Viterbo University Department of Music
presents
Out of Our Minds Chamber Music Series
Ann Schoenecker, soprano
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Thomas Hunt, horn
Tanner Groshek, percussion
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Exsultate jubilate K. 165 (1773) for Soprano and Orchestra (Piano Reduction)
Allegro
Recitativo
Larghetto con expressione
Allegro non troppo
NOTES: When Mozart was sixteen, he visited Milan with his father for the premiere of his opera Lucia Silla, K.135. He was overwhelmed with the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini who starred in the title role of Cecilio. “He sang like an angel,” Mozart declared. Three weeks later he produced Exultate jubilate to display Rauzzini’s talent. It was performed on January 16, 1773, in the Church of San Antonio. His seventeenth birthday was the following day. Later he would revise the work two times (discovered in 1978), but the original version is the one which has stayed in the repertoire.
The composer called his new work a motet, defined in the 13th century “piece of music with words”. In the Renaissance, the motet became more elaborate with contrapuntal textures, and the genre had two formats: sacred and secular. In the 18th century, it was defined as a “sacred Latin solo cantata” per the contemporary music flutist and theorist, Johann Quantz.
In Exultate jubilate the parts are as follows for soloist and orchestra:
Allegro: Exultate jubilate: twenty measure introduction
Recitativo: Fulget amica dies ( very small)
Andante: Tu virginum corona: a set of variations
Allegro (sometimes marked vivace): Alleluja
This is perhaps the most famous part of the motet and is frequently excerpted as a “tour-de-force” concert aria.
© Marianne Williams Tobias, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, 2016.
Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Ludwig Rellstab (1799-1860)
Auf dem Strom (On the River) for Voice, Horn, and Piano, Op. Post. 119 (1828)
Auf dem Strom - translation of text by Ludwig Rellstab by Richard Wigmore
Take these last farewell kisses, and the wafted greetings
that I send to the shore, before your foot turns to leave.
Already the boat is pulled away by the waves’ rapid current;
but longing forever draws back my gaze, clouded with tears.
And so the waves bear me away with relentless speed.
Ah, already the meadows where, overjoyed, I found her have disappeared.
Days of bliss, you are gone for ever!
Hopelessly my lament echoes round the fair homeland where I found her love.
See how the shore flies past, and how mysterious ties draw me across
to a land by yonder cottage, to linger in yonder arbour.
But the river’s waves rush onwards,
without respite, bearing me on towards the ocean.
Ah, how I tremble with dread at that dark wilderness,
far from every cheerful shore, where no island can be seen!
No song can reach me from the shore to bring forth tears of gentle sadness;
only the tempest blows cold across the grey, angry sea.
If my wistful, roaming eyes can no longer descry the shore,
I shall look up to the stars there in the sacred distance.
Ah! By their gentle radiance I first called her mine;
there, perhaps, O consoling fate, there I shall meet her gaze.
NOTES: Schubert composed Auf dem Strom (On the River) for a concert presented on March 26, 1828: this was the only public concert during Schubert’s lifetime devoted entirely to his music, and it took place on the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death. Auf dem Strom sets a poem by Ludwig Rellstab which Beethoven had intended to set before he died. Schubert’s setting and the inclusion of Auf dem Strom on his March 26 concert, then, represented an homage to the composer whom he most revered. Rellstab’s text—fittingly, in more ways than one—describes a journey to a faraway place, as a metaphor for death and passage into the next world. Schubert’s setting is for voice, piano, and horn, with the piano and horn providing a dignified prelude to each of the song’s five stanzas. At the start of the second verse, Schubert salutes Beethoven by setting the words “And so the waves bear me forward / with unsympathetic speed” to the funeral-march theme from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. At Beethoven’s funeral, Schubert served as one of the pallbearers, and his friend, the poet Franz Grillparzer, delivered the eulogy. In his remarks, Grillparzer asked, “Who shall stand beside him?” Schubert knew that it was he who should assume Beethoven’s mantle, and his allusion to the Eroica in one of his own songs, on the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, might be heard as a veiled proclamation. But, alas, Schubert himself had just eight months left. © Patrick Castillo, 2015.
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Jean Moréas (1856-1910)
Airs chantés (1927-28) for Soprano and Piano
Air romantique (Romantic Song)
Air champêtre (A Country Song)
Air grave (Song of Grief)
Air vif (Lively Air)
Translations © Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Air romantique (Romantic Song):
I walked in the countryside with the stormy wind,
Beneath the pale morning, beneath the low clouds,
A sinister crow followed me on my way
And my steps splashed though the water puddles.
