2005

Davide Cabassi
Concert Pianist
Cliburn Piano Competition Finalist

The Van Cliburn Piano Competition Finalist Davide Cabassi made his orchestral debut at the age of thirdteen with the RAI Radio Symphony Orchestra in Milan. He has also collaborated with the Munich Philharmonic, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen and the Russian Chamber Philharmonic, as well as with several Italian orchestras, working with such conductors as Gustav Kuhn, James Conlon, Asher Fisch, and Vladimir Delman, among others. In recital, he has been engaged by most of the prominent musical associations of his native country, including Serate Musicali and Societa dei Concerti in Milan and Festival Pianistico in Brescia and Bergamo.

2005

Blackburn and Lang
Percussion and Flute

Helen Blackburn is currently principal flute of the Dallas Opera Orchestra and is on the faculty of Texas Christian University. She appears frequently in recital across the country and in Europe as a soloist and also with her husband, Drew Lang, in their flute/marimba duo. Ms. Blackburn has numerous credits with major performing arts organizations, both as a featured soloist and as a member, including the Aspen Music Festival, the South Bohemia Music Festival, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. A prizewinner of the Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition, the Ft. Collins Young Artist Competition, and the Aspen Wind Concerto Competition, she has served on the faculties of Stephen F. Austin State University and McMurry University and is a former president of the Texas Flute Society.

2005

Lone Star Brass
Quintet

The string quartet, hired in 1977, was so successful that in 1981 the Lone Star Brass Quintet was formed by Symphony principals and has been in existence ever since. In addition to giving concerts in the Permian Basin, the quintet has toured the U.S. and Mexico and has issued several recordings. Michael Santorelli, Coprincipal Trumpet of the MidlandOdessa Symphony, has been a member of the quintet since its formation.

2006

Albert Wong
Pianist

The young American pianist, Albert Wong, has resided in Carrollton, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), since September 1990. Even though he could sing many entire songs before he could speak complete sentences, his musical interest was not revealed until he saw and heard the piano at age threeandahalf. When he was four he enjoyed the instrument so much that he announced to everyone that he wanted to be a concert pianist. He won the grand prize of the North Texas Piano Competition at age five.

Albert Wong gave his first solo recital at age six and made his orchestral debut at seven, playing Bach’s Concerto in F minor, shortly after he won first price in the Dallas Symphonic Piano Concerto Competition. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 quite unexpectedly, thanks to his teacher Earl Wild.

2006

Sylvan Chamber Ensemble

2006

Adam Wodnicki
Pianist

Internationally renowned pianist, recording artist and pedagogue, Polishborn artist Adam Wodnicki has received acclaim on five continents for his dramatic interpretations, poetic sensitivity and brilliant technique. He can be heard on Muza, Folkways, Centaur, Wergo, Altarus, Klavier, and Dux labels. Recordings of cello and piano sonatas by Dzubay, Muczynski and Shostakovich with cellist Carter Enyeart (Centaur) and solo discs with piano works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski (Altarus) received rave notices: ‘one of the year’s best contemporary chamber music albums’ (Chicago Tribune), ‘incontestable brilliance’ (H.C. Schonberg in American Record Guide), and ‘a recording by a master pianist’ (Journal of the American Liszt Society).

2006

David Asbury
Classical Guitarist

Asbury, who has played on concert stages throughout the United States, Europe, and Central America, will be performing classical pieces from the 19th and 20th century. According to BCF Music and Worship Division Chair Don Odom, "David Asbury is one of the upcoming guitar recitalists in America today.

2006

Robert Bates
Organist

Robert Bates is Professor of Organ at the Moores School of Music, the University of Houston. Previously he was University Organist at Stanford University, where he received a Ph.D. in musicology. He has won prizes for organ performance in Fort Wayne, San Antonio, Detroit and Bruges, and has also been awarded the Prix d'Excellence and the Prix de Virtuosité from the class of MarieClaire Alain. Other teachers of performance and improvisation include Robert Anderson, Ray Ferguson and Daniel Roth. Dr. Bates is a specialist in early Spanish and French organ music, the history of theory, and early tuning systems; his articles have appeared in The Organ Yearbook, Music and Letters, Histoire des Sciences and Performance Practice Review. During the 201213 academic year, Dr Bates will be a Fellow of the Institute of Sacred music and Senior Research Scholar at Yale University, where he plans to complete a book on the history of the organ of the French Renaissance based on builders’ contracts from the sixteenth century. He is also a published composer.