Jennifer Nelson, Clarinet - Jennifer Nelson joined the School of Music faculty as a clarinet instructor in Fall 2009. She is currently principal clarinet with the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Auburn Symphony orchestras. She also has a very active free-lance career, including playing Broadway-style shows at the Fifth Avenue and Paramount Theaters, occasional extra with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera and Northwest Chamber Orchestra, and recording for various television and motion picture scores.
Nelson has also traveled throughout the United States with the national touring companies of Phantom of the Opera and the New York City Opera. Her orchestral and recital performances have taken her to Mexico, Japan, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Honduras, and most recently India. "I am honored to be a member of the Puget Sound community," says Nelson. "I feel very privileged to work with so many bright, talented, and kind students, staff, and faculty.
Shannon Spicciati, Oboe - Shannon Spicciati
enjoys an active performance and teaching career in the Seattle/Tacoma
area. She has played extensively with the Seattle Symphony on oboe and
English horn, and has twice been featured as a soloist. She also
performs locally with the Northwest Sinfonietta and the Camas Quintet.
Spicciati has participated in many festivals, including the Icicle
Creek Music Festival in Leavenworth, Wash. and the Schlossfestspiele in
Heidelberg, Germany.
Spicciati holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the
University of Washington, studying with Richard Killmer, Rebecca
Henderson, and Alex Klein.
Seth Krimsky, Bassoon - Bassoonist and
composer Seth Krimsky joined the Seattle Symphony in 1986, and was
appointed to the position of principal in 1990. In addition, he has
been an active chamber music performer, sharing an especially long and
happy association with the Seattle Chamber Players. His second
commission by this ensemble, “House of Mirrors,” was performed in May
2004. He has also appeared as principal bassoonist with the Mostly
Mozart Orchestra of Lincoln Center and the Waterloo Festival Orchestra.
As a soloist, Krimsky has performed with orchestras and as a recitalist
in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Capetown, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia,
Talahassee, Kalispell (Mont.), and San Diego. His future engagements
include the Seattle Symphony and the Glacier Symphony in Montana.
Krimsky received his bachelor of music degree in 1983 from the
University of Southern California, where he studied bassoon performance
with Norman Herzberg. He continued postgraduate studies at USC, with a
special emphasis in baroque performance, under the guidance of Michael
O’Donovan. During his studies, Krimsky was an active freelance
musician, performing with such ensembles as the Santa Monica Symphony,
Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Glendale
Symphony, Pasadena Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra,
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also performed in summer
festivals, including the Ojai Festival, the Bakersfield Music Festival,
the Academy of the West, and the Tanglewood Festival. Krimsky also
worked as a session player in Los Angeles recording studios and was the
bassoonist in the Aleja Woodwind Quintet, award winners at the Coleman
Chamber Music Competition and the Carmel Chamber Music Competition.
In 1984, he became the principal bassoonist for the Cape Performing
Arts Board Orchestra of Capetown, South Africa, an opera and ballet
orchestra that served the entire Cape Province. While in Capetown,
Krimsky won the National Young Artists Competition and appeared as a
soloist in Capetown, Johannesburg, and Durban, in addition to recording
a series of performances for the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
PERCUSSION
Tom Collier, Percussion: Mallet - B.A., University of Washington. Recordings with Bobby Shew, Barbra
Streisand, Mike Vax, Howard Roberts, Ry Cooder and Laurendo Almeida,
plus LP recordings with his own group, Collier and Dean, as well as his
own educational records for the Music Minus One label. Mr. Collier, a
respected artist in Seattle, as well as in Los Angeles, is listed in
the first edition of Marquis Who's Who in Entertainment. His 1988 album
"Illusion" received national critical acclaim ("a technological marvel"
- Electronic Musician Magazine). Tom Collier is the Northwest's most
in-demand vibraphonist, drummer and percussionist. A member of the
University faculty since 1980, he is the director of the Jazz Workshop
Combos, Mallet Jazz Quintet and the University of Washington Percussion
Ensemble.
Michael Crusoe, Percussion: Timpani -
Principal timpanist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra since 1980. In
addition, he also serves as principal timpanist of the Seattle Opera
Association and the Mostly Mozart Summer Festival Orchestra at Lincoln
Center in New York. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of
Washington, he served as percussion instructor at the Waterloo Music
Festival in New Jersey and has taught at Seattle Pacific University and
Seattle University. Mr. Crusoe can be heard with the Seattle Symphony
on the critically acclaimed Delos label recordings directed by Gerard
Schwarz.