The lightning on the horizon unleashed its flame
And the North Wind intensified its wailing;
But the storm was too weak for my soul
Which drowned the thunder with its throbbing.
From the golden spoils of ash and maple
Autumn amassed her brilliant plunder,
And the crow still, with inexorable flight,
Without changing anything, accompanied me to my fate.
Air champêtre (A Country Song):
Lovely spring, I shall never cease to remember
That on a day, guided by entranced friendship,
I gazed on your face, O goddess,
Half hidden beneath the moss.
Had he but remained, this friend whom I mourn,
O nymph, a devotee of your cult,
To mingle once more with the breeze that caresses you,
And to respond to your hidden waters!
Air grave (Song of Grief):
Ah! begone now,
Unhappy thoughts!
O anger! O remorse!
Memories that oppressed
My two temples
With the embrace of the dead.
Paths full of moss,
Vaporous fountains,
Deep grottoes, voices
Of birds and wind,
Fitful lights
Of the wild undergrowth.
Insects, animals,
Beauty to come –
Do not repulse me,
O divine nature,
I am your suppliant.
Ah! begone now,
Anger, remorse!
Air vif (Lively Air):
The treasures of the orchard and the festive garden,
The flowers of the field, of the woods
Burst forth with pleasure
Alas! and above their head the wind swells its voice.
But you, noble ocean whom the assault of storms
Cannot ravage,
You will assuredly, with more dignity,
Lose yourself in dreams when you lament.
NOTES: The Airs chantés are a set of short melodies by Francis Poulenc composed between 1927 and 1928 with poetry by Jean Moréas. In these songs, Poulenc’s goal was to set the poetry ironically: “I detest Moréas and I chose these poems precisely because I found them suitable for mutilation.” (Poulenc, 2006) This mutilation manifests itself through an over emphasis of the poetic meter, accents and strange leaps in pitch, ridiculously fast tempos, and the repetition of swords or lines of poetry that are insignificant. Air romantique and Air vif, for example, are incredibly frantic with an exaggeration in beating the poetic meter. In Air Champêtre, Poulenc meddles with the poetry in such a way that he changes the meaning: “sous la mous, sous la mousses à moitié”. Air Grave is composed in a minor key with a lot of dissonance. The music sounds tormented and overly romantic which contradicts the light pastoral poetry of Jean Moréas. Despite Poulenc’s deep hatred for the poetry, this cycle is quite pleasant to perform and entertaining to listen to. Air Champêtre recalls the famous Parisian pop music of the time sung by Edith Piaf. Poulenc asks: “have I been punished for my vandalism? I fear so, because this song that irritates me is said to be a hit.” © Elie Manousakis, 2018.
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Auguste Brizeux (1803-1858)
Le jeune Pâtre breton, H. 65 (1833-35) for Voice, Horn, and Piano
Translation of Bizeux text from the LiederNet Archive:
Once the thrush is awake,
On this still-damp heath I [will] come to sit until evening;
Grandmother, from whom I'm hiding,
Says: “Loïc loves his cow too much.”
Oh! Oh! It’s not so!
For I love little Anna.
In turn, Anna, my companion, Leads, beyond the crest of the hill,
Near the [grove of] elders,
Her [flock of] black goats;
So the mountain, where I wander,
Just like a high wall, separates us,
[But] her sweet voice,
Her voice calls me from the depths of the woods.
Oh! this plaintive and tender melody,
How sweet it is to hear in the distance,
Without even having
The happiness of seeing each other!
From the mountain to the valley
The voice called by the other voice
Seems like a sigh
Equally mixed of sorrow and of pleasure.
[Yes], hold your breath,
Scatterbrained breeze, [otherwise] on the plain,
Among the wheat,
You [may] run, fly!
The wicked [wind] is the strongest,
And has taken away the soft and frail voice]
The sweet voice
That calls me from the depths of the wood.
