Exploring uncharted territory Madera Vox performs at New Paltz

NEW PALTZ – Weaving together a provocative and engaging performance, Madera Vox, the eclectic chamber ensemble will perform at the State University of New York at New Paltz on Tuesday, March 8 at 8 p.m. in McKenna Theatre. The evening’s program includes the works of Kurt Weill, Chick Corea, Libby Larsen, Peter Hope and Kurt Cobain. Concert tickets, available at the door one half hour prior to performance, are $8 general admission, $6 seniors/staff, and $3 students.

Oboist Nicole Golay, bassoonist Cornelia McGiver, pianist Sylvia Buccelli, soprano Kelly Ellenwood and percussionist-composer David Gluck will combine the best of traditional repertoire with original 21st century works. With a unique array of instruments, unusual music, and an unusual combination of players, Madera Vox synthesizes each member’s contributions, which in turn challenges each player’s versatility. Make no mistake, at the core, there is a classical foundation, but what is launched from there takes off into uncharted territory.

Oboist Nicole Golay regularly performs with Ridgefield Symphony, Putnam Chorale, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Basically Bach, and as a founding member–chamber ensembles Madera Vox and Neue Bach Band. She has also been a member of the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, Columbia Festival Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony, and performed with Gilbert & Sullivan, S.E.M. Ensemble, Metamorphosis and the Warner Brothers Orchestra. She has given numerous recitals in New York, Virginia, Connecticut and California, as well as in her home state of Idaho.

Bassoonist Cornelia McGiver works regularly in the New York and New Haven areas. She performs with the New Haven Symphony, Live Music Project, Cappella Cantorum, Canterbury Choral Society, Trinity Chorale, Orchestra New England, and numerous others. Locally she has performed with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. Her own recently formed ensemble, NorthWinds, a bassoon duo, enjoys playing to audiences throughout rural New York State.

Sylvia Buccelli is a founding member of several chamber music ensembles in the Northeast as well as a frequent recital partner of instrumentalists and vocalists. She has performed at Weill Recital Hall in New York City and extensively throughout New England, where she appeared at the New England Conservatory and in radio concerts at WGBH, WICN and WCUW. She performs regularly as a member of the piano trio Innisfree. Her recordings include She Walks in Beauty, a CD of the vocal and piano music of Otto Luening and a release with Innisfree of the piano chamber music of Henry Martin.

Soprano and award-winning actor, Kelly Ellenwood has starred on Broadway and on National Tour in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera as the tour de force diva Carlotta Giudicelli. “A voice that’s positively stunning,” (The Patriot Ledger, Boston, MA); “Ellenwood is especially strong, turning on the juice with a voice that shimmers…” (The Everett Herald, Seattle, WA). She performed as “Mrs. Fezziwig” in the Madison Square Garden production of A Christmas Carol for four consecutive seasons (2000-2003). Ellenwood received the First Prize and the Oxnard Gold Medal at the Savannah (GA) Music Festival’s American Traditions Competition singing America’s music – gospel, blues, jazz and musical theatre. Other awards include an Actress of the Year Award for her performance as the “Witch” in the Chicago and subsequent National Tour production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. She has collaborated with composer Jay Alan Zimmerman on several occasions, including his sci-fi rock musical feature film, The Madness Channel, and was seen this past November and December at the Zipper Theatre in New York City in Zimmerman’s J@Z series where she performed his 15-minute song cycle “Punctuated Thoughts.”

Percussionist and composer/arranger David Gluck, is a founding member of Rhythm & Brass, and has toured the world as an acclaimed virtuoso percussionist. He has appeared as a featured clinician in hundreds of universities across the globe. Gluck’s compositions and unique, pastiche-like arrangements have been performed and recorded by Rhythm & Brass and his orchestral arrangements have been played by symphonies throughout the United States. While rapidly gaining a reputation as a distinguished composer, he has received numerous commissions from various collegiate and professional ensembles, with his most recent premiere at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Critically acclaimed by the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly, Gluck’s music has been performed by such groups as the United States Air Force Band, the Chicago Symphony Brass Quintet and many orchestras across the US and abroad. He has recorded for d’note and Koch record labels and his music has been featured in Jazz Player magazine, National Public Radio and the BET network.

For additional information, call 845-257-2700, or visit www.newpaltz.edu/music