orchestras throughout the Northwest. In 1986, he returned east to join the faculties of the University of Akron, and the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Meadowmount School of Music in New York State. Formerly the Principal Violist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, he now performs as Concertmaster. In 1988 he and his wife, violinist, Amy Barlowe, formed the Duo [AB2] and have recorded for the Medici record label. Strad Magazine attributes Mr. Bodman's playing with "...delectable sound...silken-toned...musically introspective."

Dennis Parker is Professor of Cello and Coordinator of String Chamber Music at LSU. He appears frequently as soloist, recitalist, collaborator and guest professor at numerous universities and festivals. He has been on the LSU faculty since 1988 and he was principal cellist of the Baton Rouge Symphony from 1988 to 1998. He is a former member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and served as Principal Cellist of the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He received his early training with Channing Robbins of the Juilliard School in New York City. He was also a student of Janos Starker at Indiana University and Aldo Parisot at Yale where he served as Mr. Parisot's teaching assistant. In recent years, Parker has researched, performed and recorded works of composers who perished in the Holocaust. His recording "Cello Matters" featuring works by Pitombeira, Schnyder, David Baker and Piazzola is available from Centaur.

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