Church Music and Musicians

Melanie Wilkinson, Church Soloist, October 16, 1994
Click photo above for a church service with Melanie performing.

Melanie Delia Ruth Wilkinson was a regurlar soloist and visitor to the church. She was a friend and protogé of Nodie and Dennis Murphy. Nodie first met Melanie when Nodie was choreographing the musical "42nd Street" for the Round Rock High School where Melanie was a senior.

Melanie used to tell friends that she fell in love with music when she was 4 years old and heard the sound of children singing in a school choir.

She spent the next three decades singing in high school and college, training as an opera singer. She graduated from Huston-Tillotson College with a degree in music education. She earned a master's degree in music from Texas State University. Along the way, she performed for Ann Richards, Lady Bird Johnson and Barbara Jordan, who frequently requested Wilkinson at special events. She starred with Jacqui Cross and Janis Stinson in the Austin Playhouse's production of "Blues in the Night." Melanie was a member of the East Side Church of Christ, her choral director, Marlon McGhee said, "She had the gift. When she sang, she just held your attention. I would just have to stop and listen sometimes and say, 'Wow, I'm supposed to be directing the group.' "

Melanie was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 13, 1972 to Carl and Audrey Mae Batts Wilkinson. Carl and Audrey had two other children, sons, John and Carl. Melaine's mother had previously been married to Alonzo J. Blackenship. They had two children, Cheryl and Alonzo. Melanie attended school in Round Rock, Texas. Below is an elementary school photo in 1979.

 

Another school photo of Melanie from C. D. Fulkes Middle School, 1983, is show below.

In 2009, Melanie was tragically killed in an auto accident several days before she was scheduled to travel to Washington to sing with a choral group at the National Cathedral. Melanie was only 37. She was hit by a driver who crossed the centerline. At the time of the accident Melanie was working as an overnight 911 call-taker at Austin's Combined Transportation, Emergency and Communications Center. She had worked there since 2005.

Pianist-1950s
David Eugene Anderson (1929–2011). David Anderson was born July 9, 1929, in Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma, to Bascom Earl and Beulah Elizabeth Powell Anderson. Bascom owned a creamery in Austin and later a coin-operated laundry. David was a pianist for the church in the 1950s. David died October 29, 2011, in Bangor, Penobscot, Maine, USA.

Obituary from Bangor Daily News, November 17, 2011
David Eugene Anderson, M.D., 82, died peacefully Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, at a Bangor hospital from complications due to emphysema. David was born July 9, 1929, in Shawnee, Okla., son of Bascom E. and Beulah P. Anderson. He grew up on a dairy farm on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, with his sister, Esma Beth; and brothers, James, Tommy and Ken. David held a deep fondness for his family and friends from Austin, Texas, and he took great delight in sharing stories from his life there. David was particularly happy whenever the opportunity arose to speak with his children, siblings, nieces and nephews, or whenever he made contact with someone from the earlier days in his life. David marched to the beat of his own drum, which, as a young man, for a time, landed him 30 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska, at the "Fox" Crossroad, where he mined gold.

However, it was the artistic, creative and expressive side of David, which he shared with his sister, Esma Beth (at right), and his brother, Tommy Wynn (clarinetist), that led him to pursue his interest in music at the University of Texas School of Music, Austin, Texas, where he graduated with a master's degree. His passion for music, which covered many genres, followed him throughout his life from sitting in with various blues and jazz groups in Austin, Texas, clubs, playing for stage and theater groups, playing at Maine churches in Blue Hill and East Blue Hill, to serving on the board of Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School, Blue Hill, ME. David continued with his studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, where his particular interest in brain physiology, curiosity about the mind, and concern for the well being of others led him to specialize in psychiatry.