NOTES: This early song in four strophes describes, in first person perspective, the longing of a young shepherd after his distant love, “though the mountain lies between them.” An interesting duality emerges in the text, wherein the shepherd describes playing his own horn, and yet also notes hearing the plaintive song of his love in the distance. Who’s who between the two “voices” remains unclear. The horn has long been associated in Western art music with both metaphorical and literal distance, and Berlioz experiments with both incarnations of this idea. He revisited this pastoral song on several occasions. Fifteen years after its composition, he included it in his cycle Wildflowers (fleurs de landes), and later adapted it for voice and orchestra. In that setting, he preserved the obligato role for the horn, in fact dividing its part for two players, for reasons which will become clear after seeing the original. Even in this first iteration, the composer makes very specific indications regarding the use of style and sotto voce timbres, requesting that the performers invoke tones of naivety and youth. The theatrical staging, even in this chamber setting, was the composer’s idea. © Patrick Jankowski, 2018.
Mary Ellen Haupert (b. 1960)
Where Mittens Disappear (2019) for Voice and Piano
(written in honor of Mary Louise Patnaude's 90th birthday)
One
Play
Green
Music Theater Selections
(with Tanner Groshek, set)
"So Big, So Small" from Dear Evan Hansen
Justin Paul and Benj Pasek
"Me and the Sky" from Come from Away
David Hein and Irene Sankoff
presents
Out of Our Minds Chamber Music Series
Ann Schoenecker, soprano
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Thomas Hunt, horn
Tanner Groshek, percussion
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Exsultate jubilate K. 165 (1773) for Soprano and Orchestra (Piano Reduction)
Allegro
Recitativo
Larghetto con expressione
Allegro non troppo
NOTES: When Mozart was sixteen, he visited Milan with his father for the premiere of his opera Lucia Silla, K.135. He was overwhelmed with the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini who starred in the title role of Cecilio. “He sang like an angel,” Mozart declared. Three weeks later he produced Exultate jubilate to display Rauzzini’s talent. It was performed on January 16, 1773, in the Church of San Antonio. His seventeenth birthday was the following day. Later he would revise the work two times (discovered in 1978), but the original version is the one which has stayed in the repertoire.
The composer called his new work a motet, defined in the 13th century “piece of music with words”. In the Renaissance, the motet became more elaborate with contrapuntal textures, and the genre had two formats: sacred and secular. In the 18th century, it was defined as a “sacred Latin solo cantata” per the contemporary music flutist and theorist, Johann Quantz.
In Exultate jubilate the parts are as follows for soloist and orchestra:
Allegro: Exultate jubilate: twenty measure introduction
Recitativo: Fulget amica dies ( very small)
Andante: Tu virginum corona: a set of variations
Allegro (sometimes marked vivace): Alleluja
This is perhaps the most famous part of the motet and is frequently excerpted as a “tour-de-force” concert aria.
© Marianne Williams Tobias, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, 2016.
Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Ludwig Rellstab (1799-1860)
Auf dem Strom (On the River) for Voice, Horn, and Piano, Op. Post. 119 (1828)
Auf dem Strom - translation of text by Ludwig Rellstab by Richard Wigmore
Take these last farewell kisses, and the wafted greetings
that I send to the shore, before your foot turns to leave.
Already the boat is pulled away by the waves’ rapid current;
but longing forever draws back my gaze, clouded with tears.
And so the waves bear me away with relentless speed.
Ah, already the meadows where, overjoyed, I found her have disappeared.
Days of bliss, you are gone for ever!
Hopelessly my lament echoes round the fair homeland where I found her love.
See how the shore flies past, and how mysterious ties draw me across
to a land by yonder cottage, to linger in yonder arbour.
But the river’s waves rush onwards,
without respite, bearing me on towards the ocean.
Ah, how I tremble with dread at that dark wilderness,
far from every cheerful shore, where no island can be seen!
No song can reach me from the shore to bring forth tears of gentle sadness;
only the tempest blows cold across the grey, angry sea.
If my wistful, roaming eyes can no longer descry the shore,
I shall look up to the stars there in the sacred distance.
Ah! By their gentle radiance I first called her mine;
there, perhaps, O consoling fate, there I shall meet her gaze.
