Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra

2007-2008  Guest Artists

Mary Schallhorn - Pianist

Sunday, September 16, 2007, 3:00 PM

Mary Schallhorn is a member of the IVCC music faculty where she has been teaching class piano and applied piano lessons for11 years. She has served as accompanist for the Mendota High School Choirs for 10 years and the Illinois Valley Youth Choirs for 18 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance degree from Western Illinois University and a Master of Music in Piano Performance with an emphasis in accompanying from Illinois State University. Before teaching at IVCC Mary served as accompanist for LaSalle-Peru High School for 8 years. She has accompanied many NCIC and IMEA District Choral Music Festivals. She has been faculty accompanist for the Maud Powell Music Festival and Powell Festival Institute for the last 7 years, plus she also does a variety of freelance accompanying. She has been soloist with the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra for Duke Ellington¹s New World A-Coming and Rachmaninoff¹s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. She performed the Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor, arranged especially for her and the Mendota High School Band by Mr. Robert Baile, on the MHS 43rd Annual Symphony Concert. Most recently she worked for the first time with
Stage 212

Shawn Weber McMahon - Soprano

Sunday, September 16, 2007, 3:00 PM

Shawn Weber McMahon graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Valparaiso University. She has been a music teacher in Indiana, Illinois, and now at Crestwood Elementary School in Madison, WI. Shawn has received praise for her music teaching with an award from the Illinois BPW as their Young Careerist and by the Streator (IL) Area Chamber of Commerce for bringing musical theater to Woodland High School. Mrs. McMahon is currently part of the Madison Music Curriculum Committee where she works with other music educators to update music education standards in the Madison Metropolitan School District. Mrs. McMahon is a seasoned performer. She was winner of Valparaiso¹s Concerto Competition in 1993. She has performed with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra, and Northwest Indiana Youth Symphony. Mrs. McMahon serves as President and General Director for the Maud Powell Music Festival. Her stage credits include Marilyn Monroe in the musical Marilyn Monroe, Rosie in Bye, Bye Birdie, Polly in Crazy for You, the Witch in Into the Woods, and others. She has also served as music director for many shows. Shawn currently sings in her church¹s praise band, The Olive Branch and is also responsible for children¹s music at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Madison.

Chia-Chien Goh - Concertmaster

Saturday, October 27, 2007, 7:30 PM

Chia-Chien Goh attempted to start playing the violin at the age of four with his mom.  After breaking two bows and a violin over his knees, his mom waited until he was six years old to send him to a private violin teacher.  Chien, as his friends call him, started his studies with Sister Noraleen at Mount Mary College.  After six years he switched teachers to Patricia Anders.  While with Mrs. Anders Chien began placing in or winning many violin and music competitions such as the Milwaukee Symphony Young Artists Competition, the MacFadyen, Charles Allis, and more.  After three years with Mrs. Anders, Mr. Goh began studies with Professor Efim Boico of the Fine Arts Quartet.  With Mr. Boico, Chien won the right to solo with the Elmbrook Chamber Orchestra and won a full scholarship to the University of Wisconsin Madison.  Mr. Goh continued on to win a spot among a field of over 5000 musicians from more than 20 countries as the youngest founding member of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.  In 2002, Chien returned to the US to continue his violin studies and has since been giving or participating in recitals and performances from small churches in Illinois to Carnegie Hall in Mahattan proving his desire to “play anything with anyone.”  Chia-Chien Goh is beginning his Doctoral of Music Arts Performance program this fall of 2006 and continues his performing activities as the concert master of the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dr. Kevin McMahon and an active faculty member of the Maud Powel Music Festival Institute.

Michael Alexander - Guest Conductor

Nutcracker Performance

Michael Alexander is in his fourth year as the Orchestra Director at Kennesaw State University.  He also serves as the Cobb Symphony Orchestra and Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra¹s Music Director & Conductor.  Previously Mr. Alexander served as Music Director of the Green Bay Youth Symphony Orchestras and on the faculty at Ripon College. 

In the summer of 2003 he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in orchestral conducting.  While at UW, he studied with David E. Becker and served as an Assistant Conductor with the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and UW Opera.  Previously he has served on the faculties at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
   
Active as a guest conductor, he has conducted in Europe, Australia and at various places in the United States, including a subscription performance with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra in 2002, the Maikop Symphony Orchestra and the Novgorod String Orchestra in Russia, the Bacau Philharmonic in Romania and the Catania Music Festival in Italy in 2003.

In the summer of 2004 he served as Music Director for the Madison Savoyards Opera Company.  He has also appeared as a guest conductor with the 2001,  2003, 2005 Summer Music Clinic Orchestra at the University of Wisconsin and with the 2003-2006 Maud-Powell Music Festival Orchestra in LaSalle, IL.
   
