Don Quixote!

Mount Vernon Music presents the musical story of a man unable to distinguish imagination from reality in Don Quixote! Monday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of St. Rita Catholic Church, 12521 Inwood Rd., Dallas, TX 75244. Richard Strauss’ symphonic tone poem, in a version for six instruments by László Varga, walks the listener through Western literature’s first epic novel by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. This colorful music, with the title role played by the cello, vividly portrays Don Quixote and his hapless sidekick Sancho Panza as they take up arms against imagined enemies “disguised” as windmills, sheep, religious pilgrims, and more. An introduction with examples from the piece will equip listeners with the perfect musical navigation system for maximum enjoyment.

Performing will be cellist Jolyon Pegis with Ute Miller, viola; Mark Miller, violin; Daryl Coad, clarinet; Alexander Kienle, French horn; Evan Mitchell, piano.

Admission to this event is free.

Supplemental Information:

Jolyon Pegis, cellist, was born in Rochester, NY. He attended Indiana University and the Hartt School of Music. His principal teachers include Alan Harris, Gary Hoffman, and David Wells. Mr. Pegis is a winner of the Artists International Awards in New York City. He has appeared as soloist with the Virginia Symphony, Maui Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and the West Virginia Symphony among others. He gave his formal recital debut in New York at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1990 and has since appeared as a recitalist across the country. As a champion of new music he has commissioned and premiered several works and has worked with composers such as Gunther Schuller, Lukas Foss, Don Freund and David Amram. Jolyon was a member of the contemporary ensemble Voices of Change from 2004-2010. A dedicated teacher, he has served on the faculties of Southern Methodist University, the Hartt School of Music, and the D’Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College. Recent master classes include Baylor University, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Georgia, SUNY Fredonia, the University of Toronto, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. He was a member of the Arcadia Trio in residence at the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival and has also been featured at the Anchorage Festival of the Arts and the Roycroft Chamber Music Festival in Buffalo. He was the Principal Cellist of the San Antonio Symphony from 1995-2000. Currently, Jolyon is an Associate Principal Cellist of the Dallas Symphony and the Principal Cellist of the Chautauqua Symphony.

Ute Miller is the principal violist of the East Texas Symphony, performs frequently with the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras and has appeared as a soloist with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. A founder and the Executive Director of Mount Vernon Music Association, Ute performs with her husband Mark in the violin-viola ensemble Duo Renard, which was brought to Texas with a National Endowment for the Arts Rural Residencies chamber music grant. She also produces the Color of Sound series at Texas A&M Commerce, where she was Artist-in-Residence. Ute’s musical studies include the prestigious Konzertexamen diploma from the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, and a year at Boston University as a student of Raphael Hillyer. In addition to playing with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, she served for seven years as assistant principal violist of the Gürzenich Orchester/Cologne Philharmonic, and for eight years as principal violist of the Dallas Opera Orchestra.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Alexander Kienle is the Assistant Principal/Utility horn of the Dallas Symphony. His musical adventures started at age five, when he would incessantly bang on the toy bells at Montessori school, age six with piano lessons. At age eleven he picked up the French horn because the band director already had more than enough trumpets. Mr. Kienle has performed with ensembles around the world, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Verbier Festival Orchestra, New World Symphony, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Kienle is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Ashby and Julie Landsman.

Pianist Evan Mitchell's recent highlights include debuts on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series (Chicago), at Merkin Concert Hall (NYC), and at several major venues in Shanghai. He has played concerti with the symphony orchestras of Dallas and Fort Worth, among others, and collaborated in recital with such major figures as double bassist Gary Karr and clarinetist Corrado Giuffredi. Evan’s new recording with bassist Szymon Marciniak is earning rave reviews; most recently, Bass World called their performances “intoxicating,” deeming this “a seminal recording.” Evan is also featured on the 2012 release “Piano de Pampa y Jungla: A Collection of Latin American Piano Music.”

Since June 2014 Evan has been a TCA Texas Touring Roster Artist, and over the past four years he has given more than 150 performances for Cliburn in the Classroom. Evan is currently completing his doctorate at Texas Christian University, where he studies with John Owings. More information can be found at www.evanmitchell.net.

Clarinetist Daryl Coad is an active performer and teacher in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Formerly a member of the Rochester Philharmonic and the New Orleans Symphony, Daryl has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Dallas Chamber Orchestra. He has been on the faculties of the Brevard Music Center and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he also served as music director for the University Symphony Orchestra. His recordings credits include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Claudio Abbado and Andre Previn, and he was featured on a recording of William Walton’s Façade with David Zinman conducting members of the Rochester Philharmonic. His principal clarinet teacher was Robert Marcellus. Other teachers include Larry Combs, Clark Brody and Robert Listokin. Daryl studied conducting with David Zinman, and holds a B.M. in clarinet performance and an M.M. in conducting, both from Northwestern University. He frequently performs with the Fort Worth Symphony and has been on the faculty of the University of North Texas since 1999.

Besides serving as concertmaster of the East Texas Symphony Orchestra, violinist Mark Miller performs with the Fort Worth Symphony and other North Texas ensembles. He is a founder and president of Mount Vernon Music, a membership-based nonprofit bringing outstanding performances of chamber music to underserved audiences in East Texas, with an emphasis on outreach to school children in rural communities. Mark also co-presents the chamber series “The Color of Sound” at Texas A&M University – Commerce, where for eleven years he taught and performed as an Artist-in-Residence with his wife, ETSO principal violist Ute Miller. Their recordings as Duo Renard can be found on the MSR and Fleur de Son labels. Following studies at SUNY Purchase, Indiana University - Bloomington and Boston University, Mark studied with Jürgen Kussmaul in Germany, where he was assistant concertmaster in the Robert Schumann Kammerorchester of Düsseldorf and a member of the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn.

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