Michael Braz and HHSO Musicians

Michael Braz, Principal Keyboard of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, is completing his 13-year HHSO tenure with this performance. Dr. Braz received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Miami and his Ph.D. from Florida State University. During a half-century of piano, harpsichord, celesta, and other keyboard performances, he has participated in such varied concert venues as the Dolmetsch Festival of Early Music (Haslemere, UK), the New Hampshire Music Festival and the Savannah Music Festival. He has previously collaborated with the Portland (ME) Symphony, the Augusta (GA) Symphony, and—most recently—the Charleston Symphony and Savannah Philharmonic. As Professor Emeritus of Music at Georgia Southern University and a 24-year faculty member, Braz has taught coursework in theory, composition/arranging, orchestration, and music education, as well as classes on such subjects as Finale music software and Wagner's Ring Cycle. In demand as a collaborative pianist, clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator, he was also a book and music reviewer for various professional journals and publishers. In the midst of his university career, he embarked on a one-year international sabbatical, instructing faculty and students of various ages and backgrounds at St. Benedict’s Catholic School and Performing Arts College (Derby, England), Nepal Music Center (Kathmandu), and Huazhong Normal University (Wuhan, China). Recipient of an American Composers Forum/Rockefeller Brothers “Faith Partners” grant, Braz has a number of published choral and instrumental compositions and arrangements to his credit, many of which remain in print. Additionally, he has composed two operas: Memoirs from the Holocaust (inspired by a visit to the Dachau concentration camp site) and A Scholar Under Siege, dealing with the 1940’s firing of a respected college president by a populist Georgia governor. His hobbies include comparative religions and trekking the Nepal Himalaya.

This performance is made possible by a generous contribution from Charlie and Joan Dattelbaum.

Michael Braz plays Chamber Music with the HHSO

Sunday, June 6 at 7:30 pm All Saints Episcopal Church

Foote (American) Piano Quintet in A minor, Op.38 (1897) Muczynski (American) Fantasy Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op. 26 (1969) INTERMISSION I’ve always found the combination of solo performance, orchestral keyboard, and chamber music to be both complementary and artistically appealing. While I may shape my own decisions as a soloist (based of course on style, tradition, and a healthy respect for the “voices within my head”), I look to a conductor for guidance in a sort of Gestalt, sublimating my own will for the success of the larger ensemble. Chamber music, in contrast, is a conversation, an exercise in group decision-making, and—in my world—a highly intimate form of communication, both with our fellow performers and the audience. Each of us arrives at rehearsal with particular ideas; each shares them with our colleagues and—in the absence of a conductor—each assumes a portion of the responsibility for the final crafting of what you hear as the finished product. It is this element of “conversation” in the music (and among the players) that serves to heighten the overall experience, especially given the necessary separation of the past year-plus. Welcome back—and enjoy the conversation!

MICAH GANGWER, CONCERTMASTER HHSO

Violinist Micah Gangwer has just completed his first year as Concertmaster of the HHSO. He joined the Charleston Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster in the fall of 2012, a position he still holds. Mr. Gangwer made his solo debut performing with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra when he was eleven years old, and throughout his childhood and college won several solo and concerto competitions. He has performed as a soloist with various professional and collegiate orchestras across America and has been showcased on public radio and television as a jazz, bluegrass, and classical violinist. Recent solo engagements include a performance of the Tan Dun Violin Concerto “The Love” with Symphony Orchestra Augusta, the Suite for Violin and Orchestra by William Grant Still with the South Carolina Philharmonic, and many solo appearances with the Charleston Symphony. As a chamber musician, Mr. Gangwer has played in concerts across America and Europe including performances for ambassadors, royalty, and several heads of state. In 2003, Micah was a finalist in the internationally recognized Coleman Chamber Music Competition as a member of the Lennox Trio. He has participated and performed in many festivals and institutes including the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, Salzburg Chamber Music Institute, and has performed, toured, and recorded for three summers as a member of the Echternach Festival Orchestra of Luxembourg. Mr. Gangwer attended Miami University for his undergraduate degree in violin performance, and studied at the University of Oklahoma and the University of South Carolina for graduate school.

Raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Frances Hsieh began studying violin at age five with Dorothy Kitchen of the Duke University String School. Later as an A.J. Fletcher scholar at Duke University, she continued her studies with Eric Pritchard while earning dual degrees in Music and Biology. In 2005, Frances received her Masters for Violin Performance at the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Charles Castleman. During the summers, Frances attended numerous prestigious summer music festivals including Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Eastern Music Festival, Quartet Program, National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, AIMS music festival in Graz, Austria and received the Benenson Award to attend the Aspen Music Festival and Musicorda.

As an avid teacher, Frances enjoys giving back by instructing students privately at Ashley Hall’s Carolina Strings Academy. In 2014-15, Frances had the privilege of teaching violin and chamber music at Luzerne Music Center summer festival in New York.

Frances has performed with the North Carolina and Phoenix Symphonies and has won positions with the Colorado Music Festival, Richmond Symphony Orchestra and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. She is currently Assistant Concertmaster of the Asheville Symphony and Principal 2nd of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. Today, Frances continues her love of chamber music as a core member of Chamber Music Charleston, with which she has had the pleasure of performing for the second time at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall in May 2017.

FRANCES HSIEH, PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN HHSO

LIZHOU LIU, PRINCIPAL VIOLA HHSO

Lizhou Liu earned his B.A. degree from The Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, and his Masters degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His prizes include first place in the 1988 SUNY Concerto Competition and the "Menuhin Prize" at the Portsmouth International Quartet Competition in 1982. Mr. Liu has held positions as Assistant Professor of Viola at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music and served as principal viola with Beijing Chamber Orchestra and the Tchaikovsky Chamber Orchestra in New York. Currently he is principal viola with the Savannah Philharmonic and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, he premiered modern composer Chen Yi's viola concerto, “Xian Shi” with the Beijing Film Orchestra, the Central Opera Orchestra and the Central Philharmonic in China. He gave the American premier of "Xian Shi" with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory. The Boston Music Intelligencer wrote, "Soloist Lizhou Liu gave a powerful, gung-ho performance with brilliant execution of the many difficult passages and techniques, and gorgeous harmonics in the lyrical sub-theme... Liu shone through pure brute force, on top of his grand technique." Other solo performances include "Don Quixote" with YoYo Ma and the Savannah Symphony in 2000 and Berlioz’ “Harold in Italy” with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in 2002. Mr. Liu is married to violist, Yvonne Johnson, and they have three children. For sixteen years he has operated BWL Music, a string instrument rental, sales and repair business. He enjoys fishing on his 16- foot boat and the occasional deep-sea trip. He also is a photographer, specializing in scenery and family portraits.

DANIEL MUMM, CELLO ACTING

Cellist Daniel Mumm received a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University and a Masters of Arts degree from the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. Prior to that, he attended the pre-college program at Manhattan School of Music. Daniel’s recent concert engagements have included a solo appearance with the Orchester der Kuenstuniversitaet Graz (Austria). Daniel has been a participant in numerous music festivals including Bowdoin International Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and the Indiana University String Academy. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Mumm has performed in master classes for members of the Kronos, Guarneri, Borromeo, and Vermeer Quartets. Daniel has extensive experience with contemporary music, including performances of the works of Harry Partch featuring the composer’s original instruments. He is also an active studio musician and has recently recorded music for NFL films. In addition to his career as a performer, Daniel is also a music educator. He has given sectionals for the Youth Orchestras of Essex County and has served as a chamber music coach for the New Jersey ASTA Chamber Music Institute. Currently Daniel is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Mason Gross school of the Arts at Rutgers University.

CHARLES MESSERSMITH, PRINCIPAL CLARINET HHSO

Charles Messersmith began playing the clarinet at the age of eight. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and received a Bachelor of Music degree, studying with Franklin Cohen in 1991. He then went on to receive his Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying with David Breeden (San Francisco Symphony). After graduation, he became the Principal Clarinet of the Augusta Symphony and performed there for four years. Charles is Principal Clarinet for the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. In 1998, he was appointed by national auditions to the Second Clarinet position with the Charleston Symphony, and in 2005 to the Principal Clarinet position. Along with regular performances with the HHSO and CSO, he performs in Charleston with local, national, and internationally renowned chamber musicians, as well as for Piccolo Spoleto Festival programs in the spring. In the summer, he performs at the Wintergreen Music Festival in the Blue Ridge Mountains.