David graduated with his medical degree in 1961. In 1973, after bringing his private practice in Washington, D.C., to a close, He moved to Maine with his family and worked as a full-time psychiatrist at Bangor Mental Health Institute. In 1975, David joined the 112th Medical Company in the Army National Guard as the first and only flight surgeon in the Maine Army Guard, where his duties were primarily medical and not psychiatric. He was able to count his 13 years as a public health officer toward his military commission so he joined the Guard with the rank of lieutenant colonel and retired with the rank of colonel. David was interested in many topics and enjoyed intellectual stimulation, dabbling in mathematics, astronomy and the mysteries of physics. He was an avid reader and studied numerous foreign languages with a particular interest in Italian. David was a complex and interesting man, and he will be dearly missed by his friends and family. David is survived by his three children, Eric Anderson of Poland Spring, ME, Kristina Anderson Stephens of Blue Hill, ME and Gillian Anderson of Holden, ME; wife, Susanna Anderson of Holden; dear friend and companion, Brenda Wells of Bangor; grandchildren, Kathleen, Matthew and Lorna Stephens; brothers, Tom Anderson of Austin, Texas, and Ken Anderson of Houston, TX; many beloved nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School.

Cellist-1940-60
Lucile Wilhelmina "Chummie" Martin Mick (1889–1977)
Lucile Wilhelmina "Chummie" Martin was born in Emporia, Kansas in 1889 to Willis Martin (1863–1917) and Mary Lydia Gildemeister (1869–?). Willis and Mary were married in Mary's home town, Council Grove, Morris, Kansas, in 1888. Willis was born in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada. By 1900, Mary, now widowed, lived in Oberlin Village, Lorain, Ohio with daughter, Lucile. When not yet a teenager, she is enrolled in the Oberlin Conservatory during 1899–1901. Following her time there, she enrolled in the Chicago Musical College, a college founded by Florenz Ziegfeld. Her instrument was violin and she taught at the Ouchitau Baptist College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas for the 1909–10 school year.

In 1910, she was a professor of music at Kingfisher College, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. It is there she met Claude Earl Mick (1887–1969), at right, an accounting student and football player, who was to become her husband in 1914. Claude was born in Lenora, Kansas.

Claude and Lucile's daughter, Lucile Wilhelmina was born in 1915. The family moved to Waco, where Claude worked as a bookkeeper with Clifton Manufacturing Co. He served eight months in the Army Reserves as a private in Oklahoma and at Fort Sam Houston.

By 1920, the family was in Austin where Claude work for the state. His various position included; secretary of State Labor Department in the Capitol in Austin and auditor for State Railroad Commission. Mrs. Mick served as a violinist with Austin Community Orchestra. According to Florence Castle, Mrs. Mick also played in the pit at the Majestic Theater in Austin. The Majestic was renamed the Paramount in 1930.

From The Austin American, Dec. 10, 1939. "Housewives; teachers, business men and musicians by day—musicians by night. This might be a description of the Austin Symphony orchestra, made up of non-professional musicians who give their time to rehearsals and concerts for the pleasure of Austin audiences, The orchestra gives its December concert in Hogg auditorium Tuesday, Dec. 19. Above are pictured some representative members of the group, which is directed by Henrik Buytendorp.

Mrs. C. E. Mick (left, above) is known wherever music is played or listened to in Austin. Second from the left above is Car! Edward Bock, deputy district clerk and statistician for the Chamber of Commerce. The instrument Mr. Bock holds is believed to be the only original viola in Texas. Formerly it was put in a pin and played like a cello; however, Mr. Bock plays his viola like a violin.

Young Anita Marie Schmedes, third from left above, is the member of a musical family. “Everybody in our family plays some musical instrument except mother—and she plays the knitting needle,” says -Anita Marie. Her father, Kurt Schmedes, is pictured in the group below.

Miss Maurine Owen (above, right), teaches in the Austin public schools and directs school orchestras.
She is pictured in the new dress “uniform” the women of the orchestra will wear for their concerts.

