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New Mexico Philharmonic Launches Neighborhood Concerts New Series Beginning in March Showcases Local Stars/Promotes Support of Classical Music
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEALBUQUERQUE, NM, February 7, 2012-The New Mexico Philharmonic today announced the launch of a new concert series created to showcase the very talented musicians in the Albuquerque area.
The first in new Neighborhood Concerts series is scheduled for Saturday, March 24th at 3 p.m. at the Central United Methodist Church and will feature conductor Byron Herrington, David Schepps on cello as well as tenor Javier Gonzalez, soprano Kimberly Robinson and the wonderful CUMC choir. The repertoire includes: Bach’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, Boccherini’s Cello Concerto No. 9 in B-flat major, G. 482, and Beethoven’s rousing Symphony No. 7.
The second concert in the spring series will be held at Congregation Albert on Saturday, April 14th a 7 p.m., with David Felberg conducting. The program, which will feature a performance by the winner of the 2012 Jackie McGehee Young Artists’ Competition for Piano and Strings, includes: Mozart’s Overture to the Abduction from the Seraglio, a solo concerto and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 “Italian.”
Tickets for each concert are $25, $35 and $55. Student tickets are $10 with an ID.
Central United Methodist Church is located at 201 University Blvd. NE, just north of Central Avenue. Congregation Albert is located at 3800 Louisiana Blvd.NE, just south of Montgomery.
To purchase tickets, please visit www.nmphil.org and click on the link, or call the New Mexico Philharmonic office at 505-323-4349. Tickets may also be purchased at the door with cash, credit or check.
Neighborhood Concert Series – Artists’ Biographies
Focus on Local Talent
Byron Herrington, Principal Trombone of the New Mexico Philharmonic, had been a member of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra trombone section since 1981. In January 1998 he became the Director of Wind, Brass, and Percussion Studies at Albuquerque’s Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and shortly thereafter joined the Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program as co-conductor of the Junior Symphony. He has been Principal Trombone of the Music in the Mountains summer festival in Colorado since 1991.
In 1986 he received a degree in music education from UNM. Before that he attended the University of Oklahoma, studying trombone with Irvin Wagner, conducting with Guy Fraser Harrison, music theory and analysis with Gail Boyd DeStwolinski, and composition and orchestration with Michael Hennagin. He has studied trombone with Jay Friedman, Frank Crisafulli, Edward Kleinhammer, Arnold Jacobs of the Chicago Symphony, Ralph Sauer of the L.A. Philharmonic, and Joseph Alessi of the New York Philharmonic. Byron regularly conducts youth and other concerts, and maintains a small studio of private students.
David Felberg, assistant director of the UNM Symphony Orchestra and instructor of violin, is currently the associate concertmaster of the New Mexico Philharmonic. A native of Albuquerque, he performs regularly throughout the Southwest as concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He has appeared as a soloist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, Noisy Neighbors Chamber Orchestra, Tucson Symphony and the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra. David has performed solo recitals in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Clovis, Portales, and most recently on the Outstanding Artists Recital Series for the Emerald City Opera in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In June of 2005, he made his New York City recital debut in Merkin Hall.
As a chamber musician, David has been a faculty member and performer with the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and from 1993 to 1997 was a member of the Helios String Quartet. He is a regular on many chamber music series throughout New Mexico.
Also active as a conductor, he has guest-conducted the Santa Fe Symphony and the Beaux Arts Festival Orchestra in Steamboat Springs. In the summer of 2003, he made his operatic conducting debut in The Emerald City Opera’s production of The Magic Flute. He is currently the musical director of the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, and is the founder and conductor of Chatter, a chamber ensemble dedicated to performing 20th- and 21st-century music.
David received a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Arizona and a Master of Music in Conducting from the University of New Mexico, and has taken advanced string quartet studies at the University of Colorado.
David Schepps is cello professor at the University of New Mexico, member of the New Mexico Philharmonic, Principal of Opera Southwest (Albuquerque) and the Santa Fe Concert Association orchestra, and spends summers in the Grand Teton (WY) Music Festival, where he gives orchestra and chamber concerts with major orchestra players from around the world. As soloist and chamber musician he was featured on NPR’s “Performance Today,” the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, the NY Lincoln Center Library, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, various series in the southwest, and many radio broadcasts. He played Bloch’s rhapsody for solo cello “Schelomo” with the New Mexico Symphony. He has been soloist with the Christchurch Symphony in New Zealand, Wichita Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and other regional, university, community and youth orchestras.
Formerly principal of the Wichita and Baton Rouge Symphonies and Arizona Opera Wagner Ring Cycles, he also played with the Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Kansas City and Phoenix Symphonies, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva and Orquesta Sinfonica de Veracruz in Mexico. Schepps was cello professor and member of the Fairmount Quartet at Wichita State University, and on the faculty of the University of Louisiana–Lafayette. He was a Fulbright/ITT student of Pierre Fournier (subject of his doctoral thesis), studied with Juilliard professor Harvey Shapiro, holds a DMA from Arizona State (with Takayori Atsumi), a Bachelor of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music (with Claus Adam of the Juilliard Quartet), and was a student of Timothy Eddy at the Manhattan School of Music (prep. div.), and Thomas Liberti (NY Philharmonic/Cleveland Orchestra). Dr. Schepps has been a university professor since 1985, and his students have won professional positions, competitions, and scholarships throughout the world.
Javier Gonzalez, a native of Southern California, studied vocal performance at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park,Maryland. Recognized for the precision and soaring beauty of histone, Mr. Gonzalez has performed in concert and opera productions such as Luisa Fernanda , Die Zauberflöte, L’elisir d’amor , AndreaChenier, I’Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly and Edgar. He has performed with world-renowned tenor, Placido Domingo on the Kennedy Center opera stage and has also performed on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City under the baton of world-renowned composer, John Rutter. He has also appeared with the New Mexico Philharmonic and as a soloist with Desert Chorale of Santa Fe.
Kimberly Robinson made her operatic debut as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto in 2004 with Intimate Opera Chicago. After receiving her Graduate Diploma in Voice from the Royal College of Music (London), she went on to perform a variety of roles around Great Britain, including Musetta in La Bohème, Susanna in La Nozze di Figaro, Violetta in La Traviata, Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly, the Wicked Witch in Hansel and Gretel and the Queen of the Night inThe Magic Flute. She provided the voice of Lady MacBeth at the British premier of N-Opera MacBeth by Akiko Asai at the Britten Theatre in London. In Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2009 she originated the role of Margaret Scott in a special musical preview of the new opera, Salem 1692 by Previn Hudetz. She was also a weekly performer at Opera Open Mic Night. She added the role of Gretel from Hansel and Gretel, performing with Opera Unlimited (a non-profit opera outreach program for elementary schools across New Mexico).Kimberly most recently toured the Caribbean and Scandinavia as a headline act for MSC Cruises.
