2010 Biennial Conference Pianists

NASA announces official pianists for the next Biennial Conference. In addition to her piano talents, Kathryn Fouse will be coordinating all piano activities at the conference. Questions can be forwarded to her at klfouse@samford.edu

Kathryn Fouse serves on the faculty of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama where she is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Piano Pedagogy and Class Piano. In addition to her commitment to education, she continues to maintain an active career as a virtuoso pianist and a professional accompanist. She graduated cum laude from Baylor University with the Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and received the Master of Music degree in Piano from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of North Texas. Her major teachers include Eugenia O'Reilly, Dr. David Albee, and Dr. Ruth Slenczynska. Before joining Samford, Dr. Fouse served on the faculties of the University of North Texas (Denton, TX); Texas Wesleyan University (Fort Worth, TX); Collin County Community College (Plano, TX); and Lon Morris College (Jacksonville, TX). Dr. Fouse is the Immediate Past President of the Alabama Music Teachers Association.

Having developed a strong interest in contemporary music, Dr. Fouse frequently presents lecture-recitals in an effort to bring greater understanding of this music to audiences. In 1992 Kathryn was the national recipient of the Merle Montgomery Doctoral Grant awarded by Mu Phi Epsilon for her research into the Surrealist movement and its influence on American composers. Her special interest in the study and performance of American piano music of the Twentieth Century has resulted in invitations to present her research in lecture-recitals at such prestigious institutions as the University of Illinois, Baylor University, the Dallas Art Museum, Gothenburg University (Sweden) and the Norwegian State Academy of Music (Oslo).

Email: klfouse@samford.edu

Internationally sought after as a professional pianist, Jun Okada enjoys an active career, being involved in over one hundred performances annually as a soloist, in duo ensembles, and as a chamber music specialist. She has received critical acclaim for her expertise in the performance of string, low-brass and woodwind literature. Native of Hiroshima, Japan, she began her musical studies at Yamaha Music School, and received the Bachelors and Masters degrees from Michigan State University under the tutelage of Deborah Moriarty.

Ms. Okada is particularly noted for her command of the contemporary saxophone repertoire and has performed with numerous internationally recognized artists throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Belgium, and Slovenia. As a member of Rhythmicity, a saxophone and piano duo with saxophonist Joseph Lulloff, she has performed at Carnegie-Weill Recital Hall, in Thailand International Saxophone Conference, as well as many other international and national venues.

Also an avid promoter of low-brass repertoire, Ms. Okada performs annually at Falcone Festival held at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, and performs at both international and national conferences.

Ms. Okada has previously served as a faculty of Music Department at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and maintains a teaching studio in Lansing, Michigan.

Discography

Rythmicity

• Strayhorn by Charles Ruggiero, Tribute to Adolphe Sax Vol. VI Arizona University Recording
• Dance Compulsions by Charles Ruggiero (Double concerto for also saxophone and piano with wind ensemble and percussions with Michigan State University Wind Symphony), Tribute to Adolphe Sax Vol. XII AUR
• Louder Than Words for alto saxophone, bassoon, and piano by Don Freund, with bassoonist Barrick Stees, AUR

Other

• Wheels of Life (Duo CD with Benjamin Pierce, euphonium and tuba), Ribbit.com
• Cheers (Vol.2 with Benjamin Pierce), Ribbit.com

Born in the capital of Latvia, Rīga, Ināra Zandmane started to play piano at the age of six. Ms. Zandmane holds BM and MM from Latvian Academy of Music, MM in piano performance from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and DMA in piano performance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She has been the staff accompanist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro since 2003, performing up to fifty recitals per year. Ms. Zandmane is frequently invited to serve as an official accompanist at national competitions and conferences, among them the North American Saxophone Alliance conference and the MTNA National competition since 2005.

Ms. Zandmane has been presented in solo recitals in St. Paul, Kansas City, Cleveland, St. Louis, and New York, as well as in many Republics of former Soviet Union. In April 2000, she was invited to perform at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. Ināra Zandmane has appeared as a soloist with the Latvian National Orchestra, Liepāja Symphony, Latvian Academy of Music Student Orchestra, SIU Symphony, and UMKC Conservatory Symphony and Chamber orchestras. She has performed with various chamber ensembles at the International Chamber Music Festivals in Rīga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Helsinki (Finland), and Norrtelje (Sweden). Ms. Zandmane has collaborated with such musicians as Martin Storey, Paul Coletti, Michel Debost, Kelly Burke, Steven Stusek, and Susan Fancher.

For a few last years, Ināra Zandmane has worked together with Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks. She has given Latvian premieres of his two latest piano pieces, Landscapes of the Burnt-out Earth and The Spring Music, and recorded the first of them on the Conifer Classics label. Solo recordings include the piano works by Maurice Ravel, recorded together with her husband, Vincent van Gelder, and the complete Sonatas for piano by Alexander Scriabin. She also can be heard on various chamber music CDs.