Purchase tickets $20 general admission Students free (ticket required) Mead Witter School of Music Faculty Artist Series Eleni Katz, bassoon Christopher Taylor, piano Gabrielle Herbst, composer Richard Brasseale, composer & saxophone Marc Vallon, composer Alicia Lee, clarinet Jean Laurenz, trumpet Dawn Wohn, violin Matthew Zalkind, cello …… Program Fantasia no. 3 Georg Philip Telemann Elephant Suite 12 Gabrielle Herbst 1. The Tail that Trills 2. Tusks as Teeth 3. The Trunk that Drinks 4. The Lost Elephant 5. A Trek through the Savannahs Enlaced Friendship Richard Brasseale I. A Royal Blue Thread II. The River at the Base of the Summit III. Combing through the Thick Water IV. Electric Exchange V. Unbreakable Unforgettable Unstoppable VI. Pedaling Forward VII. The Song of this Journey VIII. The Thread is Infinite Intermission High Tide Marc Vallon La revue de cuisine Bohuslav Martinů I. Prologue II. Tango III. Charleston IV. Final …… Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, bassoonist Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Her “thoughtful and expressive” approach to music making has led her to performances by the bright blue waters of Bermuda to the lights of Carnegie Hall (San Diego Union Tribune). Eleni is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and has performed with the likes of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Currently, Eleni is bassoon teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. As a classically trained singer from Iowa City, Katz has always believed that the bassoon should emulate the organic nature of the human voice and her approach to playing the bassoon has been described as “uncannily human” (The Royal Gazette). In 2021, she commissioned and premiered “Sea Glass Partita for Singing Bassoonist” with composer Lila Meretzky. Drawing its lyrics from a poem that Eleni composed, the piece intersperses bassoon performance with singing and visual projections. Since the performance of this work, Eleni has commissioned several other works for bassoon that are multidisciplinary experiences by Tanner Porter, Harry Castle, and Richard Brasseale. In May 2024, Eleni Katz co-released an album featuring Richard Brasseale’s composition Enlaced Friendship, a work based on her original poetry that premiered at the New World Symphony in April 2023. A few of Eleni’s 25-26 season highlights include performances with Camerata Pacifica, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, and a return to Phoenix Chamber Music Society. Other recent appearances include Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival, Highlands Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, Newport Classical, Ibagué Festival in Colombia, a California tour with the Concert Truck, Chamber Music Socie...
