Program
Ferenc Farkas:
Early Hungarian Dances
Samuel Barber
Summer Music, Op. 31
Eugène Bozza
Variations sur un thème libre, Op. 42
Percy Grainger
Selections from Lincolnshire Posy
Personnel
Mary Jo White, flute
Ana Ayala, oboe
Michael Waddell, clarinet
Helena Spencer, bassoon
Grace Salyards, horn
About the Artists
Mary Jo White is UNCW’s associate professor of flute and
principal flutist of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra. Previously, she taught
at Central Michigan University, Truman State University and Boston College. Her
degrees include a bachelor’s in flute performance from East Carolina
University, a master’s in flute performance from Michigan State University, and
a doctorate in flute performance from Boston University. She performed at the
2006, 2016 and 2018 National Flute Association conventions, and the 2005 and
2016 National College Music Society conventions. In fall 2008, White recorded
the complete solo flute works of Benjamin Boone on her CD Flute, Naturally, and
has another scheduled for release in spring 2019, recorded with harpist
Christina Brier.
Ana Ayala was born in Caracas, Venezuela, where she began
her musical training at the age of five. A year later, her family moved to New
York, where she began to study the flute and oboe. Ayala has studied at SUNY
Stony Brook University (D.M.A), CUNY Brooklyn College (Music Ed), Aaron Copland
School of Music at CUNY Queens College (M.A) and SUNY Purchase College (B.A).
Ayala has participated in numerous master classes and festivals, and has
performed in prestigious concert halls around the world, including Carnegie
Hall, Lincoln Center, and Sala São Paulo. Ayala is the oboe instructor at UNCW.
Mike Waddell is a native of Wilmington, N.C., with a
master’s from the University of Michigan in clarinet performance and a
bachelor’s from East Carolina University in music education. His teachers
include David Shifrin, Robert Listokin, Fred Ormand, Buddy DeFranco (jazz), and
Donald Sinta (saxophone). Waddell is the recipient of two Jazz Composer
Fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council (1994 and 1999), as well as
two Regional Project Artist Grants from the United Arts Council (1998 and
2004). Since the late 1970s, he has performed on clarinet and saxophones in a
number of styles, touring in the United States and abroad.
Helena Kopchick Spencer is assistant professor of music
history, and affiliated faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies at UNCW. She
holds orchestral positions with the Opera Wilmington Orchestra, the Oregon
Mozart Players, the Eugene Opera Orchestra, the Long Bay Symphony, and performs
with the UNCW Faculty Woodwind Quintet, UNCW Early Music Consort, and the Pro
Musica contemporary chamber ensemble. Spencer holds degrees from the Cleveland
Institute of Music (B.M. Performance, with academic honors) and the University
of Oregon (M.M. Performance, Ph.D. Musicology), with additional studies at
Michigan State University, Brevard Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival
and School.
Grace Salyards is an active freelance musician in and around
the Raleigh area, where she is a frequent performer with the North Carolina
Symphony, Charleston Symphony and North Carolina Opera. As the UNCW horn
instructor, she plays with the faculty woodwind and brass quintets. Salyards,
who studied with horn players and pedagogues Lisa Bontrager, Peter Kurau,
Andrew Bain, David Wakefield, and Jennifer Burch, received her bachelor’s from
the Eastman School of Music and her master’s from Penn State University, both
in horn performance.