BRASS
Allen Vizzutti, Trumpet - Equally at home
in a multitude of musical idioms, Allen Vizzutti has visited 35
countries and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of
artists and ensembles, including Chick Corea, Doc Severinsen, The NBC
Tonight Show Band, the Airmen of Note, the Army Blues, Chuck Mangione,
Woody Herman, Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Symphony
Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Kosei Wind
Orchestra.
Performing as a classical and a jazz artist, often in the same evening,
Vizzutti has appeared as a guest soloist with symphony orchestras in
Germany, Japan, Canada, and the United States, and his performances
have been broadcast on national television in Germany, Poland, England,
Sweden, Brazil, Canada, Japan, and the United States. He has performed
as a soloist at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Newport Jazz
Festival, Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Montreaux Jazz
Festival, the Charles Ives Center, Lincoln Center, and the Teton,
Breckenridge, Vail, and Aspen Music Festivals.
He has many solo jazz and classical recordings on Summit Records,
DeHaske/Hal Leonard Recordings, Sony, and Ludwig Music Publishing,
include “The Emerald Concerto and Other Gems” with the Budapest
Symphony Orchestra and “High Class Brass,” a unique classical and jazz
blend co-produced, written, and performed with fellow trumpet artist,
conductor, and composer Jeff Tyzik and a 90-piece studio orchestra.
Vizzutti is professor of trumpet at the University of Washington School
of Music. As Artist in Residence, he has taught at the Eastman School
of Music, the Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas State
University, West Texas State University, the Skidmore Jazz Institute,
and the Trompeten Akademie of Bremen, Germany. His long-standing
commitment to education and the value of music in everyday life is
reflected in extensive guest appearances at universities throughout
North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia.
Vizzutti’s extensive treatise, The Allen Vizzutti Trumpet Method, and
his New Concepts for Trumpet (published by Alfred Music) have become
standard works for trumpet study worldwide. Many more of his jazz and
classical books, “play-along” recordings, student pieces, chamber
music, and recital compositions have been published by Alfred, Southern
Music Company, and DeHaske/Hal Leonard Publications. He wrote,
performed, and produced an educational video, “Steps to Excellence,”
for Yamaha Corporation of America. Vizzutti is a Yamaha Performing
Artist.
His compositions have been premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic,
Tonight Show Band, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London), London
Symphony, the United States Navy Band, and the Summit Brass.
Vizzutti has performed on more than 100 motion picture sound tracks,
including “Back to the Future” and “Star Trek,” as well as countless TV
shows, commercials, and recordings with such artists as Frank Sinatra,
Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Chick Corea, The Commodores,and Prince.
While growing up in Montana, Vizzutti was instructed in trumpet by his
father, a self-taught musician and trumpet player, until he left home
to attend the Eastman School of Music. There he earned bachelor’s and
master’s degrees in music, a Performer’s Certificate, a chair in the
Eastman Brass Quintet faculty ensemble, and the only Artist’s Diploma
ever awarded a wind, brass, or percussion player in Eastman’s history.
Ko-ichiro Yamamoto, Trombone - One of the
foremost Japanese trombonists of his generation, Ko-ichiro Yamamoto is
the principal trombonist of the Seattle Symphony and Saito Kinen
Orchestras. He formerly was a trombonist with the Metropolitan Opera
Orchestra.
Active as a soloist and freelancer, he has performed with the New York
Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and also as guest
principal trombonist of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. He will be the
soloist at the 2007 Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, DC. His
discography includes Proof and Family Tree (Kosei Publishing).
Born in Tokyo, he began studying trombone at age 12 with his father,
Tatsuo Yamamoto, and Yoshiku Hakoyama. After studying at Tokyo College
of Music Senior High School, Yamamoto was accepted at the Franz Liszt
Music Academy as a student of Gusztav Hoena and Sztan Tivador. While at
the academy, he joined the Budapest Festival Orchestra. He studied with
Joseph Alessi, principal trombonist of the New York Philharmonic, at
The Juilliard School from 1994-96.
Yamamoto has won numerous awards, prizes, and scholarships in Japan and
abroad, including fourth place in the International Trombone
Association Competition in Australia (1998), first grand prize of the
Japan Wind and Percussion Competition (1991), and diploma prize at the
Prague International Music Competition (1992).
