Students Showcase Talent at Prestigious Recital

Six talented students, winners of the 2013-2014 University of Redlands School of Music (URSM) Auditions recently performed in the President's Honor Recital at the Memorial Chapel, University of Redlands (UR). The recital, which has showcased UR talent since 1983 was open to the public at no charge. Any student taking private music lessons with University of Redlands faculty may enter in the competition. The six students featured in the recital were the winners out of 17 finalists in the competition. Featured in the recital was Laura Evans, a sophomore at the UR who is pursuing a Bachelor in Music in violin performance and composition. She was featured as a soloist on the MTAC Showcase recital, MTAC Honors Recital, the UR Youth Symphony Showcase Concert and Youth Ensemble of Strings Orchestra at the Redlands Bowl. Evans took up music from her mother and grandmother, who are both violinists. Acting, hiking, traveling, and rock climbing join music as her life-long passions. She has participated in the Community School of Music Summer Workshop at the UR and the Jascha Heifetz Symposium of Individual Style at the Connecticut College, and hopes to continue sharing her love for music around the world. Nicolai Gervasi-Monarrez has been playing the saxophone since middle school, continuing through high school where he took on several leading positions in the jazz band. He later joined the Luke Ellington Honor Jazz Band, where he performed for 2 years. He is pursuing a music performance major, studying with Dr. Eddie Smith in several university bands. Pianist Edmar Oliveira found his passion for music in middle school, where his teacher would play classical music at the beginning of each class. "I knew I had to become a musician,” Oliveira said. He soon picked up the cello and participated in many performances during his middle school and high school years, all the while taking private piano lessons. He is studying piano and is planning on obtaining a doctorate after his undergraduate studies. Kelly McGrath, a Monrovia California native, is studying flute performance. She held the co-principal chair of the University of Redlands Symphonic Band in 2013. McGrath had the privilege of studying abroad in Vienna, Austria in the spring semester of last year. Ian Rowe has been studying guitar since the age of 10. He joined the Punahou School’s guitar department in Hawaii, making him the youngest student to successfully do so. He performed as a soloist and then moved to California when he was accepted to the UR. Rowe has nearly completed his undergraduate studies, and is now considering attending Yale University. Emily Collins is a graduate student who lives in Hemet. She began her studies in music when a private piano instructor recognized Collins' talent at a young age. She regularly performs as a soloist across Southern California, and she recently played her role as "Hanna" from The Merry Widow at the UR Spring Opera production. [END] Six award-winning students will perform on Sunday, March 23 in the prestigious President’s Honor Recital at the University of Redlands. The event will take place at 2 p.m. in Memorial Chapel, on the University of Redlands campus. Admission is free and the recital is open to the public. Since 1983, the President’s Honor Recital has provided a public showcase for outstanding performers in the University of Redlands School of Music. The six students performing are the winners of the 2013-2014 University of Redlands School of Music Auditions which began in December 2013. Seventeen students were selected from that preliminary round to advance to the final round of competition held January 15, 2014. The entire School of Music faculty served as adjudicators for this event. All University students taking private lessons on an instrument or in voice with a School of Music faculty member are eligible to enter the annual competition. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Laura Evans, violin Laura Evans is a sophomore at the University of Redlands pursuing a Bachelor of Music in violin performance and composition. Evans is a third generation violinist, following after her mother and grandmother. She has been playing the violin since she was two years old and she performed in her first student recital at the age of three. First place awards and honors include the Music Heritage Competition in Temecula, the Music Teachers Association of California V.O.C.E. branch competition and the American String Teachers Association branch competition. She has been featured as a soloist on the MTAC Showcase Recital, the MTAC Honors Recital and the University of Redlands Youth Symphony Showcase Concert. Evans was a featured soloist with the Youth Ensemble of Strings Orchestra at the Redlands Bowl, and she has participated in the Community School of Music Summer Workshop at the University of Redlands and the Jascha Heifetz Symposium of Individual Style at the Connecticut College. Outside of the violin, Evans enjoys composing, acting, singing, hiking and rock climbing. She aspires to travel the world and work with the impoverished children of a foreign country, always sharing her music. Nicolai Gervasi-Monarrez, saxophone Nicolai Gervasi-Monarrez is a sophomore music performance major at the University