NOTES: Schubert composed Auf dem Strom (On the River) for a concert presented on March 26, 1828: this was the only public concert during Schubert’s lifetime devoted entirely to his music, and it took place on the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death. Auf dem Strom sets a poem by Ludwig Rellstab which Beethoven had intended to set before he died. Schubert’s setting and the inclusion of Auf dem Strom on his March 26 concert, then, represented an homage to the composer whom he most revered. Rellstab’s text—fittingly, in more ways than one—describes a journey to a faraway place, as a metaphor for death and passage into the next world. Schubert’s setting is for voice, piano, and horn, with the piano and horn providing a dignified prelude to each of the song’s five stanzas. At the start of the second verse, Schubert salutes Beethoven by setting the words “And so the waves bear me forward / with unsympathetic speed” to the funeral-march theme from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. At Beethoven’s funeral, Schubert served as one of the pallbearers, and his friend, the poet Franz Grillparzer, delivered the eulogy. In his remarks, Grillparzer asked, “Who shall stand beside him?” Schubert knew that it was he who should assume Beethoven’s mantle, and his allusion to the Eroica in one of his own songs, on the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, might be heard as a veiled proclamation. But, alas, Schubert himself had just eight months left. © Patrick Castillo, 2015.
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Jean Moréas (1856-1910)
Airs chantés (1927-28) for Soprano and Piano
Air romantique (Romantic Song)
Air champêtre (A Country Song)
Air grave (Song of Grief)
Air vif (Lively Air)
Translations © Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Air romantique (Romantic Song):
I walked in the countryside with the stormy wind,
Beneath the pale morning, beneath the low clouds,
A sinister crow followed me on my way
And my steps splashed though the water puddles.
The lightning on the horizon unleashed its flame
And the North Wind intensified its wailing;
But the storm was too weak for my soul
Which drowned the thunder with its throbbing.
From the golden spoils of ash and maple
Autumn amassed her brilliant plunder,
And the crow still, with inexorable flight,
Without changing anything, accompanied me to my fate.
Air champêtre (A Country Song):
Lovely spring, I shall never cease to remember
That on a day, guided by entranced friendship,
I gazed on your face, O goddess,
Half hidden beneath the moss.
Had he but remained, this friend whom I mourn,
O nymph, a devotee of your cult,
To mingle once more with the breeze that caresses you,
And to respond to your hidden waters!
Air grave (Song of Grief):
Ah! begone now,
Unhappy thoughts!
O anger! O remorse!
Memories that oppressed
My two temples
With the embrace of the dead.
Paths full of moss,
Vaporous fountains,
Deep grottoes, voices
Of birds and wind,
Fitful lights
Of the wild undergrowth.
Insects, animals,
Beauty to come –
Do not repulse me,
O divine nature,
I am your suppliant.
Ah! begone now,
Anger, remorse!
Air vif (Lively Air):
The treasures of the orchard and the festive garden,
The flowers of the field, of the woods
Burst forth with pleasure
Alas! and above their head the wind swells its voice.
But you, noble ocean whom the assault of storms
Cannot ravage,
You will assuredly, with more dignity,
Lose yourself in dreams when you lament.
NOTES: The Airs chantés are a set of short melodies by Francis Poulenc composed between 1927 and 1928 with poetry by Jean Moréas. In these songs, Poulenc’s goal was to set the poetry ironically: “I detest Moréas and I chose these poems precisely because I found them suitable for mutilation.” (Poulenc, 2006) This mutilation manifests itself through an over emphasis of the poetic meter, accents and strange leaps in pitch, ridiculously fast tempos, and the repetition of swords or lines of poetry that are insignificant. Air romantique and Air vif, for example, are incredibly frantic with an exaggeration in beating the poetic meter. In Air Champêtre, Poulenc meddles with the poetry in such a way that he changes the meaning: “sous la mous, sous la mousses à moitié”. Air Grave is composed in a minor key with a lot of dissonance. The music sounds tormented and overly romantic which contradicts the light pastoral poetry of Jean Moréas. Despite Poulenc’s deep hatred for the poetry, this cycle is quite pleasant to perform and entertaining to listen to. Air Champêtre recalls the famous Parisian pop music of the time sung by Edith Piaf. Poulenc asks: “have I been punished for my vandalism? I fear so, because this song that irritates me is said to be a hit.” © Elie Manousakis, 2018.
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Auguste Brizeux (1803-1858)
Le jeune Pâtre breton, H. 65 (1833-35) for Voice, Horn, and Piano
Translation of Bizeux text from the LiederNet Archive:
Once the thrush is awake,
On this still-damp heath I [will] come to sit until evening;
Grandmother, from whom I'm hiding,
Says: “Loïc loves his cow too much.”
Oh! Oh! It’s not so!
For I love little Anna.
In turn, Anna, my companion, Leads, beyond the crest of the hill,
Near the [grove of] elders,
Her [flock of] black goats;
So the mountain, where I wander,
Just like a high wall, separates us,
[But] her sweet voice,
Her voice calls me from the depths of the woods.
