Malone University Senior recital will feature Kristen Mahan of Warren, Pennsylvania

CANTON , OH (10/17/2012)(readMedia)-- The Malone University College of Theology, Arts, and Sciences – Department of Music will present a senior recital Monday, November 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Stewart Room of the Randall Campus Center located on the campus at 2600 Cleveland Avenue N.W. in Canton. Faculty accompanists include Ralitsa Georgieva-Smith and Michael Willard. The program – featuring senior Kristen Mahan on French horn and sophomore Justin Dye on trombone – is free and open to the public. A program follows.

Ralitsa Georgieva-Smith is a piano faculty at Malone University and collaborative piano faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She received her B.M and M.M in piano performance from the State Conservatory of Music - Sofia, Bulgaria, a second M.M. in Piano performance from University of South Florida, and P.S. in collaborative piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Some of her professional engagements include staff pianist at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont, Cleveland Trombone Seminar (led by members of the Cleveland Orchestra), Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory and Continuing Education Program. Other appearances include the "Peter the Great" Festival in the Netherlands, Chamber Music Festival in Perugia, Italy, "Koncerteum" in Greece, Franz Schubert festival for two pianos/four hands in Czech Republic and Contemporary Music Festival "Pianissimo" in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has performed as a soloist with the Sliven Symphony Orchestra, the Bourgas Philharmonic, and the Bulgarian National Chamber Orchestra in Bulgaria. Several of her professional collaborators include Steve Witser (former Assistant Principal Trombone, Cleveland Orchestra/former Principal of L.A. Philharmonic) Massimo La Rosa (Principal Trombone, Cleveland Orchestra), Carol Jantsch (Tuba, Philadelphia Orchestra), Oystein Baadsvik (International Tuba Soloist) and Haim Avitsur. Her principal teachers include Anita Pontremoli and Svetozar Ivanov. She also received coaching from David and Linda Cerone, Linda Jones, Elizabeth DeMio, Virginia Weckstrom, and members of the Cleveland Orchestra. She has participated in master classes with Martin Katz, Warren Jones, Logan Skelton, Barry Snyder, and John Elliot. In 2006 (the year of her graduation), she was the recipient of the Cleveland Institute of Music award for Excellence and Achievements in Collaborative Piano.

Michael Willard is the instructor of applied trumpet at Malone University and the University of Mount Union as well as the director of the Malone University Brass Ensemble. He is from Alliance, but currently resides in Canton, Ohio. In 2005, Michael received his B.S. in Music Education from Malone University where he studied trumpet with Chris Hall, and in 2009 he received his M.M. in Trumpet Performance from the University of Akron where he studied with Scott Johnston. Over the years, Michael's freelance career and has given him the opportunity to perform with many ensembles in Northeast Ohio including the Cleveland Winds, the Players Guild Theater Pit Orchestra, the Mansfield Symphony, the Chagrin Falls Studio Orchestra, the Ashland Symphony, the Tuscarawas Philharmonic, the Canton Concert Band, the Sounds of Sousa Concert Band, the Trinity Gospel Temple Hour of Power Big Band, the Canton Cabaret, the Top Notes Big Band, Jimmie and the Soul Blazers, and much more. Beyond his active career in music, Michael works full-time for Mercy Medical Center's Radiology Department in Canton as clerical/administrative support staff, and enjoys learning about and experimenting with information technologies.

Kristen Mahan is a senior music education major from Warren, Pennsylvania. She has studied horn with John Bridges (former adjunct of Malone University), Megan Guegold (principal horn player for the Canton Symphony), and currently with Craig Wohlschlager (adjunct of Malone University). In 2008, she graduated from Warren Area High School in Warren, PA. While at Malone, Kristen has participated in the Pioneer Spirit Marching Band and has held positions such as horn section leader, librarian, faculty assistant, and assistant drum major. She has performed with Malone's Symphonic Concert Band, Brass Ensemble, Woodwind Quintet, Chorale, and the Ohio Private College Instrumental Conduction Association's Honors Band. Kristen is a member of the National Association for Music Education and Malone's chapter of the Ohio Collegiate Music Education Association (OCMEA); during the 2011-2012 school year, Kristen was the president of Malone's OCMEA. In spring 2012, Kristen had the privilege of conducting the Symphonic Concert Band as a student conductor.

Scholarships Kristen has received include the John O. Hanna scholarship of the Northwest Bancorp, Inc., the Community Foundation of Warren County scholarship, the Malone Instrumental Scholarship, the J. Walter & Emma Malone scholarship, and the Malone Academic Bridge Grant. Her name has also appeared on the Dean's List multiple times during her collegiate career. Kristen will begin student teaching in the spring and plans to graduate with a bachelor of science degree in music education in 2013.

Justin Dye is a sophomore pursuing a bachelor of science degree in music education. His primary instrument is trombone, which he studies with Thomas Pylinski. His secondary instrument is voice, which he studies with Cynthia Wohlschlager. He is a field commander of the Pioneer Spirit Marching Band and is a member of University Chorale, Symphonic Band, Opera Workshop, and Brass Ensemble. Justin is currently an intern with the Canton Symphony Orchestra and is Assistant Director of the Canton Youth Symphony Orchestra. He holds memberships with the Ohio Collegiate Music Education Association and the National Association for Music Education. Justin is a native of Andover, Ohio.

Nocturno Op. 7.............................................................................................Franz Strauss

(1822-1905)

Ralitsa Georgieva-Smith, piano

Sonata for Horn, Trumpet and Trombone............................................................Francis Poulenc

Allegro Moderato (1899-1963)

Michael Willard, trumpet

Justin Dye, trombone

Parable for Solo Horn...............................................................................Vincent Persichetti

(1915-1987)

Sonata Op. 17...................................................................................Ludwig van Beethoven

Allegro Moderato (1770-1827)

Poco Adagio, quasi Andante

Rondo

Ralitsa Georgieva-Smith, piano

Malone University, a Christian university for the arts, sciences, and professions in the liberal arts tradition, affiliated with the Evangelical Friends Church, awards both undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 100 academic programs. Malone has been recognized by the prestigious Templeton Foundation as a leader in character development, as one of Northeast Ohio's Top Workplaces by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and is ranked among the top colleges and universities in the Midwest under the category Regional Universities according to U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges 2013.

end