The "Sundays at 2" recital series coordinated by the department of music at Hope College will feature trumpet player Richard Stoelzel with organist and pianist Solee Lee-Clark on Sunday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The concert will include "Toccata," by Giambattista Martini; "Sonata in Re," by Carlo Tessarini; Processional (organ), by William Mathias; "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," by J.S. Bach; "Prayer of St Gregory," by Alan Hovhaness; "Chichester Psalms," by Leonard Bernstein, arr. James Stephenson III; "Ballade," by Eric Ewazen; "Someone to Watch Over Me," by George Gershwin and arranged by Joseph Turrin; "Suite Du Deuxième Ton" (organ), by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault; and "Variations on 'Lord of The Dance,'" arranged by Noel Goemanne.
Richard Stoelzel is an associate professor of trumpet at Grand Valley State University who maintains an active career as an international soloist and chamber and orchestral musician. Reviewers have hailed him as "one of the foremost performers and teachers of trumpet in the U.S." and "one of the greatest trumpet players of our time," and have commented on his "virtuosic and lyrical, liquid like tone" and said that "his bel canto style gave this reviewer chills."
He began his career as solo cornet with the United States Coast Guard Band, a presidential band, performing throughout the United States and giving numerous command performances for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. As a soloist he has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including three highly successful tours of China, which earned him the title "Distinguished Visiting Professor" at the Shen Yang Conservatory of Music.
As an orchestral musician, Stoelzel has performed as third and assistant principal trumpet of the New Orleans Symphony and was winner of the principal trumpet position in 1993. He has held positions with the Miami City Ballet, Ballet Florida, Florida Symphonic Pops, and many others. Stoelzel is presently the principal trumpet of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra and a member of the Des Moines Opera Orchestra.
As a chamber musician, Stoelzel is the founder, first trumpet and director of the highly acclaimed Avatar Brass He was also a founding member of the New World Brass and has performed and toured with the Michigan Chamber Brass and the Grammy award-winning Chestnut Brass. In addition to live performances, Stoelzel can be heard on more than 20 compact discs, including seven with the Avatar Brass as well as with the Louisville Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony and Dallas Wind Symphony.
As a pedagogue, Stoelzel has been on the artist faculty at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Fla., in addition to his position at Grand Valley State University. His students have consistently won national and international awards, including an unprecedented three awards at the International Trumpet Guild Competition in 2000. He is also chair of the National Trumpet Competition college division solo competition.
Stoelzel has worked with and commissioned more than a dozen new works for trumpet and as many for brass quintet. Composers include Eric Ewazen and James Stephenson. Stoelzel is also an accomplished conductor. He was the principal pops conductor for the Harid Conservatory as well as music director of the Florida Wind Symphony, a professional wind ensemble based in Boca Raton, Fla. Stoelzel is the founder and artistic director of the GVSU International Summer Trumpet Seminar, which he started in 2005.
Stoelzel is a Yamaha International Performing Artist.
Solee Lee-Clark is co-director of music at First Congregational Church in Muskegon and a staff accompanist at Hope. A native of Seoul, Korea, she started playing piano at the age of four. She received her B.M. from Kangnam University in Korea; her M.M. from University of Southern California; and her D.M.A., in piano performance, from West Virginia University.
Lee-Clark's teaching appointments have included West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, W.Va.; Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, W.Va.; and West Virginia University in Morgantown. Her appointments as an accompanist have included SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Buffalo and Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pa.
She has received numerous scholarships and awards for her musical ability, including the WVU Young Artist Concerto Competition, the French Piano International grant and the Global Education Opportunities Award. Her dissertation will be presented at the 2011 conference of College Music Society in Appleton, Wis.
Lee-Clark has studied piano with Christine Kefferstan, Steven Harlos, Nancy Bricard and Sung-ja Kim. She also has studied organ and harpsichord with William Haller, and is currently studying with Huw Lewis of the Hope music faculty. As a recitalist and accompanist, she has presented programs throughout the United States, France, and Korea. Lee-Clark was a featured soloist with West Virginia University Orchestra, Collegium Musicum, and Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.
Both the Hope College Patrons for the Arts and Yamaha Corporation of America are providing support for the concert.