Oh! this plaintive and tender melody,
How sweet it is to hear in the distance,
Without even having
The happiness of seeing each other!
From the mountain to the valley
The voice called by the other voice
Seems like a sigh
Equally mixed of sorrow and of pleasure.
[Yes], hold your breath,
Scatterbrained breeze, [otherwise] on the plain,
Among the wheat,
You [may] run, fly!
The wicked [wind] is the strongest,
And has taken away the soft and frail voice]
The sweet voice
That calls me from the depths of the wood.
NOTES: This early song in four strophes describes, in first person perspective, the longing of a young shepherd after his distant love, “though the mountain lies between them.” An interesting duality emerges in the text, wherein the shepherd describes playing his own horn, and yet also notes hearing the plaintive song of his love in the distance. Who’s who between the two “voices” remains unclear. The horn has long been associated in Western art music with both metaphorical and literal distance, and Berlioz experiments with both incarnations of this idea. He revisited this pastoral song on several occasions. Fifteen years after its composition, he included it in his cycle Wildflowers (fleurs de landes), and later adapted it for voice and orchestra. In that setting, he preserved the obligato role for the horn, in fact dividing its part for two players, for reasons which will become clear after seeing the original. Even in this first iteration, the composer makes very specific indications regarding the use of style and sotto voce timbres, requesting that the performers invoke tones of naivety and youth. The theatrical staging, even in this chamber setting, was the composer’s idea. © Patrick Jankowski, 2018.
Mary Ellen Haupert (b. 1960)
Where Mittens Disappear (2019) for Voice and Piano
(written in honor of Mary Louise Patnaude's 90th birthday)
One
Play
Green
Music Theater Selections
(with Tanner Groshek, set)
"So Big, So Small" from Dear Evan Hansen
Justin Paul and Benj Pasek
"Me and the Sky" from Come from Away
David Hein and Irene Sankoff
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Dr. Ann Elise Schoenecker, soprano
Ann Elise Schoenecker, soprano, has performed all genres of music from opera to oratorio to music theatre throughout the United States and Europe. She has appeared in over 30 opera and oratorio roles, most recently in the role of Asya in Arshin, Mal Alan at the famed Dorothoy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA. Prior to her current position at a Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI, Dr. Schoenecker has held teaching positions at The Performing Arts Studios, Vienna, in Vienna, Austria, Luther College, University of Minnesota and the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is sought after nationally and internationally as a singer, clinician and director. Her students have competed on the international and national stages and have gone on to top graduate programs in voice. Dr. Schoenecker is a former Regional Metropolitan Opera Finalist, Finalist in the Jenny Lind National Competition for Sopranos and has sung many roles with Opera Boston among others. Dr. Schoenecker is a graduate of Luther College, the University of Missouri-Columbia under the tutelage of Costanza Cuccaro, and the University of Minnesota where she received her DMA in vocal performance and pedagogy under Lawrence Weller and Dr. Clifton Ware. Dr. Ann Elise Schoenecker currently resides in Onalaska, WI with her husband and four daughters, where she is a tenured full Professor of Music at Viterbo University teaching vocal pedagogy and applied voice to music and music theatre majors.
Dr. Thomas Allen Hunt, french horn
Dr. Thomas Allen Hunt’s French horn career spans many years in Germany, Austria, and the USA. He won full time orchestral positions in Innsbruck, Wiesbaden, and the prestigious Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed with them for many years. As a freelance musician he has performed with the Camerata Academica Salzburg, Amati Ensemble Berlin, die Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the West German Radio Orchestra Cologne, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Savannah Symphony, the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Wind Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the La Crosse Wind Symphony. As a chamber music specialist he has performed the gamut of works for horn, from woodwind and brass quintet to works such as Schubert’s Auf dem Strom, part of tonight’s program. He has recorded many chamber works for the Austrian National Radio (ÖRF) and for the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. He has appeared as the featured soloist with the Orchester der Salzburger Sommerakademie, the University of Florida Orchestra, the Fort Dodge Symphony, and the Toledo Symphony. In 2019 Dr. Hunt retired as full professor from Ohio Northern University, where he had served for 11 years as department chair, wind orchestra director, and horn instructor. He then moved, with his wife Angelika, to La Crosse, where he is active as a private lessons teacher and free lance musician.
