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GENE LVOV, jazz pianist      EKK, March 6, 2005      Gene Lvov was born in Moscow where he received his first piano lessons from his grandmother, a silent-movies pianist, when he was three years old.  He started with  formal piano and accordion training at the age of six, and after completing the primary music school for both instruments, he decided to become a professional musician and continue his studies of the piano.  (However, while in the army, he was a trombonist in the Russian Army Field Band.)   He successfully finalized his education in music performance, in both the classical piano and the jazz piano programs, at the Gnessyn Music College in Moscow.  He was a very active piano accompanist to various soloists and theatre groups.  He left Russia for Germany in 1992, where he attended the Master of Music program in Jazz at the Rheinische Musikhochschule (Music School of the Rhine) in Cologne.  He also actively pursued a career as a freelance pianist in various jazz bands and hotel venues in the Cologne/Bonn area.      It was in Germany that he met his wife, Ljiljana Jovanovic, also a musician.  Ljiljana was born in Belgrade where she started piano lessons at the age of seven.  She has studied music composition and New Music Theatre in Montenegro, Croatia and in Germany, as well as musicology, Slavic philology and philosophy.  Her compositions, New Music Theatre projects, and sound designs have been performed and broadcasted in several major European centers, Australia, Canada and United States. She has recently completed her graduate studies in interdisciplinary theatre at Towson University, and continues to work artistically in Baltimore/Washington area.      Since their arrival in the United States in 1996, Gene has been working mostly as a private piano teacher (also associated with Music and Arts Center in Timonium), piano accompanist (St. Peter Church in Baltimore, Christian House of Prayer in Essex, and since this fall in Towson University’s Dance Department), and stage pianist (“The Persistence of Vision” written and directed by Tom Brandau, among others).   He was assistant organist at St. James' Episcopal Church in Monkton, MD, also also served in the US Army as a keyboard player in the US Army Band in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

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PAMELA L. QUIST    Last Sunday of Epiphany       Pamela Layman Quist, composer and teacher, has composed works for various solo instruments, chamber ensembles, voice, chorus, and orchestra.  Among these pieces are Gravitation I composed for concert violinist, Elmar Oliveira and recorded by him on Grenadilla Records, and Mosaic for cello and piano written for and performed by Stephen Kates, cellist, with Jeffrey Cohen, pianist.  Dr. Quist received a Bachelor’s degree in piano, and a Master’s and Doctorate in composition from The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University where she studied with Julio Esteban, Grace Newsom Cushman, Jean Eichelberger Ivey and Robert Hall Lewis.  During this time she also studied the works of Earle Brown and worked in depth with him on his music and concepts.  The result of this was her dissertation Indeterminate Form in the Work of Earle Brown.         She has been on the faculties of SUNY in Geneseo, Peabody Preparatory and Conservatory, Essex Community College, and Johns Hopkins School of Continuing Studies.  For twelve years she was the Director of The Walden School, Ltd., a summer school and festival for young composers in New Hampshire, and is currently on the Walden Board of Directors.  Dr. Quist’s composition students have won numerous national awards in competitions. Each year from 1990-1997, the music of her students was chosen by the Baltimore Choral Arts Society for performance as part of their Student Composer Project.       Dr. Quist is the mother of two daughters, Erin and Laura, and she is married to Robert McClain.  They reside presently in California.

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JAMES STAFFORD-REED, organist      future: EKK, January 30, 2005       Born in England, and raised in a small market town on the outskirts of Lincolnshire, James was a Music Exhibitioner (and later Senior Organ Scholar) at Stamford School, an important English "Public School" [in U.S. English, a private school] which counts such famous musicians as Sir Malcom Sargent and Sir Michael Tippett among its alumni.   He is one of the youngest musicians ever to have served as a Cathedral organist and to hold Fellowship in Organ Performance at the Guild of Musicians and Singers in London.      Having served as Assistant Organist at All Saints' Parish Church, Peterborough and St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral, Aberdeen, he has lived and worked in the United States since 1999, first in Louisville, KY and subsequently in suburban Washington, DC.       He is the co-founder and Rector Chori of The West Texas Chorale (formerly The West Texas Chamber Choir).   He has concertized throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the United States, and has performed most notably at Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the cathedrals in Dundee and Aberdeen in England, and  in the U.S. in Louisville KY and Baltimore MD.       He has studied organ with Mark Duthie (Peterborough Cathedral), Stephen Barber (Dublin National Cathedral), David Goode (Oxford University) and John Ball (Grantham Cathedral).

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LUKASZ SZYRNER    EKK, November 21, 2004      “A great talent like Lukasz Szyrner comes along infrequently . . . . He has established an outstanding solo reputation. . . . [and] is without a doubt an outstanding instrumentalist who has a brilliant technique and a vivid talent....”                                     Stephen Kates, Professor of Cello at The Peabody Conservatory.      “... and the Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, played beautifully by Lukasz Szyrner.”                                                                   The Washington Post       With a resumé of musical accomplishments beyond his years, Lukasz Szyrner brings his engaging talent to the stage.  Born in Poznan, the musical capital of Poland, he began his studies at the age of seven.        A recognized child prodigy, Mr. Szyrner was performing in the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra when he was ten and made his solo debut with the orchestra at fourteen, performing the Saint-Saëns cello concerto.        He was the youngest Master’s graduate of the Jan Paderewski Music Conservatory in Poznan, studying under Prof. Stanislav Pokorski.  He continued his studies with Karine Georgian at the prestigious Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany.  (.http://www.hfm-detmold.de/..)   Since coming to this country he has studied at The Peabody Conservatory with celebrated cellist Stephen Kates, and with renowned cellist Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory of Music.       By age twenty, Mr. Szyrner started winning competitions worldwide.  These including the International Nicanor Zabaleta Competition for Strings in San Sebastian, Spain; the Irving M. Klein String Competition in San Francisco; the Mary Graham Lesley International Music Competition; the Yale Gordon Competition; the International UNESCO competition for Young Musicians;  and the D’Angelo Young Artist Competition.  He was a semi-finalist in the Leonard Rose Competition, and in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.  In 1993, he was the recipient of the Glos Wielkopolski “Medal of Young Art” award for his artistic achievements in Poland and abroad.        In past seasons, Mr. Szyrner has performed solo and chamber works throughout Europe and in major cities across the United States, including New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Richmond, and San Francisco.   In addition to an active recital and chamber music career, Mr. Szyrner has soloed with many orchestras.  He spends summers performing at numerous festivals such as the prestigious Ravinia Festival; the Piatigorsky Seminar in Los Angeles; and the Heifetz InternationalMusic Institute, where he also taught a master class series to aspiring young performers.  Mr. Szyrner made his debut on compact disc with the Swedish recording company, Chamber Sound, and has performed for radio and television in Poland, Sweden, and Germany.