Please join us on Sunday, July 24 at 3pm for the second performance of a brand-new concert series: MSU School of Music at the Shane.
The 2nd concert features a quartet of accomplished musicians with Derek Bannasch on bassoon, Elizabeth Schmidt on French Horn, Nora Spielman on guitar, and Kenneth Christensen on piano.
MSU School of Music at the Shane is a series of concerts showcases faculty of the School of Music at Montana State University. Concerts take place in the Dulcie Theatre at the Shane Lalani Center for the Arts in Livingston. Concessions are available before the show. Doors open at 2:30; show begins at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance or at the door.
MSU School of Music at the Shane is generously sponsored by Sal & Carol Glenn Lalani.
Nora Spielman is a dedicated classical guitarist, educator,and concert curator. Inspired by the talent of her colleagues based in New York City, Nora founded Odeon Guitar, a classical guitar concert series dedicated to providing a platform for musicians in the early stages of their career. Through Odeon, Ms.Spielman has organized Women of Guitar, a concert presented every March celebrating the music of female composers. The past three Women of Guitar concerts have presented over 20 female guitarists as well as several world premieres. Nora has used this space as an opportunity to share works dedicated to her by composers Mariel Mayz and Alyssa Regent. Aside from her work in curating, Nora loves playing in diverse chamber music and solo performance settings. Most recently Ms.Spielman performed her arrangement of Schumann art songs alongside the transcendent horn player Dr. Elizabeth Schmidt at Montana State University. Nora is currently finishing her studies as a DMA candidate at Stony Brook University under the tutelage of Dr. João Luiz. Aside from all things music Nora enjoys shooting and developing film photos, eating pizza (NY pizza) and spending time with her cat Oswald.
Bassoonist and conductor Derek Bannasch joined the faculty at the Montana State University School of Music in 2021 where he teaches applied bassoon, courses in music education, and conducts the University Band. A frequent performer in the vibrant Montana music scene, he has performed with the Bozeman and Billings symphonies, the Montana Ballet, and numerous orchestras in Michigan, Georgia, and Virginia. A proud U.S. Army veteran, Derek performed throughout the world as a chamber musician and soloist with the U.S. Army Bands. He is an artist for Moosmann bassoons and performs on a Moosmann 100CL bassoon in purple rose gold.
Elizabeth Schmidt is a Montana based horn player who is constantly looking to challenge the role that classical music, and the horn, occupies in current culture. She currently serves as part of the brass faculty at Montana State University. She holds a doctoral degree from SUNY Stony Brook, where she worked as a teaching assistant in theory and ethnomusicology, and a Master degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her research focuses on the Gender and Sexuality in music, through which she has engaged in the study of gendered instruments and the effect presumptions of gender have on brass players’ developmental and professional experiences. In addition to her position at MSU, Elizabeth enjoys a career as an active freelancer and clinician.
Kenneth Christensen, nationally certified teacher of music and pianist, has appeared as a soloist and collaborative artist throughout his home state of Montana as well as the United States, Europe and Asia. His international performances include collaboration with composers and conductors John Rutter and the late Sir Richard Wilcox in performances at Kings College Chapel Cambridge, England and London’s Royal Albert Hall. Other international appearances include performances at the First American Invitational Music Festival in China and the Philippines and the Montana State University 2012 Alumni Chorale Tour of Italy, Switzerland and France. His academic achievements include receiving the prestigious “Award in Excellence in Teaching” while serving on the faculty at the School of Music at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Mr. Christensen served as President for the Music Teachers National Association from 2013 to 2015 and received a Music Teachers National Association Foundation Fellow in the spring of 2017. Currently Mr. Christensen continues to remain active as a performer and serves as an Assistant Teaching Professor of Piano at Montana State University where his students continue to win state and regional competitions. In 2014 Mr. Christensen was awarded the Montana State Music Teachers Association “Teacher of the Year.” As a member of Music Teachers National Association Mr. Christensen travels the Pacific Northwest judging piano competitions as well as presenting workshops and master classes for students and teachers. In the fall of 1997 Mr. Christensen collaborated with pianist Liza Hella to form their piano duo “2 Pianos 4 Hand.” Together they concertized throughout the United States and performed their New York recital debut in April of 2006 at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In early 2008 “2 Pianos 4 Hands” appeared on the Emmy Award winning Montana PBS television program “11th and Grant” with Eric Funk. Mr. Christensen earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Montana State University and completed the Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Montana.
