Parkside Noon Concert Series kicks off Wednesday

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 2:03 PM CDT

SOMERS — The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Music Department will again offer a weekly Noon Concert Series free and open to the public.

“The Noon Concert Series is a highly successful series of quality performances,” said James McKeever, chairman of the UW-Parkside Music Department. “Because of our proximity to two large metropolitan areas, we are able to provide an interesting and diverse range of performances each semester including professional solo and chamber recitals, choirs and jazz ensembles, in addition to our faculty and student performances.”

The concert at noon on Wednesday will feature Cynthia Solfest-Wallis on flute and Suzanne Geoffrey on oboe. The concert will be held in Room D-118 of the Communication Arts Building, 900 Wood Road.

Solfest-Wallis has been a professional musician and instructor for more than 20 years. Current faculty appointments include Wisconsin Lutheran College, Carroll College and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she teaches applied flute and directs the flute ensembles. She has also taught at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Solfest-Wallis is principal flute with the Skylight Opera Theatre and Wisconsin Wind Orchestra. As a free-lance musician, she performs frequently with the Bel Canto Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Woodstock Mozart Festival, as well as with many other orchestras and chamber groups in the region.

A native of the Milwaukee area, Geoffrey has played both oboe and English horn with many southeastern Wisconsin orchestras, including the Sheboygan, Madison, Green Bay, and Kenosha Symphony Orchestras, the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in Madison. Currently, Geoffrey is principal oboe of the Racine Symphony, the Manitowoc Symphony and the Wisconsin Wind Orchestra. She is the associate principal oboe of the Waukesha Symphony, and plays English horn in the Waukesha and Festival City Symphony orchestras. She also has experience performing on the oboe d’amore with the Racine Symphony, the Waukesha Symphony, and the Lakeshore Chorale in Sheboygan, performing works of Mahler and J.S. Bach.

Geoffrey’s current faculty appointments include Beloit College, Carroll College and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She is in demand as a clinician throughout southeastern Wisconsin, and maintains a private studio for students of all levels. Geoffrey is also active as a chamber musician, performing with the UW-Whitewater Faculty Woodwind Quintet and the Carroll College Faculty Wind Trio during the school year and the Semplice Harbor Faculty Wind Quintet in the summer.

Free parking for this concert is available in Communication Arts parking lot on the west end of the campus. Patrons are encouraged to arrive early to park.

A complete schedule of the Noon Concert Series as well as the Evening and Weekend Concert Series can be viewed on the Web at: http://www.uwp.edu (keyword: Concerts) or by contacting the UW-Parkside Music Department at (262) 595-2457.

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