Below, left, is Mrs, Vernon Magee, member of the string quartet of the Wednesday Morning Music club.

The group at the right below, reading left to right, includes Mr. Schmedes, cotton exporter, and Mrs. Joseph Castle (Florence) and Mr. Castle. The Castles are music teachers, and Mrs. Castle is accompanist for Chase Baromeo's voice pupils at the university's college of fine arts. Mr, Castle played with the Kryl Symphony the season of 1938."

 

Mrs. Mick conducted the Austin Symphony for the Gov. Buford Jester Inauguration in 1949. She played for many years at the Congregational Church of Austin. According to violinist Earl Cornwell, "if the pianist played too slowly, Mrs. Mick would poke them with her bow."

July 19, 1952 Joe Castle, violin, Florence Castle, piano and Lucile Mick, cello. Austin Hotel

Left to Right: Claude Earl and Lucile Mick, Arthur Wilton Lang, Jr, Lucile Wilhelmina Mick, ? ? ? ? ?, Austin, TX, November 15, 1945
Lucile Mick's daughter’s information:
Lucile Wilhelmina Mick
Birth May 21, 1915 in Texas
Death July 1, 1992 in Yorba Linda, Orange, California, USA
Married November 15, 1945

Mr. and Mrs. Mick's tombstone.

Lucile Mick's Obituary June 23, 1977. Lucille Mick.

The Austin Citizen

Austin musician dies

By JOHN BUSTIN
Amusements Editor
Lucille Martin Mick, one of the founders of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and a familiar figure on
Austin’s music scene for 50 years, died Wednesday in Laredo, where she had been living for the last six years.

Services for Mrs. Mick, the widow of C.E. Mick, will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Hyltin-Manor Funeral Home with the Rev. John C. Towery officiating. Burial will be in Austin
Memorial Park.

Mrs. Mick, who observed her 88th birthday Saturday, came to Austin in 1918 to lead the Hancock Opera House orchestra. She had been living in Waco and playing cello in a theatre orchestra there when Louis Novy, the celebrated Austin showman, sent for her to take over the pit orchestra in his theatre on West Sixth Street

It was the peak of the vaudeville era, and all major theatres across the country had their own orchestras. Mrs. Mick, however, was the first and only woman ever to conduct a vaudeville theatre pit orchestra in the country.

She also conducted the orchestra at the Majestic Theatre (now the Paramount) until the advent of
“talking” pictures in the late 1920s. In addition to performing the accompaniment for vaudeville acts and touring concert artist, Mrs. Mick’s orchestras also provided background music for the silent movies of the day.

Mrs. Mick later was part of the group of civic and music leaders banded together to form a symphony orchestra in Austin. She became a charter member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and its original first-chair cellist. She continued to perform regularly with the orchestra until her retirement in the late 1950s.

While performing in the Austin Symphony, she was active in chamber music circles and a pioneer in string quartet performances here. With violinists Mary Alice Mitchell and Earl Cornwell (later a member of the famed Glenn Miller Air Force Orchestra as well as the bands of Tex Beneke and Stan Kenton) and violist Carl Edward Bock, she organized a quartet that was widely heard around Austin in the "30s.

Six years ago, she moved to Laredo to live with her only daughter, Lucille (Mrs. Arthur) Lang but maintained her interest in Austin musical activities until her death.

C. Earl Mick obituary., September 10, 1969.

Violinist
Earl Robert Cornwell Jr. (1913–2006)
Earl Robert Cornwell was born September 19, 1913, in Austin, Texas, to Earl Robert Sr. and Julia Estill M. Cornwell. His siblings included sister, Katherine "Kitty" Cornwell Howard (1917–1999?) and brother, Allie Edward (1919–?) His father, born 1884, in Jefferson County, New Yor,k was the Bursar at the University of Texas at Austin. He died in 1948 and is buried in Oakwood Annex Cemetery in Austin. The family lived at 807 Rio Grande Street.

Earl Cornwell Jr, Laverne Johnson and Marilyn Harris

Violinist
Mayme Alice Mitchell (1910–2000)/ She married Wilfred J. Peck in Mexico in 1933. She taught music in Austin.

 

Violinist
Robert Montgomery

 

Violinist and Violist
Lorlie Virginia Kerschner (Schneider)(1915-2007), she studied with William Primrose. Parents John Stuart and Virginia Lillian Kerschner. SCHNEIDER, VIRGINIA KERSHNER, died on Monday, November 5, 2007, of heart failure. She was born in Galveston, Texas, on January 10, 1915, and later lived in Austin. She soon became an accomplished violin player and graduated from the University of Texas Music School. She later studied at the Julliard School of Music and Columbia University's Teacher's College, where she completed her master's degree. After graduation Virginia taught for three years at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and then attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. In 1944 Virginia joined the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, where she was the principal viola player and also played in the Louisville Orchestra String Quartet. She went to Japan to study the Suzuki method and in 1963 established the Suzuki program at Louisville University in collaboration with the late Robert Whitney. She subsequently became a member of the American board of directors. She also was the teacher and director of a number of Louisville public school orchestras and became a professor at the University of Louisville School of Music. In 1985 she received the Distinguished Musician Award from the American Federation of Musicians. Virginia retired from the Louisville Orchestra in September, 1999, but continued to teach a few music students and play in a voluntary orchestra. She suffered from a broken hip in November 2001 and her activities were soon limited by the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Virginia married Alfred Schneider in 1955 and they lived on a farm near Louisville until his death. They had no children. She has been a most loved and valued member of the community and her influence will be felt for generations to come. She is preceded in death by her older brother, Stuart, of Austin, TX, who died in 1990. She is survived by her younger brother, Stephen W. Kershner of Falls Church, VA; and many nieces and nephews. A service to celebrate the life of Virginia will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in the chapel of O.D. White & Sons Funeral Home, 2727 South Third Street, with private burial in Resthaven Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 5 - 8 p.m. Friday. Please instead of flowers, friends of Virginia are encouraged to make donations to the Suzuki Association of Louisville, or to another charity of their choice.

From a comment by Eric Shansberg

Virginia Kershner Schneider, who played viola in the Louisville Orchestra for 54 years and established the Suzuki teaching method at the University of Louisville School of Music, died Monday of heart failure at Jewish Hospital. She was 92... 

She led the section for nearly 40 years, passing it on in 1984 to one of her students, Jack Griffin. 

Griffin said Schneider was a dedicated and caring teacher, equally committed to students, regardless of their ability to pay, as long as they "would take advantage of her knowledge."... 

Addressing her talent as a musician, Griffin recalled her solo in 1976 of Richard Strauss' "Don Quixote" that has become an orchestra legend. In mid-solo, one of the four strings on Schneider's viola broke. Stopping for only a split-second, she composed the remainder of the solo in her head and continued on three strings. 

Schneider joined the Louisville Orchestra in 1945 and retired in 1999. She also began teaching in the preparatory department at U of L's School of Music in 1947. While she officially retired in 1985 at the mandatory age of 70, she continued teaching more than another decade. 

She began the Suzuki program in the Music Preparatory Department at U of L in the 1960s, starting with a 4-year-old David McClure, who eventually went on to play in chamber music groups at Harvard. 

She studied with Shinichi Suzuki, who founded the method of teaching children as young as 2½ to play violin by listening instead of reading music. She'd served on the board of the Suzuki Association. 

"Every child has musical ability, if they just have an opportunity to develop," she explained in 1995. "That's the Suzuki method. I didn't start playing until I was 10 years old. I felt handicapped." 

By 1978, there were 150 students in the school's program with six other violin teachers and a cello teacher. 

