Mt. Vernon Hosts Music Concert

from Press Release

Mount Vernon Music will present a viola and piano recital, featuring Ute
Miller, viola and Joel Schoenhals, piano in a program of music by J.S. Bach,
Ludwig van Beethoven, Rebecca Clarke and Paul Hindemith. The concert is
scheduled for June 14, 2008, at 7:30 p.m., in the Mt. Vernon Music Hall, located

at 402 Leftwich at Yates, in Mt.Vernon, TX.

Ute Miller is principal violist of the East Texas Symphony, and performs
with the Dallas Symphony and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras and has appeared
as a soloist with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra.
A founder and the Treasurer of Mount Vernon Music Association
(www.mountvernonmusic.org <http://www.mountvernonmusic.org/> ), Ute performs
with her husband Mark Miller in the violin-viola ensemble Duo Renard, which
was brought to Texas with a National Endowment for the Arts Rural
Residencies chamber music grant. The duo performs repertoire of duet music
from Baroque to contemporary, including several commissions. Awarded a
Chamber Music America Rural Residency grant, Duo Renard gives concerts in
the U.S. and Germany, offers master classes and school concerts. Two
recordings, available at www.cdbaby.com <http://www.cdbaby.com/> , feature
works by Bohuslav Martinu, Robert Fuchs, and contemporary American composer
Together with Mark she also produces the Color of Sound series at Texas A&M
Commerce, where she was Artist-in-Residence. Ute's musical studies include
the prestigious Konzertexamen diploma from the Robert Schumann Hochschule
Düsseldorf, and a year at Boston University as a student of Raphael Hillyer.
In addition to playing with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, she served for
seven years as assistant principal violist of the Gürzenich
Orchester/Cologne Philharmonic, and for eight years as principal violist of
the Dallas Opera Orchestra. She maintains a private studio in Dallas.

Joel Schoenhals is establishing himself as one of the leading
pianist-teachers of his generation. He is currently Associate Professor of
Piano at Eastern Michigan University. Since 1998, he has been a faculty
member of the Summer Piano Program at the Chautauqua Institution in
Chautauqua, New York.

An active performer and recording artist, Schoenhals has received praise for
his recordings of Bartok's For Children and Lieder of Schubert Transcribed
for Piano by Franz Liszt on Fleur de Son Classics (www.fleurdeson.com
<http://www.fleurdeson.com/> ). In summer 2006 Fleur de Son Classics
released Stravisky's Rite of Spring and Petrouchka for Two Pianos performed
with Dr. Michael Boyd, Professor of Piano at the University of Toledo.

A dedicated teacher, Schoenhals is active in local and state chapters of
MTNA and was featured as the keynote artist for the Idaho Music Teachers
Association state convention.  He presented lecture recitals and a master
class at the Oregon Music Teachers Association state convention, and
presented lecture-recitals at MTNA national conventions in Kansas City and
Austin. He was a featured artist, judge, and teacher at the Besparmak
International Piano Festival in North Cyprus.

In demand as a chamber musician, Schoenhals has recorded a trio CD with Kim
Aseltine, clarinet and Eva Stern. With violist Eva Stern he played at
universities and on chamber series around the country. Banff Centre for the
Arts welcomed them as residents for two summers, and the Virginia Commission
for the Arts awarded them a touring grant.  The duo has given concerts in
Turkey and North Cyprus.

Dr. Schoenhals holds a Master of Music, Doctoral of Musical Arts, and
Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a
student and teaching assistant of Rebecca Penneys. He earned his
undergraduate degree in piano performance at Vanderbilt University, studying
with Craig Nies and Enid Katahn. For more information about Joel Schoenhals
please visit www.joelschoenhals.com <http://www.joelschoenhals.com/> .

 

Mount Vernon Music was founded in 2005 with the mission of providing
outstanding performances of music to audiences in primarily the northeast
Texas region who might otherwise be unable to experience live concerts due
to limitations of health, distance, or economic means. In its second season,
this young membership-based organization has presented eighteen concerts for
nursing homes and schools, and five subscription events in its own Mount
Vernon Music Hall, a century-old former church with excellent acoustics
which has been lovingly converted into an ideal performance space. There is
a $15.00 charge for admission to this event for non-members, $10.00 for

members, and $5.00 for students.

For more information about Mount Vernon Music's performance calendar,
charitable outreach, or about historic Mount Vernon Music Hall, please visit
www.mountvernonmusic.org <http://www.mountvernonmusic.org/> , or email
mail@mountvernonmusic.org .