OAKHURST – Sunday, March 23 at 2:30 p.m. marks the debut concert of the Sierra Foothill Composers’ Co-operative Concert Series in the Oakhurst Branch Library’s Community Room.
The concert has been organized by four local composers, and will feature music by the four co-op members — Brad Hufft, John Kilburn, Susan Moore, and Barbara Ulman — as well as Bach, Mozart, Fauré, and Debussy.
There is no charge for tickets. Donations will be gratefully accepted to cover costs, and to contribute to the Friends of the Oakhurst Branch Library (FOBL) — an
organization of volunteers who provide the library with many things not covered by county funding.
The program will be performed by nine musicians from the mountain area, Fresno, and Merced.
The harpist, Ellie Choate, a resident of Coarsegold and Long Beach, has played solo harp concerts in Oakhurst. She now performs in opera and symphony orchestras, on stage with show orchestras backing headline artists, and as a soloist and chamber musician for events and concerts all across Southern California. In the March 23 concert, she will perform music by Co-op members Hufft, Kilburn, and Moore.
Guitarist and composer John Kilburn, of North Fork, will perform his arrangements of French art songs by Fauré and Debussy with singer Amy Duke. Kilburn is a well known guitar teacher, and he often performs for weddings and other events in the mountain area.
Amy Duke, of North Fork, is a mezzo-soprano who sings many different vocal styles, including classical, standard jazz, Latin, bluegrass, blues, country, folk, and her own original works. She sings for the Sierra Jazz Band and has her own band called “Sparrow.”
Jennifer Lewis, of Fresno, is a soprano with a 4-octave range and a voice that has been described as “smooth — like butterscotch.” She performs often as soloist and in vocal ensembles at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno. She was the vocalist in Melancholy Truth at the 2013 Rogue Festival. She will perform art songs by Ulman, Moore, and Hufft.
Soprano Tiffanie Trujillo, is a sophomore at CSU Fresno. She studied violin during high school, and began studying voice the year before beginning college. She
has performed with the Fresno State Opera Theatre and will be singing in a new opera there on April 5th and 6th. In this concert she will sing two art songs by Ulman, written on poems by Rachel Oliver, of Mariposa.
Boris Nixon, of Oakhurst, has played the cello in orchestras on the east coast, in Fresno, and in many other California cities. He also plays in various mountain area events, including weddings in Yosemite. He is the cellist in the Arpeggio String Quartet. His hands were featured in the movie “The Soloist,” playing the cello for the character portrayed by Jamie Foxx. Nixon will be playing two numbers by Kilburn in this concert: Empty Vessel, for piano and cello, and Desert Bloom, for flute, English horn, harp, and cello.
Barbara Ulman, of Coarsegold, will play some of her own compositions on the piano, as well as music by Bach, Mozart, and two other members of the composers’ cooperative, Hufft and Kilburn. Ulman has played benefit concerts for FOBL for many years, helping to raise money to build additions to the library.
Flutist Sandra Stocking, of Merced, is a member of the Merced Symphony Orchestra and the Mariposa Symphony Orchestra. She plays weddings as a part of the Sierra Chamber Players, and has a private music studio where she teaches flute, clarinet, saxophone, and beginning piano students.
John Ayala, of Fresno, is a retired Fresno Unified School District music teacher who will play the English horn in this concert. He is an active professional woodwind player, doing session work, Broadway shows, and symphony work.
A reception following the concert will give the audience an opportunity to speak with the composers and performers.
Details: Barbara Ulman, (559) 683-7227.
