Guest Artists
2012-2013 Concert Season
Victoria Lington, piano
Sunday, October 7, 2012
"Hooray for Hollywood!"
Spangenberg Theater, Palo Alto
Victoria DiMaggio Lington holds a BM and MM in piano performance from the University of Houston, Moores School of Music, where she studied with Nancy Weems, and received a DMA in piano performance and accompanying from the University of North Texas, where she studied with Pamela Mia Paul. Dr. Lington performed her first public recital at the age of eight, and was a soloist with the Mesa Symphony Orchestra at the age of fourteen. She has participated in many state, national, and international competitions, winning numerous awards and recognitions along the way, including prizes in the Corpus Christi Young Artists Competition and the Phoenix Symphony Guild Concerto Competition. In demand as a collaborative artist, Dr. Lington works with Opera San Jose and regularly performs with instrumentalists and vocalists in the Bay Area. She has performed both solo and collaborative recitals in Eastern Europe and throughout the United States, and has worked with such notable musicians as saxophonist Joe Lulloff, as well as the Premiere Saxophone Quartet. As a soloist, she has also performed with the Moores School of Music Wind Ensemble, the San Jose Wind Symphony, the Chabot College Wind Symphony, and the San Jose State University Wind Ensemble. Dr. Lington is currently Staff Accompanist and Lecturer in Music at San Jose State University.
Geoffrey Noer, violin
Sunday, October 7, 2012
"Hooray for Hollywood!"
Spangenberg Theater, Palo Alto
Acclaimed for his deep musicality and warm sound, Geoffrey Noer started playing the violin at the age of six, later studying with notable teachers including Barbara Sonies and Charles Gray. Geoffrey is currently Concertmaster of the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San Jose, having performed with the group since its founding in 1996. Heard in venues across North America and Europe, he is also an avid chamber musician. Outside of music, Geoffrey holds a computer science degree from Swarthmore College and enjoys a successful high technology career in Silicon Valley.
Jacqueline Bequette and
Bill Carr, dancers
Sunday, November 18, 2012
"Dancing With Our Stars"
Villa Ragusa, Campbell
Jacqueline Bequette and Bill Carr have been teaching dance for over twenty years. Jacqueline has won numerous awards in Latin Ballroom, Argentine Tango, and in the World Salsa Federation and has a also background in ballet and jazz and a degree in dance from both CCSf and San Francisco State University. Jacqueline has taught and performed nationally and internationally with various dance companies such as Rica Salsa, Theater Flamenco and MonTango Orchestra and Trio Garufa. Bill Carr has taught at Cheryl Burke Dance Studio (formerly Starlite Dance Studio) for over twenty years where they met and have been dancing together since.
Avguste Antonov, piano
Sunday, January 27, 2013
"True Colors"
McAfee Center, Saratoga
Pianist Avguste Antonov leads an active career as a soloist and teacher. He is currently piano instructor at The Master's Touch School of Music & Performing Arts, LLC. in Grapevine, Texas. Mr. Antonov has presented recitals in Bordeaux (France), Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio. He has performed extensively with the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble, the University of Kansas Symphony and Symphonic Choir and the Texas Christian University Wind Symphony. Performance venues include the Music Education National Convention with the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble and the College Band Directors National Association with the Texas Christian University Wind Symphony. Mr. Antonov has been featured as soloist with the Trevecca Symphony Orchestra, the University of Kansas Symphony, the Kansas City Medical Arts Symphony, the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble and the Hardin-Simmons University Orchestra. Mr. Antonov is a dedicated performer of 20th and 21st century music and has performed World and USA premieres at venues across North America. Over the years, he has worked with composers Carter Pann, Raina Murnak, Matthew Lewis, Till Meyn, Michael Colgrass, Robert Rollin, Marc Parella and many others.
During the 2012-2013 season, Mr. Antonov will perform in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, California, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington. He is currently preparing his debut CD of American Music to be released and distributed by the Arizona University Recordings.
