UA School of Music presents Guest Artist Recital featuring Elizabeth Claxton, Kellie Van Horn and Gregg Bunn
Tuscaloosa, AL – The University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences School of Music presents a guest artist recital featuring Elizabeth Claxton, soprano; Kellie Van Horn, mezzo soprano; and Gregg Bunn, piano on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Moody Music Building on the campus of The University of Alabama. The program will include “Madama Butterfly Act II Duet” by Giacomo Puccini; “Selve Amiche, ombrose piante” by Antonio Caldara; “Il mio ben quando verrà from Nina” by Giovanni Paisiello; “Spesso vibra per suo gioco” by Alessandro Scarlatti; “Serate Musicali” by Gioachino Rossini; “Norma Act II” by Vincenzo Bellini; “Erwartung Op. 2, No. 1”, “Traumleben Op. 6, No.1”, “Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm Op. 2, No. 2”, “Erhebung Op. 2, No. 3” by Arnold Schönberg; “Nanna’s Lied”, “Je ne t’aime pas”, “Surabaya Johnny”, and “My Ship” by Kurt Weill and “We are Women from Candide Act II” by Leonard Bernstein. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information about the School of Music events, please visit: www.music.ua.edu/calendar or call 205-348-7111.
BIOGRAPHIES
A native of Forsyth, Georgia, Dr. Gregg Bunn began formal music study at age 15. Organ study began at age 17 with Gerald Carper of Macon, Georgia. Upon graduation from Monroe Academy, Gregg completed a Bachelor of Music degree and a Bachelor of Church Music degree, cum laude, from Shorter University in 1996. While at Shorter, he was an organ student of Dr. Peter DeWitt as well as accompanist for the renowned Shorter Chorale. In 1997, Gregg entered the Indiana University School of Music where he studied with Dr. Marilyn Keiser, and graduated in 1999 with a Master of Organ and Church Music degree. At Indiana, Gregg was the recipient of the Ruth Parr Septer Organ Scholarship and was organist for the University’s Beck Chapel.
In 2004 Gregg completed doctoral study in organ performance and church music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where he studied with Dr. Albert Travis. While at Southwestern, Gregg was awarded the James McKinney Outstanding Performer Award in 2001. Currently, he continues to coach with Dr. Wilma Jensen in Nashville, Tennessee.
An active member of the American Guild of Organists, Gregg has won first place at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of the Atlanta chapter’s annual competition. In 1996 and 1997, he was a national finalist in the Music Teachers National Association collegiate organ competition. Recently, Gregg was first place winner of a national organ competition sponsored by North Naples United Methodist Church in Naples, Florida.
Gregg has served several churches, most recently as Organist/Music Assistant at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas (1999-2003) and as Minister of Music & Organist at Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia (2003-2007). He has also had the opportunity to continue pursuits in academia by serving on the adjunct faculties of Dallas Baptist University, Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, Belmont University and Tennessee State University.
Gregg’s compact disc, Harmonies, was recorded in 2004 on the 80-rank Schantz organ at Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. It includes music of Mendelssohn, Bach, Karg-Elert, and Sowerby, as well as several settings of beloved hymns.
Gregg began his ministry as organist of Brentwood United Methodist Church (a 7,000-member parish just south of Nashville) in late September of 2007. His ministry responsibilities include service playing, choral accompanying, administration and direction of the handbell choirs, fostering the talents of future church musicians and organists through private lessons and master classes, presenting concerts and hymn festivals throughout the year, and general music ministry administration.
The soprano Elizabeth Claxton is from Dublin, Georgia and is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London. She received her Bachelors of Music from Shorter College, and was a member of the Shorter Chorale under the direction of Dr. John Ratledge in which she was a featured soloist, performing Brahms’ Requiem and Carmina Burana across Spain and France. Her most recent concert performances include the Brahms Requiem at Spivey Hall, Vivaldi Gloria, Messiah, Shastakovich’s Seven Poems of Alexander Blok for Piano Trio and voice Opus 127 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gerhilda in Die Walküre with The London Symphony Orchestra, Elijah, Coronation Ode, Petite Messe Solennelle, Verdi Requiem and A Sea Symphony.
Elizabeth was winner of the Metropolitan Opera nation Council Georgia (2008) Florida (2006) District Auditions, she was also awarded Honorable Mention in the Singer of the Year competition in Shreveport 2008, and was a finalist in Palm Beach 2007.
Just recently Elizabeth has been performing and recording with the newly formed operatic singing group, Inspirata, and was also seen as Sharon in the Tony Award winning play The Master Class by Terrence McNally with The Stagedoor Players. She has also been seen as Valencienne in St. Petersberg Opera’s The Merry Widow, Praskowia for Opera New Jersey along with covering Violetta in their 2008 season. She has also been seen as Musetta in La Boheme and Adele in Die Fldermaus with St. Petersberg Opera Company. Other roles include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (London), Clarice in the Royal Academy Opera’s Il Mondo della Luna, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with the Brevard Music Festival, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with the Rome Festival.
Elizabeth has just finished with Atlanta Opera’s tour of The Pirates of Penzance and Inspirata’s CD “Sacred Sounds” is now available on the website. She is also about to premier the new work for Atlanta Opera’s tour of Rabbit Tales in the role of Sister Fox.
Mezzo-soprano Kellie Van Horn has sung with regional companies throughout the United States, including Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Opera Colorado, and Boston Midsummer Opera. Highlights among her operatic performances have been Charlotte (Werther) and Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) in Sarasota, the title role in Carmen with Commonwealth Opera (Northampton, MA), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) in Des Moines, and Anne Lindbergh in the world premiere of Loss of Eden (Cary John Franklin) in St. Louis. Ms. Van Horn also sang the role of Dido to great critical acclaim in a semi-staged concert performance of Dido and Aeneus for the Miami-based chamber choir Seraphic Fire. She has made numerous concert appearances, most notably with the Hartford Symphony in Handel’s Messiah and the Mozart Mass in C Minor as well as an opera gala with Baltimore Concert Opera. Elsewhere on the concert stage, Kellie has an affinity for operetta and cross-over repertoire, having appeared with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano as the title role in La Périchole, Lois Lane in Kiss Me, Kate, and the Old Lady in Candide.
In more recent years Ms. Van Horn has happily taken a step back from the professional singing world in order to support the career of her husband, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn. She continues to maintain a working relationship, however, with Massachusetts-based composer Joseph Summer, for whom she has sung premiers of more than ten new works. Last spring marked Kellie’s sixth annual performance in Summer’s series entitled The Shakespeare Concerts, presented in Boston’s Jordan Hall. She has previously been featured on two recordings of his music: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day and So Many Journeys, both produced by Albany Records. A third recording collaboration will be released later this year.
Kellie received the Bachelor of Music from Shorter College and the Master of Music degree in Voice/Opera at Yale University. She spent two summers during her graduate studies as an apprentice artist with the Santa Fe Opera, appearing on the main stage as Cefisa in Rossini’s Ermione and the 3rd Maid in Strauss’ Elektra. As a Shorter student Ms. Van Horn also supplemented her training spending a summer with faculty members of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She was a national MTNA winner and second prize winner in the Southeast Region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. Kellie is a native of Augusta, Georgia.
