Program
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Robert Schumann
(1810-1856)
Allegro brillante
In modo d'una marcia - Un poco largamente
Scherzo - Molto vivace
Allegro ma non troppo
Laurana Roderer, violin
Danny Yang, violin
Nicole Allen, viola
Wesley Skinner, cello
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10 Minutes
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Ernö Dohnányi
(1877-1960)
Allegro appassionata
Adagio
Allegro con sentiment
Allegro vivace, giocoso
Mason Haskett, viola
Arabella Schwerin, cello
Taylor Thompson, clarinet
Isabella Kolasinski, horn
Program Notes
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) composed this piece in September 1842, taking only two weeks to complete the score. He dedicated the piece to his wife, Clara, and scheduled the premiere for December 6 of the same year. This quintet is one of Schumann’s most frequently performed chamber pieces and inspired future works that featured piano and string quartet, including those by Brahms, Franck, and Dvořák.
Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Sextet in C Major, Op. 37
Ernö Dohnányi (1877-1960) dominated Hungarian music between World War I and II, conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic, the director of the Academy of Music, and the music director of the Hungarian Radio. His Sextet, for the unusual combination of clarinet, horn, string trio, and piano, dates from 1935, a period when Dohnányi was cutting back on his performance career due to several bouts of serious illness. He later moved to the United States in 1949, where he taught piano and composition at Florida State University.
Emily Telling
Emily Telling
Laurana Roderer
Laurana Roderer
Wesley Skinner
Wesley Skinner
Danny Yang
Danny Yang
Arabella Schwerin
Arabella Schwerin
Isabella Kolasinski
Isabella Kolasinski
Taylor Thompson
Taylor Thompson
Nicole Allen
Nicole Allen
Emily Telling
Emily Telling is currently a DMA student at Arizona State University studying with Dr. Andrew Campbell and Dr. Miki Aoki. She is also a teaching assistant in their collaborative piano program and the pianist in ASU’s Wind Ensemble. Emily graduated with a master’s degree in collaborative piano from ASU in 2021. She holds a master’s in solo performance from Washington State University (2018), where she was also a teaching assistant and taught undergraduate music courses. Her bachelor’s in solo performance is from Pacific Lutheran University (2016). Highlights of her competition wins include being a Young Artist finalist in the Music Teachers National Association competition (2018) and the winner of the Concerto Competition at Pacific Lutheran University (2014). She has been a guest clinician at Tacoma Young Chamber players in Washington State and at the Hoffman Academy in Oregon, coaching young chamber groups (2019). In her latest project, Emily will be featured on the film score of the movie “Rooks,” premiering December, 2022. Emily is an advocate for student health and wellness, and has served on the ASU School of Music Advisory Committee for two years. Outside of school, Emily enjoys teaching and currently has a thriving piano studio in Tempe, Arizona.
Laurana Roderer
Laurana Wheeler Roderer is a violinist committed to artistry, engagement, and activism, and she is continually envisioning and executing projects which use music to communicate relevant social issues, particularly those of environmental justice. Laurana’s most ambitious artistic endeavor to date was a project to co-write a libretto, commission and produce an original chamber opera concerning global sustainability. The opera, “A Storm We Call Progress,” premiered in a virtual format in October 2020. Laurana grew up fiddling and participating in local competitions in her home state of Idaho. She discovered a passion for classical music in high school and joined her local youth symphony, where she eventually served as concertmaster and performed with the orchestra twice as a winner of the ensemble’s annual concerto competition. Laurana completed her undergraduate degree in violin performance at Utah State University, where she studied with Robert Waters and the Fry Street Quartet. Laurana is an avid performer, and has given multiple solo recitals, served as concertmaster of the USU Symphony Orchestra, and been a member of the Caine Undergraduate Research Quartet. In 2018, she was a recipient of a Presser Foundation Fellowship and a Russell Orchestral Scholarship. She recently completed her Master’s degree in violin performance at Arizona State University, where she studies with Dr. Katherine McLin. Laurana started a Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) at the same school in Fall 2022. Laurana was honored to be named the winner of the 2020 Idaho Falls Symphony Young Artist’s Competition, and performed as a soloist with that orchestra in October 2021. Laurana lives in Tempe with her husband Patrik (a violist and IT specialist), and their rambunctious kitten Felix.
Wesley Skinner
As a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University, Cellist Wesley Skinner is completing a DMA having served as the Teaching Assistant of Tom Landschoot. Additionally, Wesley holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Melissa Kraut and later joined the preparatory faculty. Wesley’s solo competition wins include the 2014 Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competition, 2015 Paducah Symphony Young Artist Competition (KY), 2015 Tennessee Cello Workshop, 2015 Lewisville Lake Symphony International String Competition (TX), and the 2016 ASU Concerto Competition. As an active chamber musician, he served as founding member of the Laniakea String Quartet which won first prize in The (2019) Hong Kong International Chamber Music Competition. As a composer, Wesley won the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 ariZoni Theater Awards of Excellence in Original Music Composition for his score of Frankenstein as well as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with TheaterWorks in Peoria, AZ. As a trained instructor in the Suzuki method and music theory, Wesley utilizes his diverse experience to teach a range of student ages and styles in his private studio.
Danny Yang
Hsiang-Jen (Danny) Yang was born in Taiwan and began playing the violin when he was 8. At Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University, he served as concertmaster for the university orchestra and was a winner of the NTHU concerto competition. He is currently pursuing DMA with Professor Danwen Jiang at Arizona State University School of Music, Dance, and Theater, where he was awarded the Harriet Freye Memorial Scholarship.