Galen Lemmon, percussion
Sunday, March 24, 2013
"Raise the Roof"
McAfee Center, Saratoga
Galen Lemmon is Director of Percussion Studies at San José State University. He received both his Bachelor of Arts degree and his Master’s degree in percussion performance from SJSU and has performed and taught in the Bay area for over 40 years. He was awarded a position in the San José Symphony when only 19 years old, and just three years later he was named Principal Percussionist with the same orchestra. He is Principal Percussionist with Ballet Silicon Valley and in addition is Principal Percussionist with the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and has worked with world class artists such as Evelyn Glennie and composers such as Christopher Rouse, Michael Daugherty, Philip Glass, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jennifer Higdon, Kevin Puts, John Adams, James MacMillan and John Mackey.
Mr. Lemmon performed the Rosauro Concerto for Marimba with the Wind Ensemble at SJSU in 2002. In 2005 he performed the Schwantner Concerto for Percussion with the SJSU Wind Ensemble at the CMEA Conference in Sacramento and at the College Band Directors Conference in Reno, Nevada. At the same time he was also performing the Milhaud Concerto for Percussion with the Pacific Chamber Orchestra. In 2006 he performed the Creston Concerto for Marimba with the SJSU Orchestra. In 2009 he performed Avner Dorman’s Spices, Perfumes and Toxins with the Cabrillo Music Festival and again in 2011 with Symphony Silicon Valley. He performed the Ziek Concerto for Percussion in 2010 with the San Jose Symphonic Band.
Mr. Lemmon records regularly at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County. Recordings include commercials, Universal Studio rides, Disney and movie soundtracks. He can be heard on the latest Simpsons’ video game and Star Wars “The Force Unleashed” video game. He has also recorded “Uncharted Drakes Fortune” and the latest Starcraft video games. In August of 2011 he recorded Kinect Disneyland Adventures. In January 2008 he recorded the music for the movie In the Electric Mist. More recently you can hear him in the movies 18 Again and Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past.
Walter M. Mayes, ringmaster
Sunday, May 19, 2013
"Circus Circus"
McAfee Center, Saratoga
Walter M. Mayes is a regular performer with various Bay Area theatre companies, appearing in Carnival for 42nd Street Moon; The Sound of Music for Woodside Community Players; Hamlet for City Lights; Gypsy! for Broadway by the Bay; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Curtains, and Anything Goes for Foothill Music Theatre; and as the title characters in Man of La Mancha and Mack & Mabel for South Bay Musical Theatre (SBMT) and Sweeny Todd for Sunnyvale Community Players. In addition, he works frequently as a director, most recently helming Promises, Promises for SBMT. As Walter the Giant Storyteller, he has made hundreds of appearances at libraries, schools and bookstores throughout the country. Walter is currently the librarian and drama teacher at The Girls' Middle School in Palo Alto.
Michael Stroud, magician
Sunday, May 19, 2013
"Circus Circus"
McAfee Center, Saratoga
Michael Stroud, aka "Magic Mike", is a 12-time award-winning magician, consultant, inventor, author and lecturer in the art of magic.
His performances range from strolling close-up sleight-of-hand or "street style" magic to grand stage illusions with a live band and a cast of circus performers. He has appeared on radio and television across the US, Japan, Europe, and India and has been featured on a Bill Moyers PBS Special.
He has performed as headline entertainment in 12 countries as well as throughout hotels in Las Vegas and at the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood. As an author, his best-selling "Book of Magic" through Klutz Press has sold over 2 million copies. He has been published multiple times and has contributed to 9 titles currently at your local bookstore.
He blends comedy, audience participation, circus skills and many surprises with special effects in his performances. Each show is carefully customized for maximum impact and he performs many classic magic feats as well as inventions of his own you will see no one else perform. His repertoire includes magic from around the world- including esoteric art forms many audiences will never get a chance to see live, in person.