"Of all the things I've done in my life, music has been the most important to me," Schneider once told The Courier-Journal. 'I don't think anyone has been as happy as I've been with music. Everyone wants to know what my hobbies are. Music is my hobby."

 

 

Virginia Kerschner Schneider at U. of Louieville.

 

Violinist
Joseph Donovan Castle (1913–1992)
Joseph Castle was born February 26, 1913, in Mackinaw, Tazewell, Illinois. For more information...

Pianist
Florence Caskey Castle (1917–2019)
Florence Caskey was born May 13, 1916, in LaSalle, Illinois. For more information...

 

 

 

 

Pianist
Marguerite Houge (pastor's wife)

 

Violinist
Stanley Dennison Woodmansee, Jr. (1929–1998)
Stanley D. Woodmansee, Jr. was born in  Waterbury, Connecticut in 1929. He started piano lessons at age 9. He and received his education at the  University of Connecticut (B.A., 1951) and the  University of Texas at Austin (M.A.). While at University of Connecticut he wrote and staged a 25-number musical play during his sophomore year. His teaching experience includes positions at the  University of Texas,  Texas State School for the Blind,  Cooke County Junior College,  Saint Mary's Academy,  Saint Edward's University,  Keene State College, as well as public schools in Wilton and  Lyndeborough, New Hampshire. Woodmansee wrote and produced several original musicals in addition to directing many musical programs and conducting choral organizations at the college and university levels. A gifted musician, Woodmansee participated in numerous organ recitals. He died July 2, 1998 and is buried in Gurleyville Cemetery; Gurleyville, Tolland County, Connecticut, USA Stanley and his mother are seen at right in 1965.

Pianist
Thomas Wynn Anderson (1923–)
Thomas W. Anderson was born to Bascom and Beulah Anderson in Austin, Texas in 1923. Bascom owned a wholesale and retail creamery. They lived on San Gabriel Street. Tom's siblings included James, E. Elizabeth, David E. and Kenneth. Tom was married to Norma Jean Lewis (1924–2007) in August of 1945. Norma taught special education for many years in the Austin school system. She also was a teacher of English as a second language for Women International. Tom attended the University of Texas earning a BM in 1953 and a MA in 1956. He was the carillonneur at UT. Tom first played the carillon from 1952 until 1956, while a graduate student in music. His brother, David Anderson, preceded him, playing from 1950 until 1952. Former carillonneurs, Charles Hunter (1956–57), Proctor Crow Jr. (1957–59), James Moeser (1959–1961), Gordon King (1961–1963), and Lee Kohlenberg, Jr. (1963–1965), carved their names into the wall of the room where the carillon is played. There was no carillonneur from 1965 until 1967, when U. T. President Harry H. Ransom suggested that Tom Anderson start playing the carillon again. He’s been playing it ever since. You can see an interview with Tom at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTaPD2ZKYIY

Pianist

Linnea Bergquist Smith
Linnea Bergquist Smith, 90, died on January 12, 2015, in Eugene, Oregon. Born to Carl and Elva Bergquist in Pasadena, TX, in 1924, she moved with her family to Georgetown, a small town in central Texas, where her father had been called as pastor of the Swedish Methodist church. She lived most of her life in Texas, majoring in English and Music at Southwestern University in Georgetown and then serving as staff accompanist at Southwest Texas State Teacher's College in San Marcos. In 1948, she married Gene Smith. She taught music at the Texas School for the Blind and, later, opened a private piano studio in Austin, which thrived for over four decades. Her many musical activities included singing in the choir at All Saints' Episcopal Church and accompanying performances of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Linnea also loved to travel, and drove her beloved Buick Skylark "Mrs. Broadbent" across the country several times. She also enjoyed visiting Sweden, where she re-connected with her family heritage and visited cousins. In 2002, she moved to Eugene and soon joined the Eugene Women's Chorus and became an accompanist for the Memory Tones. With her daughter and son-in-law, she enjoyed attending music festivals, sight seeing in Oregon, and playing music. We loved her sense of humor and her joyful spirit. She is survived by her son, Thomas Smith, daughter-in-law, Tracey Bartlett, granddaughter, Helena Smith and her mother, Suzanne Bates (all of Minneapolis), daughter Marian Smith and son-in-law Carl Woideck of Eugene, a niece and two nephews and their families, sister-in-law Katie Bergquist, and a host of friends. She was preceded in death by a dear brother, Carl Bergquist. Memorial contributions may be made to Doctors Without Borders or the International Rescue Committee. The family offers special thanks to Sheldon Park Memory Care, especially Franklin Stewart.

