Trio Concert to feature Flute, Harp and Organ

On Friday, August 25, The Springs Area Council of the Arts (SACOTA) will present a trio of outstanding young musicians in concert at the David Salmen Residence east of Wessington Springs. Tickets ($10.00) for the 7:30 p.m. concert must be reserved in advance by calling Beverly Salmen at 605-539-1305, or by writing to: SACOTA, Box 1, Wessington Springs, South Dakota 57382.

The evening of music for flute, harp, organ and voice will feature the organist Chelsea Chen. Chelsea has performed to critical acclaim across the United States, most recently to a capacity crowd at the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Chicago. She recently completed graduate organ studies at The Juilliard School in New York City where she was a student of John Weaver and Paul Jacobs. This summer she is at the Aspen Festival in Colorado where she was awarded a fellowship to study piano. In September Chelsea will leave to study in Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar. As one of America’s premier organists she has inspired contemporary composers to write music for the organ and is distinguishing herself as a composer/arranger as well. She has been a leader of the Juilliard Christian Fellowship and has served as organist for Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in New York City. Chelsea is a native of La Jolla, California.

Arielle, harpist, is a native of Pittsburgh, PA. Her musical pursuits began when she was 4 years old. She studied piano, theory, voice and composition before taking up the harp at age 12. Arielle has just finished her junior year as a harp major at The Juilliard School in New York City, studying with Nancy Allen, principle harpist of the New York Philharmonic. She currently holds the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship and the Hobin Harp Scholarship. She will continue as Teaching Assistant for the harp studio. Her campus activities include being Administrative Leader of the Juilliard Christian Fellowship, one of the oldest and largest student organizations in the school.

Arielle is pursuing a dual career in harp and fashion design, specializing in performance wear for musicians. She is conducting extensive research on the history and current issues of Fashion in Concert, and aspires to graduate with Scholastic Distinction. Arielle plans to ‘model’ some of her creations at her numerous performances. Earlier in August she will perform in collaboration with flutist, Carol Wincenc at the national flute convention. Arielle’s graduation recital will be November 27, 2006 at 8pm in Juilliard’s Paul Recital Hall. Arielle and Chelsea have performed numerous concerts of music for organ and harp as the ensemble, Duo Mango.

Joining Chelsea and Arielle will be Wessington Springs native, Rebecca Salmen. Rebecca graduated with honors, receiving a Bachelors of Music in flute performance from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa where she studied flute with Sandra Wacha. At Simpson she also studied voice and piano performance. She has been the pianist and associate conductor at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Indianola. Rebecca is working with the Des Moines Metro Opera this summer and will be moving to Boston in September where she will begin private flute study with Fenwick Smith, Principal flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Rebecca has played numerous principal flute roles in opera, oratorio and musical orchestras including a performance at Madison Avenue Presbyterian in New York City. She recently performed several soprano operatic roles in the Simpson College Opera Workshop. Rebecca is a member of the Iowa Bandmaster’s Association and has been privately teaching flute for several years. For the concert in Wessington Springs she will appear as flutist with the ensemble as well as singing soprano in a composition by Maurice Ravel for harp and voice.

The evening’s concert will feature music for organ and harp by American composer, Marcel Grandjany, a famous harpist who taught at Juilliard from 1938 until his death. His Aria is one of the few “standard repertoire” pieces for harp and organ. Compositions from contemporary Juilliard composers Zach Bernstein, Yui Kitamura and Raymond Lustig will delight the audience with such things as the Creature Dances which is a play on animals – Bear Bones, Elephance, Ostri-nato, Crab Canon and Ant. A newly commissioned work by Venezuelan composer Paul Desenne features a challenging South American flavor in his Mango Sweet. Traditional compositions of Ravel, including the famous Pavane will be familiar to listeners. Nebraska born composer Howard Hanson will be featured in a beautiful work for flute and harp. Brazilian composer Amaral Vieira’s work for flute and organ will surely become an audience favorite.

This concert is underwritten with support from Salmen Organs and Farms of South Dakota, and Springs Area Council Of The Arts (SACOTA). The Salmen residence is located on SD Hwy 34, 2.25 miles west of the junction of Hwys. 281 and 34.

The trio will also be performing in Rapid City at Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Tuesday, August 22 at 7:30 p.m. and at American Lutheran Church, Milbank on Sunday, August 27 at 7:00 p.m. Arielle will be performing on a Lyon & Healy Harp provided through a special arrangement from the Sioux City Symphony.