CONTACT: PETER ALEXANDER
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Iowa City IA 52242
(319) 384-0072; fax (319) 384-0024
e-mail: peter-alexander@uiowa.edu

Release: Sept. 15, 2000

Trombonist David Gier will play recital with UI School of Music faculty colleagues Sept. 25

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Trombonist David Gier from the University of Iowa School of Music will join with three of his faculty colleagues -- pianist Shari Rhoads, organist Delbert Disselhorst and trumpeter David Greenhoe -- to play a free faculty recital at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25 in Clapp Recital Hall on the UI campus.

"I was inspired to play this recital primarily for the opportunity it provides for working with my wonderful colleagues," Gier said. "Rehearsals have been a delight, and the recital will showcase the result of our collaborative music-making."

"Working like this with your colleagues is really one of the greatest things about being a college music professor," he said.

The works on Gier’s program are all from the 20th century and revolve around two schools that have been important influences on brass playing: the Paris Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.

The first half of the program will include two pieces written as contest pieces at the Paris Conservatory, the Concerto of Ida Gotkovsky and "Morceau Symphonique" (Symphonic piece) by Alexandre Guilmant. The latter, Gier says, is "perhaps the most-played piece in the trombone repertoire, practically a rite of passage for aspiring trombonists everywhere."

The leading music school in Europe during the 19th century, the Paris Conservatory became the model for conservatories in other countries. The conservatory contest pieces, written by composers associated with the conservatory and for every instrument that was taught there, set the standards for musical technique in the 19th century. The best pieces have remained in the repertoire of their instruments since that time.

The two pieces on the second half of the program were both written by composers who were associated with the Eastman School. The first will be "Six Dialogues" for trombone and trumpet by David Borden, who has a degree in composition from Eastman. Gier will play the "Dialogues" with Greenhoe, who was a student at Eastman with Borden.

"It’s great to play these duets with David," Gier said, "because he knows the players they were originally written for, and has himself played the ‘'Dialogues’ practically since the ink dried on the manuscript."

The final work on the program is the Sonata Concertante for trombone and piano by Walter S. Hartley, who received a composition doctorate from Eastman in 1953. The score is dedicated to a former teacher of trombone at Eastman, Emory Remington, "and all his students, past present and future." Considered to be the father of modern American trombone playing, Emerson emphasized quality of sound and ease of production in his teaching, as opposed to the technical fireworks that dominated brass playing in the early years of the 20th century.

"No significant teacher or performer in the United States is outside his circle of influence," Gier said. "Since we trombonists all owe so much to Remington, it’s a natural thing to include this piece as a tribute to his teaching and influence."

A member of the UI music faculty since August 1995, Gier teaches trombone and brass chamber music and performs with the Iowa Brass Quintet. He has performed with numerous professional ensembles, including the New Haven and Hartford symphonies, the New Orchestra of Westchester, Keith Brion’s Peerless Sousa Band, and most recently, the Cedar Rapids and Quad City symphonies. During the summer he serves as principal trombone of the Breckenridge (Colo.) Festival Orchestra.

An active soloist, clinician and adjudicator, Gier has performed and presented workshops at colleges, universities and professional conferences, including the 1998 International Trombone Festival. He is chair of the International Trombone Association’s Competition Contest Committee.

Rhoads joined the UI School of Music faculty in the fall of 2000. She earned her degree in accompanying and has completed post-graduate studies in opera coaching/conducting at the University of Southern California. Before arriving at the UI she taught music history at the Musikhochschule (Music conservatory) in Lucerne and the Conservatory of Lausanne in Switzerland. Rhoads has also been Kapellmeister at the Lucerne Theater and conductor/coach at the opera theater in Darmstadt, Germany. She was coach at the Barcelona and Madrid opera theaters.

Her accompanying credentials include recitals with Jose Carreras, Luis Lima and Montserrat Caballe with whom she worked exclusively as coach/accompanist and orchestrator. She has accompanied master classes with a number of renowned artists including singer Gerard Souzay, cellist Lynn Harrell and violist William Primrose, and served as staff accompanist for the Francesco Vinas (Barcelona, Spain) and Munich International competitions.

Disselhorst has been a member of the UI School of Music faculty since 1970. He holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Illinois, where he graduated as a Bronze Tablet Scholar. As a recipient of a Fulbright grant in organ, he also studied at the Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik in Frankfurt, Germany. He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

As a concert artist, Disselhorst has performed in the United States, Canada and Europe.
He has appeared as a recitalist for several regional conventions and for the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Houston, Texas, in 1989. He has recorded the Organ Books of Ned Rorem and "Prophesies" by Daniel Pinkham on the Arkay Label.

Greenhoe has been on the faculty of the UI School of Music and the principal trumpeter of the Quad City Symphony since 1979. He is also chair of the brass area at the UI and plays first trumpet in the UI Iowa Brass Quintet. He is active as a soloist and recitalist, and during summer seasons he performs as solo trumpeter with the Lake Placid (N.Y.) Sinfonietta, a post he has held since 1975.

Prior to coming to Iowa, Greenhoe was a member and soloist of "The President’s Own" -- the United States Marine Band in Washington D.C. -- and a member of the music performance faculty at Ball State University in Indiana. He has also performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Rochester (N.Y.) Philharmonic and the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Philharmonic.

For information on UI arts events, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/artsiowa on the World Wide Web. You may visit the UI School of Music web site at http://www.uiowa.edu/~music/. To receive UI arts news by e-mail, contact <deborah-thumma@uiowa.edu>.