The Tribune

FREEPORT, Bahamas - The Grand Bahama Performing Arts Society will open the new year with a Chamber Music Concert featuring four artists on Saturday, January 21st, at 8pm at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club on Midshipman Drive.

In addition to this concert, the quartet will be visiting three schools to perform for the students and talk about the music and instruments. Other schools will be bused to those locations.

Three of the artists performed in Grand Bahama in January 2010 for the "Winter Music Festival with Trio Collage". Pianist Tannis Gibson, violinist Janna Lower and cellist Mark Tanner return and will be joined by flautist Judith Pierce. The Trio Collage was extremely well received as accolades poured in after last year's show!

"A wonderful weekend of enthralling music," said Grand Bahamas Performing Arts Society (GBPAS) supporter, Barbara Chester. "Passionate," commented Bahamian author, Marina Sarles. Grand Bahama resident Caroline Sayers said, "Truly Fantastic!"

Judith Pearce is a chamber musician of distinction with a career that spans Europe and America, Judith Pearce's work has encompassed collaborations with some of this era's most notable musicians, from Simon Rattle and Peter Maxwell Davies to Kathleen Battle and Eartha Kitt and she has played in many great concert halls, including the Lincoln and Kennedy Centres, London's Festival Hall, La Scala Milan, Berlin's Philharmonie, the Beethoven-halle, Bonn, and the Sydney Opera House. Educated in London and Paris, Pearce has been a member of the Nash Ensemble, Fires of London and London Sinfonietta as well as the New Music Consort of New York. She has appeared as guest with the Monticello Trio (where she first met pianist Tannis Gibson), the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Centre and the 21st Century Consort to name a few. As a recitalist Pearce has recorded many solo works for the BBC as well as chamber music. Her discography lists the RCA, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI and ASV labels, including a recording of the late Nicholas Maw's Flute Quartet, nominated for a Gramophone Award.

A New York resident since 1985, Judith Pearce is the Founder and Artistic Director of Weekend of Chamber Music, an innovative performing and arts education group in the Catskills. She retired recently from twenty years teaching flute and chamber music at Princeton University where she was also a member of the Richardson Chamber Players. Judith Pearce's teaching books for young players, written in collaboration with English composer Christopher Gunning, are published by Faber Music, London.

Pianist Tannis Gibson's performances have been described as "luminous" (The Boston Globe) and "thoroughly captivating." (The Washington Post). Her artistry has been praised for its "brilliance, energy and personality" (Tucson Citizen) and a recent review from Fanfare Magazine commended Gibson for her "stunning performance and powerhouse pianism."

Ms Gibson has been heard in concert halls throughout North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Venues include Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie), the Kennedy Centre, Merkin Hall, Corocoran Gallery, National Gallery of Art and the Gardner Museum in Boston. Her festival performances include among others, the Bath Festival in England, the ppAINISSIMO festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, Chile's Jornados Musicales de Invierno and New York's Bang-on-a-Can and Weekend of Chamber Music Festivals. She has collaborated with many fine artists, as well as ensembles such as the Shanghai, Muir, American, Lark, Audubon and Calder String Quartets. This past winter she toured major cities throughout China as concerto soloist with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra.

Ms Gibson has recorded for CRI, ASV (London), Naxos, JRI, The Classics Label and Summit Records. This year, her CD Song of the Birds with cellist, Nancy Green, was chosen as "CD of the Fortnight" by Classical Music magazine in London. The Monticello Trio's CD of Nicholas Maw's Piano Trio, with Gibson as pianist, was nominated for a Gramophone Award in London and selected as "Editor's Choice" for Gramophone Magazine. Ms. Gibson has been featured in live performance on WGBH Boston and WQXR New York. She has been heard on NPR's "Performance Today" on numerous occasions and has also appeared on the Today Show (NBC).

Tannis Gibson holds a BM from the University of Regina in Canada and a M M from the Juilliard School where she was a scholarship student of Sascha Gorodnitzki and Herbert Stessin.

Currently, Ms Gibson resides in Tucson where she is Associate Professor of Music and Keyboard Area Coordinator at the University of Arizona. She also holds the position of Distinguished Visiting Artist at Asuza Pacific University in Los Angeles. Ms. Gibson is an award-winning teacher and her students have received prizes in international, regional and local competitions. Several now hold faculty positions in institutions throughout the United States.

Mark Tanner was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a "commanding" cellist, Mark Tanner has led an active musical life, spanning four continents and nearly four decades.

He began his cello studies at the age of eight with Joel Krosnick; a year later, he was accepted by Aldo Parisot, and remained with him for the next 15 years, receiving both Bachelor of Arts cum laude and Master of Music degrees from Yale University.

A regular soloist with orchestras from coast to coast, Mr Tanner performs extensively as a chamber musician. He has performed in the prestigious Marlboro Festival and has been a guest artist with the Wall Street Chamber Players, the Coyote Consort, and the 20th Century Unlimited in Santa Fe. Recently he appeared with conductor Raymond Leppard and the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Mr Tanner's travels take him repeatedly to South America, where he has presented many series of concerts and master classes in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, as well as throughout Chile. He has also presented numerous recitals and master classes in Seoul and Suwon, South Korea, including at the Seoul National University.

Currently principal cellist of the New West Symphony, Mr Tanner has also participated in numerous music festivals ranging from Colorado to St Bart's, and currently performs each summer in Los Angeles, Canada, Cape Cod and Kansas, where he has been principal cellist, featured soloist, and chamber music coach of the Sunflower Music Festival for the past 20 seasons.

Janna Lower is a professor of violin and head of the strings area at the University of Florida. Preceding her appointment there, she was artist teacher of violin at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Dr Lower performs throughout Europe and North and South America. She enjoys a broad and diverse career, appearing frequently as recitalist, chamber musician, concerto soloist, as well as concertmaster and principal 2nd of orchestras and festivals. She has performed extensively throughout Chile.

In a continuing effort to broaden her musical experience, Dr Lower auditioned for and won a one-year appointment as concertmaster of the Charlotte (NC) Symphony Orchestra for the 2002-03 season .She led the orchestra in 68 performances as well as appeared as concerto soloist four times in their Mostly Mozart Series.

She currently serves as assistant artistic director of the Buzzard's Bay Festival, organising the chamber music concerts of this highly regarded festival in Marion (MA), which will celebrate its 14th anniversary in 2010.

With her long-time duo partner Alan Smith, she performs recitals at institutions around the country. Additionally, she has presented master classes at such institutions as the University of Southern California, Penn State University, Duquesne University, and University of South Florida, as well as in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Canada.

When she was fifteen she was accepted to the Juilliard Pre-College Division, and went on to receive both bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Joseph Fuchs. For four consecutive summers she was a performer for the International Master classes of Nathan Milstein in Zurich. After a two-year residency at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, touring across the country, she completed her education at the University of Michigan, where she received the Doctorate of Musical Arts, studying with Camilla Wicks. Her recorded works include the Lou Harrison Violin Concerto on New World Records, as well as chamber works on Opus One and Capstone Records.

The Grand Bahama Performing Arts Society was created to bring professional artists and performers from around the world to audiences in Grand Bahama. Drawing from Bahamian and international talent, a number of performances are planned throughout the year. Proceeds are used for the advancement of Grand Bahama students of the performing arts.