of Redlands. In middle school, he decided to join beginning band where he picked up his first saxophone. After Gervasi-Monarrez discovered his talent, he continued to pursue music in high school where he became section leader his sophomore year, first chair in the top wind ensemble and lead alto in the jazz band. Gervasi-Monarrez also played in the Duke Ellington Honor Jazz Band for two years. Gervasi-Monarrez studies saxophone with Dr. Eddie Smith and has played in the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and the Studio Jazz Band. Edmar Oliveira, piano Pianist Edmar Oliveira, a twenty year-old young artist from Apple Valley, is a sophomore at the University of Redlands working towards the Bachelor of Music degree with a major in piano performance. Oliveira, who is a student of Professor Louanne Long, holds the LeHigh Endowed Piano Scholarship and is a previous Rotary Scholarship winner. Born in Los Angeles, Oliveira spent his childhood in Brazil, his mother’s native country. It wasn’t until the family returned to the United States that Oliveira first realized his passion and aptitude for music. He was fourteen and attending the George Visual Performing Arts School in the High Desert, and his middle school music teacher would always begin class by playing an excerpt of classical music. “I was intensely drawn to it and instinctively I knew I had to become a musician,” Oliveira said. Oliveira’s first instrument was the cello and soon he was playing in the school’s beginning string orchestra. Shortly thereafter he began private piano instruction at the local music store. Throughout his high school years at the University Preparatory School in Victorville, Oliveira maintained a very active role in the school’s music program. Extracurricular life revolved around playing cello in the school orchestra, directing the choir and participating in a variety of chamber ensembles. At the same time he was honing his skills as a burgeoning pianist under the expert guidance of Dr. Linda Minasian. Since becoming a University of Redlands student, not only has his excitement for piano performance grown, but Oliveira has also discovered a passion and appreciation for the harpsichord and early music. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he plans to pursue a Master of Music degree in both piano performance and early music studies and eventually his doctorate. Kelly McGrath, flute Kelly McGrath is a senior at the University of Redlands pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance studying with Artist Teacher of flute, Sara Andon. She is currently a member of the University Wind Ensemble and the University Orchestra, doubling on the flute and piccolo. Last year, she held the co-principal chair of the University of Redlands Symphonic Band and spent the spring semester of this past school year studying abroad in Vienna, Austria. McGrath is from Monrovia, California. Ian Rowe, guitar Classical guitarist, Ian Rowe, began his studies at age ten. Under the tutelage of Darin Au, he was the youngest player to successfully gain entrance to Punahou School’s prestigious guitar department, the oldest young artists program in the state of Hawaii. By his senior year of high school, Rowe had already given several solo recitals in Honolulu, and upon graduating, accepted admission to the University of Redlands, where he was offered a music scholarship. During his time in Redlands, Rowe has been a prizewinner in several competitions throughout the country and was the youngest guitarist selected to perform in the 2011 Aspen Summer Music Festival. He has studied with and performed for some of the most prominent names in classical guitar, including Sharon Isbin of the Juilliard School, Yale University’s Benjamin Verdery, as well as Christopher Parkening of Pepperdine University. With his undergraduate degree near completion, Rowe has received personal invitations to audition at Yale University, as well as Mannes, The New School for Music. Emily Collins, soprano Born in Hemet, Calif., soprano Emily Collins began her musical studies under the mentorship of Mrs. Jean Will, a prominent church musician and private piano instructor in the Inland Empire, who recognized a talent in Collins at the young age of nine. While studying towards her undergraduate degree in vocal performance at the University of Redlands, Collins made her operatic debut in 2011 in the role of “Dorabella” in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, and recently played the role of “Margherita” in Boito’s Mefistofele, both under the baton of BoiCo Nguyen and the direction of Marco Schindelmann. Currently, Ms. Collins is preparing the role of “Hanna” in Lehar’s The Merry Widow for the University of Redlands Spring opera production, set for April 4, 2014. In 2011, Collins was honored to be the grand prize winner of the University of Redlands School of Music Concerto Competition, performing with the Redlands Symphony under the baton of BoiCo Nguyen in their January 2012 concert with works by Beethoven, Dvořak, and Strauss. Collins is currently in her final term of graduate studies under the tutelage of Professor Marco Schindelmann at the University of Redlands School of Music. She regularly solos throughout Southern California and holds a private studio in her hometown.