David Kappy, Horn - M.M. and B.M.,
University of Wisconsin. Member of Soni Ventorum and chamber music
groups; numerous recordings on Crystal, Musical Heritage, Delos,
Telarc, and American Gramophone labels, and with the Soni Ventorum Wind
Quintet; recordings with Mannheim Steamroller; taught on the faculty of
the Interlochen Arts Academy, and received a Fulbright Award to teach
at the Federal University of Minas in Brazil (1985); Solo Horn with the
Omaha and Lincoln (Nebraska) Symphonies, and the Omaha Opera; veteran
of Grand Teton and Claremont Music Festivals, and the Festival de
Inverno in Campos de Jordao, Brazil; extra Horn with the Seattle
Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony.
Christopher Olka, Tuba
- Principal tuba of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera, Christopher
Olka has had a wide and varied career in music. His orchestral
experience includes substitute tuba with the New York Philharmonic,
Cincinnati Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony, as well as principal
positions with the New Jersey Pops, American Repertory Ballet, Aspen
Festival, and Garden State Philharmonic orchestras.
Before moving to New York, Olka was a staff musician from 1989 to 1996
for the Walt Disney World Company in Orlando, Florida, where he was a
member of many bands, including the TUBAFOURS tuba quartet, the world’s
only fulltime tuba quartet.
He holds a BM degree from the University of Central Florida and an MM
from the Juilliard School. During his undergraduate studies, Olka was
the winner of the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Artist
Brass Solo Competition in 1996, as well as winning the Southern
Regional MTNA Solo Competition twice and the Florida MTNA Solo
Competition three times. He was guest tuba artist for the Harvey
Phillips Northwest "Big Brass" Bash in 1999.
Olka’s teachers include Warren Deck (New York Philharmonic), Joe Alessi
(New York Philharmonic), and Abe Torchinsky (Philadelphia Orchestra,
Retired).
HARP
Heidi Lehwalder, Harp
- Heidi Lehwalder, harpist, has performed as a guest artist with more
than 65 orchestras throughout the United States and Canada, including
the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta
Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and
the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as with the symphonies of
Phoenix, Buffalo, Louisville, Wichita, Savanna, Syracuse, and Honolulu.
She has made 55 appearances with the Seattle Symphony and has
collaborated with conductors Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Erich
Leinsdorf, Arthur Fiedler, Gerard Schwarz, Lucas Foss, Andre
Kostelanetz, Dennis Russell Davies, and Charles Dutoit. Her recent
performances include a 10-city tour with The Chamber Music Society of
Lincoln Center, and two performances during their 2006-07 season at
Alice Tully Hall in New York City.
An esteemed chamber musician, Lehwalder has performed in numerous
concerts with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1972 to
the present. She has participated in the Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Santa
Fe, and Spoleto Festivals. Lehwalder is the only harpist ever to be
invited to tour with Rudolf Serkin’s famed Music from Marlboro. During
summer 1987, she served as Professor of Harp in Korea’s First
International Chamber Music Festival. As a member of the Orpheus Trio,
she toured for eight years throughout North America and Europe with
flutist Paula Robison and violist Scott Nickrenz. She has also toured
extensively with flutist Carol Wincenc.
Lehwalder is the inspiration for numerous harp concerti, both written
for and dedicated to her, including Jose Serebrier’s Colores Magicos,
Roberto Camano’s Concerto for Harp, and Michael Colgrass’ Auras, as
well as Sheila Silver’s From Darkness Emerging for harp and string
quintet.
As a recording artist, Lehwalder has recorded for RCA, RCA Red Seal,
CRI, Nonesuch, and Vanguard. Her collaborations include recordings with
the Orpheus Trio, The Philadelphia Singers, Benedita Valente, Maureen
Forrester, James Galway, Richard Stolzman, and the Tokyo String Quartet.
She has appeared on national television on the Firestone Hour, Leonard
Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts, NBC’s Today Show, CBS Cable with
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and PBS, both in joint
recital with the Annapolis Brass Quintet and during the 1998-99 season
as part of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Star-Studded
30th Anniversary Gala.
Lehwalder is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Fredericksburg
Festival of the Arts, which has been nationally broadcast on NPR for 17
of the last 19 seasons. She also has served as Artistic Director of
Belle Arte Concerts in Seattle and as Artistic Administrator of the
Seattle International Music Festival. Lehwalder was Professor of Harp
at the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia from
2003 to 2006.
She is the recipient of a Ford Foundation Grant and a Rockefeller
Foundation Grant, and has the distinction of being the first recipient
of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize.