Artists' Bios for 2009-2010 Season
Christopher Houlihan
Sunday, February 28, 2009
4:00 p.m.
Christopher Houlihan concert has been rescheduled for Sunday February 28th. Mr. Houlihan has been called one of the brightest starts in the new generation of American organists. Before reaching his 21st birthday in October 2008, he had earned the “Prix de Perfectionnement”, the equivalent of a university artist’s diploma in the U.S., from the French National Regional Conservatory in Versailles, had recorded a debut compact disc on the Towerhill label, and had made his orchestral debut with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, sharing the soloist spotlight with violinist Joshua Bell. Before reaching his next birthday, he will have graduated from Trinity College in Connecticut where he studied with John Rose, and taken up residence in New York as a graduate student at The Juilliard School where he will study with Paul Jacobs.
During his studies in Versailles with Jean-Baptiste Robin, Christopher Houlihan also won “Le Prix des Amis de l’orgue de Versailles”, and served as Assistant Music Director at the American Cathedral in Paris under Edward Tipton.
Prior to attending Trinity College, he won the high school division First Prize of the Albert Schweitzer Organ National Competition. He has also twice won the Charlotte Hoyt Bagnall Scholarship for Church Musicians, and at Trinity was the first recipient of the John Rose Organ Scholarship. Mr. Houlihan served as Assistant Organist at the Cathedral of St. Joseph (Roman Catholic) and Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), both in Hartford. For three years he was Assistant Organist at the Trinity College Chapel.
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Anthony & Beard
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
4:00 p.m.
Anthony & Beard, trumpet and organ, return by popular demand in a performance on Sunday January 31, 2010. This duo last performed on the series in April 2007, and thrilled the audience with their musicianship, artistry and showmanship.
Ryan Anthony, trumpet, has been dazzling audiences around the globe for well over 15 years, and is known to millions from his work with the legendary Canadian Brass. After receiving wide acclaim for his unique combination of charisma, music and wit, he is quickly becoming one of America’s most in-demand solo trumpet players. Ryan began his career at the tender age of 16 by becoming the second Grand Prize Winner of the Seventeen Magazine/General Motors Concerto Competition. That success was followed by performing as featured soloist at the Kennedy Center and with the Cleveland Orchestra and Detroit Symphony. Since that time, he has traveled the world performing both classical music and crossover jazz. Ryan is a graduate and distinguished alumnus of the Cleveland Institute of Music (B.M. and M.M.). He held the prestigious position of Professor of Trumpet with the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music before leaving to join Canadian Brass. He has been seen on stage as part of the Indianapolis, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis, Phoenix, St. Louis, Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, National, Baltimore and Seattle Symphony Pops Concert Series. Ryan Anthony is the Principal Trumpet player of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and continues to perform occasional concerts with Canadian Brass.
Gary Beard is conductor of The Lindenwood Chancel Choir and The Gary Beard Chorale, and is also in demand as an organist. He was a child prodigy, and made his professional debut at age eleven. His teachers have included such notables as Thomas H. Webber, Jr., and Pierre Cochereau at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. He made his New York debut at Town Hall in 1976, and gained early experience as accompanist for Metropolitan Opera soprano Nancy Tatum and mezzo soprano Mignon Dunn, among others. He has appeared as soloist with The Arkansas Symphony, The Memphis Symphony, The Denver Symphony and the Florida Philharmonic under such conductors as C. William Harwood, Robert Shaw, Thomas Schippers and Kurt Klippstaeter. He has also appeared on the great organs of The Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, and Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. Mr. Beard is Minister of Music/Artist-in-Residence at Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis, where he has developed a nationally acclaimed music program. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, and for standing room audiences in Vienna, Salzburg and Melk, Austria. He has recorded sixteen albums, including Give My Regards – The Gary Beard Chorale Sings Broadway and More!
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Bradley Hunter Welch
Sunday, April 11, 2010
4:00 p.m.
The season closes on Sunday April 11, 2010 with a performance by Bradley Hunter Welch. A native of Knoxville, TN, Bradley Welch began playing the piano at age 10 and organ at age 13. He attended Baylor University in Waco, TX and studied organ with Joyce Jones and piano with Jane Abbott-Kirk. In May 1997, he received the Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude in Organ Performance, as well as winning the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance.
Mr. Welch continued his studies at Yale University where he studied with Thomas Murray and Martin Jean. In May 1999, he completed his Master of Music degree in Organ Performance at the Yale University School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music. He then continued at Yale to earn the Artist Diploma in May 2000, at which time he was awarded the Horatio Parker Memorial Prize, the most prestigious prize awarded by the Yale faculty. In May 2001, he completed the Master of Musical Arts degree, and in 2007 he was awarded Yale’s Doctor of Musical Arts degree. During his time at Yale, he also received the Robert Baker Prize (given to an incoming organ student who is deemed to be in the top 1-2% of the nation’s young organists), the Charles Ives Prize, and the Yale School of Music Alumni Association Prize.
In addition to his studies, Bradley Welch has competed in several competitions. He won First Place in the Undergraduate Division of the 1994 William Hall Organ Competition in San Antonio, TX. In 1995, he was a National Finalist in the Organ Division of the Music Teachers National Association Competition. In July of that same year, he won First Place in the American Guild of Organists Region VII Competition for Young Organists. He is the 2003 First Place winner of the Dallas International Organ Competition, and was also awarded the Audience Prize for the second time, having previously won it in 2000. In 2005, he was a featured artist at three regional conventions of The American Guild of Organists, and he made his European debut in France performing in the Chartres Festival. He is currently Artist-in-Residence at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX.
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