Dedicated to music education, for two years, Mr. Alexander also conducted the Orchestra at Verona Area High School outside of Madison, Wisconsin; served on the artistic staff of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra;conducted the 2006 Cobb Honors Orchestra; and has contributed articles to the Teaching Music Through Performance book series.

Kathy Jagiella - Soprano

Saturday, February 9, 2008, 7:30 PM

Mrs. Katherine Jagiella earned a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, Houston, Texas. She has appeared as Sister Sarah in Guys and Dolls at the Cornstock Theater in Peoria and with the Peoria Civic Opera. She has been a member of the Paul Hill Chorale in Washington, D.C., and the Lira Singers in Chicago, and has appeared in choral performances with Elly Ameling and Victor Borge. Kathy currently teaches music at Peru Catholic School (which her four children attend), directs the St. Joseph’s (Peru) Adult and Children’s Choirs, and plays second violin in the IVSO.

Karen Luo - Violinist

Winner of Concerto Competition Junior Division

Sunday, March 9, 2008, 3:00 PM

My name is Karen Luo, I’m fourteen years old, and I currently am a freshman at L-P High School. I have been playing the violin for seven years now, and I started in second grade at my school in Connecticut. In addition to the violin, I also play the saxophone, which I’ve played for nearly five years. Playing the violin is one of my favorite things to do and I’m extremely grateful to my parents, Jian Luo and Qiuhua Zhang, for their encouragement and support towards me to continue playing and practicing.

Spencer J. Rockford - Pianist

Winner of Concerto Competition Senior Division

Sunday, March 9, 2008, 3:00 PM

An Ottawa Township High School Senior, Spencer is playing the Mozart Piano Concerto, No. 19 in F Major. 

A member of the Ottawa High School Wind Ensemble, Concert Choir, Jazz Band and Opus Jazz Choir.  He is the trombone section leader for the Marching Band and Wind Ensemble.  He is pianist for the Jazz Band and currently serves as the Vice President for the OHS Choir and Treasurer for the OHS Band. 

He has participated in the North Central Illinois Conference Band music festivals, and is an Illinois Music Educator Association (IMEA) musician at the District level in both concert choir and jazz choir.  He has been an IMEA Honors Chorus All-State musician for the past 2 years.  and has received numerous Division I ratings and best of the day award as a soloist and as a member of an ensemble in the Solo and Ensemble contest for both band and choir.  He was just recently selected by the IMEA as a National Anthem Finalist for the Illinois High School Association Tournament Series. 

Currently he is pursuing independent studies with both Ms. Sarah Reckmeyer, Ottawa High School Band Director and Mr. Roger Amm, Ottawa High School Choir Director as part of his senior year curriculum at OHS.  He is studying arranging and accompanying.  He recently represented Ottawa High School as Musician of the Month. 

Spencer is an accomplished pianist and vocalist, and studies piano with Mrs. Susan Rogal, LaSalle, IL and voice with Mr. Robert Mangialardi, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL.   Spencer is a member of the National Honor Society and is an Illinois State Scholar.

He is the son of Gina and Will Chapman and Rick Rockford of Ottawa.  His future plans include attending college where he will be majoring in Vocal Music Education.

Li-shan Hung - Pianist

Friday, May 2, 2008, 7:30 PM

As a winner of the Artists International Li-shan Hung made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in February, 2003 to great acclaim, which leads to a return in June, 2005. Her performance of Cesar Franck’s Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue was sited as “perhaps the finest performance of this piece I’ve ever heard” by Timothy Gilligan in the New York Concert Review. Li-shan has appeared both as a soloist and a chamber musician in venues like Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow, Shriver Hall Concert Series in Baltimore, Orpheus Classical Music Series in Chicago, National Recital Hall in Taipei, as well as other major cities in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Canada, China, and the United States. She was the featured pianist for summer festivals, such as Rome Festival in Italy and Maud Powell Festival in Illinois. In addition, her performances have been broadcast on Television and Radio, including WBAL, WBJC, and WFYI.

A native Taiwanese, Li-shan obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with the renowned pianist Ann Schein, who is a pupil of the legendary master Arthur Rubinstein.  Among the awards she received include the First Prizes of the Palo Alto Philharmonic Concerto Competition, National Taiwan piano Competition, the Second Prize of the Harrison L. Winter Piano Competition, at Peabody the Annie Wentz Prize in Chamber Music and Accompanying, and the Rose Marie Milholland Award for outstanding accomplishments in piano performance. Upon graduating at Peabody, she was selected to be a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

In the summers, Li-shan attended and performed in the musical festivals at Salzburg, Moscow, Orford of Canada, and Aspen, where she had the opportunities to study with distinguished artists, such as Jörg Demus, Imre Rohmann, Grant Johannesen, Sergei Dorensky, and Evgeny Malinin. Her great interest in chamber music also led her to study with the Alban Berg String Quartet in Germany.

Dr. Hung now serves as Associate Professor and the Keyboard Area Coordinator at Biola University in La Mirada, CA.

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