Arabella Schwerin
Arabella is a professional cellist who has held positions in many symphonies in Florida including Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Tallahassee Symphony, North Florida Symphony Orchestra, and was principal of the Panama City Symphony Orchestra. She has also been featured in several chamber ensembles, new music ensembles, Florida State University ensembles, and solo recitals which have taken her all over the US, the Dominican Republic, and Europe in performance. Her recent move to Arizona has led her to performances with the Tucson Pops, WestValley symphony and various chamber ensembles in the Phoenix area as well as teaching cello. She is the artistic director of the nonprofit HERO, and has toured with immersive performances through the organization as well as independently.
Isabella Kolasinski
From Long Island, NY, Isabella Kolasinski currently studies at Arizona State University, under the mentorship of Dr. John Ericson. She acts as a teaching assistant in the horn studio and maintains a private studio of students throughout the valley. Recent performances include playing alongside Douglas Yeo at the 2023 International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, Andrew Norman’s Try in the Phoenix Symphony REVERB Contemporary Music Festival and performing at the 2023 AZCornoCon in Tucson, AZ. Other performances include playing with the Arizona Philharmonic, Phoenix Brass Collective, Salt River Brass Band, Musica Nova Orchestra, and the Scottsdale Philharmonic. While studying at the University of Michigan, Isabella had the opportunity to perform world premieres by composers such as Nico Muhly, Kristin Kuster, and Roshanne Etezady. Other accomplishments include winning first place in the 2021 Northeast Horn Workshop Virtual Ensemble Competition. Isabella was also awarded a full merit scholarship and Binkow Chamber Music Grant from the University of Michigan. Gaining her Bachelor’s degree from The Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY, Isabella frequently played with The Orchestra of Northern New York and was a member and scholarship recipient of the Arthur Frackenpohl Honors Brass Quintet. In summer 2023, Isabella was hired to join the staff and faculty at the world renown Kendall Betts Horn Camp, located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There she works alongside some of the world’s finest horn players, teachers, and meets participants from all around the globe
Isabella Kolasinski
Teaching Assistant @ Arizona State University
School of Music, Dance and Theatre
Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
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MM ‘21 | University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre & Dance
BM ‘19 | Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam
Taylor Thompson
Taylor Thompson is a clarinetist and educator from Ann Arbor, Michigan who is currently studying at Arizona State University. Her pedagogy and performance practice draws connections between both physical and mental awareness and how they relate to performance quality, sustainability, and injury prevention. Pursuing her master’s degree in Music Performance, Taylor studies under the instruction of both Dr. Robert Spring and Dr. Joshua Gardner. She currently performs with the ASU Chamber Winds and Symphony Orchestra, with recent notable works including Rite of Spring, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2, Pictures at an Exhibition. Alongside performing, Taylor has a strong passion for teaching and currently works as the woodwind instructor at Desert Mountain High School. Taylor completed her bachelor's degree in Clarinet Performance at Michigan State University in 2022 studying under Dr. Mingzhe Wang. During her time at MSU she performed with the MSU Wind Symphony, Concert Orchestra, and in 2022 was selected to perform at the College Band Directors National Association conference in Madison, Wisconsin, alongside four of her colleagues. As a freelancer, Taylor performed in numerous pit orchestras for shows such as The Wizard of Oz, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and has performed with the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra. For 3 years Taylor maintained a studio of private lesson students, was the clarinet instructor for the Spartan Youth Wind Symphony in 2022, and worked as a technician for multiple competitive marching bands. In the summer of 2023 Taylor had the opportunity to attend the Rocky Ridge Music Festival in Estes Park, Colorado, where she was able to dive into her solo and chamber musicianship in the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park. In 2019, she traveled to Oostende, Belgium, where she performed internationally at the Belgian Clarinet Academy with guest teachers Deborah Bish, Roeland Hendrikx, and Robert Spring.
Nicole Allen
Nicole Allen is a native of Olathe, Kansas, and is currently studying with Prof. Nancy Buck at Arizona State University (ASU) to receive her Master of Music in Viola Performance and Pedagogy. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance at the University of Iowa under the tutelage of Dr. Scott Conklin.
Nicole started violin at the age of four with Marty Dennington of Black Swan Suzuki Strings and studied the Suzuki method until beginning her university studies. During this time, she attended the Heart of America Suzuki Association conference annually as well as the Ottawa Suzuki Strings Summer Institute, where she worked with Brian Lewis and his mother Alice Joy Lewis, a protégé of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. Nicole fell in love with music performance in high school, under orchestra director Cecily Mahan, and had the opportunity to perform in jazz, bluegrass, and musical theatre string ensembles. During her senior year, she was a member of the NafME All-National Orchestra (Grapevine, TX) and the Honor Orchestra of America (Indianapolis, IN).
While attending the University of Iowa she was active in the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Opera Orchestra, Center for New Music, Preucil School of Music, and the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program. In the community, she was a member of the Southeast Iowa Symphony and Muscatine Symphony Orchestra. She was a finalist in the Iowa Center for the Arts Scholarship Competition in 2018, performing Mozart's Violin Concerto in D Major, which is a favorite piece of hers. She is currently a member of ASU’s Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Musical Theater and Opera Orchestra, and Studio Orchestra as principal violist.