Linnea served a year as pianist and then faithfully substituted when a pianist was needed. Her pupil, Laverne Johnston also played for the church.

Pianist
Laverne Albert Johnston

Laverne Albert Johnston was born Hallettsville, Texas, March 7, 1930. She earned a BA from Baylor University in 1951. She received a masters in religious education from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1954. She returned to Baylor to earn a MA in 1957. She did graduate work in botany with Professor Harold C. Bold at the University of Texas at Austin. From 1957–60, she was Assistant Professor of Biology at Baylor University. In 1978, she published a monograph with her husband, Marshall Conring Johnston: Rhamnus” In: Flora Neotropica, Monograph 20, New York Botanical Garden, New York. Laverne and Marshall have a daughter, Laura.

 

 

Violinist
Felicia Day
Day was born in Huntsville, Alabama. She began her acting career at the age of 7 when she starred as Scout in a local production of "To Kill a Mockingbird." She studied operatic singing and ballet professionally, performing at concerts and competitions nationwide. Home-schooled throughout much of her childhood, she began college at the age of 16. She was a National Merit Scholar (1995) and graduated as valedictorian of her class. An accomplished violinist, Day was accepted to the Juilliard School of Music but chose to attend the University of Texas at Austin on a full scholarship in violin performance. She double majored in mathematics and music performance, and graduated at the age of 19 in the top 4% of her class.While at UT she was the violinist in the church's trio. Felicia is also an avid player of a wide variety of video game genres. Much of her work on The Guild web series was based on her personal experience with video games, especially when she played World of Warcraft. After graduation, Day moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. She landed several roles in various short and independent films as well as commercials and guest spots on television shows, including Undeclared and Maybe It's Me. These parts propelled her to larger roles: a part in the film Bring It On Again, the starring role in June, and a recurring guest spot as potential Slayer Vi on television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a recurring role that is still occasionally used in that show's eighth season comic book series. In HBO's 2005 biopic of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Warm Springs, Day's singing was featured when her wheelchair-using character serenaded a dinner group with "I Won't Dance".

 

 

 

Cellist
Robin Rosson
Robert Rosson, a junior history major with a music minor at Texas State University, is a member of the rock band Sun Machine

 

 

 

 

Pianist
Aaron Michael Carter-Cohn
Intersections of music and language are Aaron’s passion in research, particularly vocal production and perception, and the ethno-linguistic cultures of Nigeria. While completing his master’s in Choral Conducting, he developed a keen interest in voice science working in the Vocal Arts Laboratory of John Nix. There, Aaron conducted preliminary human subject research on West African singing before commencing field research in Nigeria in 2011. In 2013, he returned to Nigeria with the support of the Fulbright program. Aaron is currently earning a PhD in Music Cognition at the Ohio State University, studying with David Huron (author of Sweet Anticipation) and Scott McCoy (author of Your Voice: An Inside View). He is a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists and an active composer of works for chamber groups, chorus, electronic media, and wind ensemble.

Aaron presented a paper, Applying Applied Composition: Results of a Questionnaire on Composition Pedagogy,
at the annual meeting of the ISME World Conference and Commission Seminars, China Conservatory of Music (CC) and Chinese National Convention Centre (CNCC), Beijing, China, August 01, 2010.