Dr. Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Mary Ellen Haupert, pianist, is currently a Professor of Music at Viterbo University and Director of Liturgy at Roncalli Newman and Blessed Sacrament Parishes. She was awarded the Alec Chui Memorial Award in 2012 (for fostering student research) and Teacher of the Year in 2014. Mary Ellen is passionate about chamber music and is credited as founder/artistic director of the One-of-a-Kind Chamber Music Series (2008-2018), the Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series (2018-present), and the Bonfire Chamber Music Series (2018 – present) – a summer series sponsored by the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, MN. Mary Ellen has presented her theory pedagogy at national and international conferences, recorded two albums of chamber by Louise Farrenc on the CENTAUR label, and is a published composer. Her most recent composition, "Variant," was performed by the Galan Piano Trio on tour in November 2022. Mary Ellen is most proud of the children that she and husband Mike have raised: Carolyn (and Brandon Drazich), Matt (and Elizabeth and baby Elle), Madeline (and Chaz Parker-Alofs), and Louise. All four of them have found ways to give back to the world.
Dr. Ann Elise Schoenecker, soprano
Ann Elise Schoenecker, soprano, has performed all genres of music from opera to oratorio to music theatre throughout the United States and Europe. She has appeared in over 30 opera and oratorio roles, most recently in the role of Asya in Arshin, Mal Alan at the famed Dorothoy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA. Prior to her current position at a Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI, Dr. Schoenecker has held teaching positions at The Performing Arts Studios, Vienna, in Vienna, Austria, Luther College, University of Minnesota and the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is sought after nationally and internationally as a singer, clinician and director. Her students have competed on the international and national stages and have gone on to top graduate programs in voice. Dr. Schoenecker is a former Regional Metropolitan Opera Finalist, Finalist in the Jenny Lind National Competition for Sopranos and has sung many roles with Opera Boston among others. Dr. Schoenecker is a graduate of Luther College, the University of Missouri-Columbia under the tutelage of Costanza Cuccaro, and the University of Minnesota where she received her DMA in vocal performance and pedagogy under Lawrence Weller and Dr. Clifton Ware. Dr. Ann Elise Schoenecker currently resides in Onalaska, WI with her husband and four daughters, where she is a tenured full Professor of Music at Viterbo University teaching vocal pedagogy and applied voice to music and music theatre majors.
Dr. Thomas Allen Hunt, french horn
Dr. Thomas Allen Hunt’s French horn career spans many years in Germany, Austria, and the USA. He won full time orchestral positions in Innsbruck, Wiesbaden, and the prestigious Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed with them for many years. As a freelance musician he has performed with the Camerata Academica Salzburg, Amati Ensemble Berlin, die Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the West German Radio Orchestra Cologne, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Savannah Symphony, the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Wind Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the La Crosse Wind Symphony. As a chamber music specialist he has performed the gamut of works for horn, from woodwind and brass quintet to works such as Schubert’s Auf dem Strom, part of tonight’s program. He has recorded many chamber works for the Austrian National Radio (ÖRF) and for the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. He has appeared as the featured soloist with the Orchester der Salzburger Sommerakademie, the University of Florida Orchestra, the Fort Dodge Symphony, and the Toledo Symphony. In 2019 Dr. Hunt retired as full professor from Ohio Northern University, where he had served for 11 years as department chair, wind orchestra director, and horn instructor. He then moved, with his wife Angelika, to La Crosse, where he is active as a private lessons teacher and free lance musician.
Dr. Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Mary Ellen Haupert, pianist, is currently a Professor of Music at Viterbo University and Director of Liturgy at Roncalli Newman and Blessed Sacrament Parishes. She was awarded the Alec Chui Memorial Award in 2012 (for fostering student research) and Teacher of the Year in 2014. Mary Ellen is passionate about chamber music and is credited as founder/artistic director of the One-of-a-Kind Chamber Music Series (2008-2018), the Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series (2018-present), and the Bonfire Chamber Music Series (2018 – present) – a summer series sponsored by the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, MN. Mary Ellen has presented her theory pedagogy at national and international conferences, recorded two albums of chamber by Louise Farrenc on the CENTAUR label, and is a published composer. Her most recent composition, "Variant," was performed by the Galan Piano Trio on tour in November 2022. Mary Ellen is most proud of the children that she and husband Mike have raised: Carolyn (and Brandon Drazich), Matt (and Elizabeth and baby Elle), Madeline (and Chaz Parker-Alofs), and Louise. All four of them have found ways to give back to the world.