Music students invited to perform at Carnegie Hall

Contact: Cara Barnes

KALAMAZOO—At the invitation of Manhattan Concert Productions, five Western Michigan University School of Music students have been selected to present the Fourth Annual Collegiate Honors Recital in Carnegie Hall.

Pianist Ahmed Anzaldúa, trumpeter Ray Bazz, percussionist Skye Hookham, soprano Alexandria Shiner and flutist Maria Vallejo will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, in Weill Recital Hall. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at carnegiehall.org/calendar or by phone at (212) 247-7800.

Photo of Ahmed Anzaldua.

Anzaldúa

Ahmed Anzaldúa

Pianist Ahmed Anzaldúa is a graduate student majoring in performance and choral conducting. He studies piano with Dr. Silvia Roederer and conducting with Dr. Kimberly Dunn Adams. He earned a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Las Rosas Conservatory in Morelia, Mexico, and has studied at Queen Sofia College in Madrid, Spain. In 2002, Anzaldúa won first prize at the Cullel International Piano Competition. He also is a founder of the Chihuahua Ensemble.

Photo of Ray Bazz.

Bazz

Ray Bazz

Trumpeter Ray Bazz is a graduate student majoring in performance, where he studies with Dr. Stephen Jones. Bazz received his Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 2012, and was a semifinalist in the International Trumpet Guild’s Competition that same year. He is a native of Long Beach, Calif.

Photo of Skye Hookham.

Hookham

Skye Hookham

Percussionist Skye Hookham is a senior majoring in performance and music therapy. She studies percussion with Professor Judy Moonert. Hookham is an Edwin E. Meador Theatre and Performing Arts Scholar and was the Harper C. Maybee Scholar in the 2012-13 academic year. She is a member of Birds on a Wire, WMU's new music ensemble; the Student Music Therapy Association; and Pi Kappa Lambda music honors society. Hookham is from Ann Arbor, Mich.

Photo of Alexandria Shiner.

Shiner

Alexandria Shiner

Soprano Alexandria Shiner graduated in December 2013 with a Bachelor of Music in voice performance from WMU, where she continues to study with Dr. Carl Ratner. A native of Waterford, Mich., Shiner won first place, and received the Jessye Norman Award for Most Promising Fourth Year Student, at the 2013 National Association of Teachers of Singing Great Lakes Region State Competition. She is a staff singer at St. Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo, Mich., and formerly sang at First Congregational Church of Battle Creek. Shiner lives in Kalamazoo and is the concerts assistant in WMU's School of Music.

Photo of Maria Vallejo.

Vallejo

Maria Vallejo

Flutist Maria Eugenia Vallejo is a junior majoring in performance with a minor in multimedia arts technology. She studies with WMU's flute professor, Dr. Martha Councell-Vargas. Vallejo is a Diether H. Haenicke International Scholar and Nancy C. and Douglas P. Roosa Scholar. She received an honorable mention with the Flute Quartet and second place with the Gale Force Winds Quintet in the 2013 WMU Chamber Music Festival. A native of Quito-Pichincha, Ecuador, Vallejo was principal flute of the Youth Orchestra of Quito and a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Ecuador. She taught at the Foundation Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador.

Manhattan Concert Productions

Each year, a University is chosen by Manhattan Concert Productions to have a performance competition in their music department, selecting a slate of semifinalists. Artistic Director Dr. Craig Arnold then travels to the chosen university and leads a panel to judge the recital of competing semifinalists. Student musicians are then selected as finalists to be brought to New York City expense-free for their debut recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

For more information, visit mcp.us.