Violinist
Andy Strietelmeier

Cellist
Marilyn Harris

 

Cellist
Katy Phillips

 

 

Music and Fine Arts Director and Flutist
Norma Jane "Nodie" Murphy
Nodie obtained her doctorate in French Language and Literature from Brown University while continuing her studies of flute and ballet. Her MA thesis was titled, La hantise de la mort dans le théatre d'Eugène Ionesco. Her 1975 dissertation was entitled, Orphic light and shadow: the poetic vision of Jean Tardieu. Nodie was a member of the UT French faculty. She became choir director at the Congregational Church in 1995 and assumed responsibilities as director of music in 2003. She was active in the Round Rock Community Choir for many years, serving as choreographer as well as perfoming member. Nodie and her husband, Dennis, have been members of the church since moving to Austin in 1980.

 

 

 

Violinist
Amy Harris
Amy Harris is a recent graduate of the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin where she received a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree studying with Vincent Frittelli. She currently teaches violin and viola students using the Suzuki philosophy as her basis for instruction.
Dr. Harris began her violin studies at the age of three with Peggy Fasing. Upon graduation from high school, she attended the University of Northern Colorado where she studied with Richard Fuchs. For her master's-level schooling, she attended the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where she studied with Piotr Milewski. She has held orchestral positions in the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Greeley Philharmonic, and Boulder Philharmonic. She has attended music festivals like National Repertory Orchestra, Round Top, the Henry Mancini Institute, and the Brevard Music Festival. She is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda, honorary music fraternity, and the Delta Omicron music fraternity, which invited her to play at the triennial conference as a guest soloist. Other honors include winning the Angie Southard Convocation Award for excellence in sonata and chamber literature, and winner of the CCM chamber music competition with her quartet FAZA.

Violist
Stephanie Phillips
Stephanie Phillips conducts workshops in creative music making and improvisation for people of all ages and musical abilities. Her Music Inside Out and Reclaiming Music workshops are the cumulative result of her diverse background in classical music, theater arts and dance. She has presented her unique improvising program at numerous schools, camps and conferences across the United States. As a classical violist, she performs extensively with several regional symphonies and performance ensembles. Her electro-acoustic composition Mobius was selected by Vox Novus to be included in the 60/60 Midwest Mix for 2007 and has received several performances including at the Electronic Music Midwest Conference in 2007. She is co-founder of the improvisational ensemble, Human Trio, and can be heard on their CD, until further notice. She recently collaborated with the award-winning band, Salsa Del Rio, and performed with them at the 2008 Notre Dame Jazz Festival. In fall 2008, she created and taught a semester-length class in trans-stylistic improvisation for the School of Music at Texas State University, San Marcos. Stephanie holds a BA from Oberlin College and a Masters in Music Composition from Texas State. While at Texas State she founded a creative improv ensemble that has been selected to perform at international music conferences. Her most recent CD, recorded in a cave deep beneath the Texas Hill country, was released this spring.

Pianist
Jonathan Geer
Jonathan Geer is a pianist and composer, born in the state of Texas. He spent his formative years in Waxahachie, TX. In 2001, Jonathan graduated with a degree in film scoring from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. He has worked with many film directors locally as well as internationally. His music has appeared on American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, the BBC, Access Hollywood and numerous other shows. He has also composed soundtracks for games appearing on Mac, PC, Nintendo DS and iPhone/iPad devices.

 

 

 

 

Cellist
Colin Ferguson
Colin Ferguson is a professional cellist in the Austin area and hails from Chicago. Mr. Ferguson holds a BA in cello performance from Michigan State University, and an MM in cello performance from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra and performs regularly in the Austin Symphony. He is the cellist of the Anderson Piano quintet,and regularly performs in Europe. Mr. Ferguson has taught at Valparaiso University in Indiana and currently teaches cello students of all ages and levels at Blackerby Violin Shop.