The Marshall University School of Music proposes an evening of Bach with visiting Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professors in the Arts Dr. Geoffrey Burgess, oboist, and Leon Schelhase, harpsichordist, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, in Smith Recital Hall on the Huntington campus.
Featured on the program will be the recently discovered version for oboe of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 2nd Orchestral Suite and his Harpsichord Concerto in E Major. The accompanying ensemble for these works will be led by Marshall music faculty member Dr. Elizabeth Reed Smith, who is a violinist.
Burgess has played Baroque oboe around the globe for close to 30 years. After initial studies in his hometown of Sydney, Australia, a Dutch Government Scholarship allowed him to study in The Hague with Ku Ebbinge. His book, “The Oboe,” written in collaboration with Bruce Haynes, won the 2007 Bessaraboff Prize from the American Musical Instrument Society. Burgess currently lives in Philadelphia and is the Baroque oboe instructor at the Eastman School of Music.
Schelhase is a native of Cape Town, South Africa. He is a recipient of the American Bach Soloists’ prestigious Goldberg Prize. He currently resides in Philadelphia where he regularly performs with his chamber ensemble, Old City Music. He has also worked with the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Bach Festival Orchestra, the New York State Baroque, Pegasus Early Music (Rochester), and as a continuo accompanist fellow at the Baroque Performance Institute in Oberlin.
Burgess and Schelhase will also appear on the MUSIC ALIVE series along with Smith, Dr. Solen Dikener, cello; Dr. Stephen Lawson, horn; and Dr. Kay Lawson, bassoon, at noon Friday, Sept. 16, at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church.
Both events are free and open to the public.
The Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professors in the Arts Endowment program brings world renowned artists, actors, musicians and teachers to the Huntington campus to collaborate with students and professors. In 1992, Joan C. Edwards established the endowment to enable the then-College of Fine Arts to bring to campus preeminent arts educators in an effort to enhance learning opportunities for students, staff, faculty and the community.
Contact the Marshall University School of Music at 304-696-3117 or visit www.marshall.edu/music for more information on this and other School of Music events.