William Haller, professor of organ and organ literature at West Virginia University, and music professor and oboist Cynthia Anderson will present a recital of organ and oboe music at the Edgewood Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheeling, Sunday, Jan. 8.

The concert begins at 2:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Edgewood Lutheran Church is located at 154 National Road.

The program will include: “Ballade for English Horn and Organ” by Leo Sowerby; “Sonata No. 4 in B Flat” by Felix Mendelssohn; “Variations on Amazing Grace” by Calvin Hampton; “Now Thank We All Our God” by Egil Hovland; and “Partita for English Horn and Organ” by Jan Koetsier.

There will also be three unaccompanied oboe pieces from Sylvestrini’s “Six Etudes for Solo Oboe”: “Hotel des Roches noires a Trouville,” “Scene de plage – Ciel d’orage,” and “Le ballet espagnol.” The Sylvestrini Etudes are inspired by impressionist paintings.

The “Variations on Amazing Grace” was written for Anderson’s English horn teacher at the Manhattan School of Music, who was also a classmate of Haller’s at Eastman School of Music—Thomas Stacy, former English horn soloist with the New York Philharmonic.

Haller has been professor of music at WVU since 1980. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from North Texas State University and both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music. He also holds the degree of Fellow of the American Guild of Organists. He is the former organist for the Columbus Symphony and Columbus Symphony Chorus. His past honors include winning the National Organ Playing Competition in Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1964 and tying for second place at the Grande Prix de Chartres, the International Organ Playing Competition in Chartres, France, in 1974.

Anderson is associate professor of oboe and music theory and received her Master of Music degree from The Manhattan School of Music. She received a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Northwestern University. She performed as Principal Oboe with the Mexico City Philharmonic, and has performed with orchestras in Italy, Mexico, New York and Pittsburgh. She has performed on oboe d’amore in Holland and at several international conferences with the Aiolos Collective, a double reed ensemble of international musicians, and has recorded a CD of original music for that ensemble. She currently plays oboe and English horn with the Pittsburgh Opera, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and Pittsburgh Broadway Series orchestras.

Haller and Anderson have recorded the Koetsier partita on a CD, to be released soon.

For more information, contact the church at 304-242-3290.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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