Trumpeter Paul Merkelo headlines BGSU's Brass Week

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts will host Paul Merkelo, principal trumpet for the Montreal Symphony, during Brass Week Feb. 17-21.

Merkelo will perform in concert at 8 p.m. Friday (Feb. 20) in Bryan Recital Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center. Assisting on the program will be Dr. Solungga Fang-Tzu Liu, assistant professor of piano at BGSU. The program will include works by Enesco, Vivaldi and others.

In addition to the concert, Merkelo will conduct a master class at 10 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 21) in 1012 Moore Musical Arts Center, the Kelly Instrumental Rehearsal Hall.

Merkelo is considered one of the finest trumpet players of his generation and has been recognized for his “unusual lyrical gifts” by Gramophone magazine. He joined the Montreal Symphony in 1995 and is also a Yamaha Performing Artist.

In 1999, Merkelo was appointed a Canadian musical ambassador to China for the inauguration of the Montreal Park in Shanghai, where he was also a featured soloist with the Shanghai Broadcast Orchestra on a national telecast.

Liu joined the BGSU piano faculty last fall and is an active soloist and concert pianist throughout Asia and North America. Dedicated to the performance of new music, she recently premiered Robert Morris’s “Meandering River.” She has recorded two CDs of Steven Reich’s major works on Nonesuch and Cantaloupe Records with the contemporary ensemble Alarm Will Sound.

Brass Week at BGSU will also feature performances by the Horn Club and Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble on Tuesday (Feb. 17); a Faculty Artist Series concert featuring trombonists William Mathis and Garth Simmons on Wednesday (Feb. 18), and the Trombone Choir and Trumpet Ensemble on Thursday (Feb. 19). Free and open to the public, all performances will be at 8 p.m. in the Bryan Recital Hall.

###

(Posted February 13, 2009 )