Event Details
- Date(s): Tue, Mar 7
- Time: 5:45 pm
- Website: https://www.msmuseumart.org/event/home-body-yoga-in-the-garden/
Other Information
Music in the City is a monthly series presenting live performances of classical and traditional artists. This month, join the Mississippi Museum of Art as they feature viola and piano music of Hsiaopei Lee and Michael Bunchman. Music in the City is generously sponsored by St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral.
Event is at 5:45pm | Bar opens at 5:15pm
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Dr. Michael Bunchman: Pianist Dr. Michael Bunchman maintains a fulfilling schedule as a collaborative pianist with both singers and instrumentalists throughout the United States. He is currently on faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi as the director of the Collaborative Piano Program, where he is honored to coach, teach and guide the next generation of collaborative pianists in both vocal and instrumental repertoire. He has given masterclasses at such institutions as Arizona State University, University of Texas at Austin, Texas Christian University, Illinois State University, Troy and the University of Albany to name a few. Prior to working at the University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Bunchman served as coordinator of Collaborative Piano at Truman State University from 2015 to 2017. Dr. Bunchman maintains an active performance schedule outside of his work in academia. He has performed collaborative recitals with members of the Atlanta Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony and soloist from the Metropolitan Opera. He has spent five seasons as a principal coach and collaborative pianist at the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, as well as appointments with the Natchez Festival of Music and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra. His many collaborations with opera companies also include Santa Barbara Opera, Opera Saratoga, the Princeton Festival and El Paso Opera. Active as a concerto soloist, Dr. Bunchman has performed with the Ridgefield Symphony, the Breckenridge Music Festival, the Antara Ensemble in New York City, the Utah Festival Opera Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra. He and wife, singer Jessica Medoff, have been invited to opera houses and theaters nationwide to perform their highly acclaimed cabaret show ‘The Truth About Love…and the Usual Lies.” In the summer of 2017 Dr. Bunchman had the honor to be counted among the amazingly diverse and talented group of artists of A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor, on their multi-city European cruise. In addition, Dr. Bunchman has served as the Director of Music and Collaborative Piano at the International Performing Arts institute in Bavaria, Germany since 2018. This is an intensive three week festival for collaborative pianists and singers. Dr. Bunchman holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. He spent three summers at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival. His teachers have included Anne Epperson, Rick Rowley, Marian Hahn, Joseph Kalichstein, Antoinette Perry, Adrienne Sielaff and Doris Pridonoff-Lehnert.
Hsiaopei Lee, Taiwanese violist, joined the string faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall of 2005. She has previously taught viola and chamber music at the Starling String Project, University of Cincinnati. Additionally she coached many talented violists as the long-time teaching assistant to the viola studio at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. As a recitalist, Lee has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Highlights of recent performances include solo appearances with the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, the USM Symphony Orchestra and NTNU Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan, solo performances at several International Viola Congress, and a series of recitals featuring contemporary viola music in several states. As an orchestral musician, Lee has performed under the batons of David Zinman, James Conlon, Robert Spano, Leonard Slatkin, James DePriest, David Robertson, and at such festivals as the Victoria Bach Festival, Texas Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival, where she received Talented Students in the Arts Initiative (TSAI) Orchestral String Mentor-Fellowship. She is currently the principal violist of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. A passionate chamber musician, Lee has been a chamber music collaborator in such cities as New York, Paris, and Taipei. She performed with the Mississippi Chamber Circle and the Impromptu Piano Quartet. Hsiaopei is an advocate of new music, her first CD, ODYSSEY: NEW MUSIC FOR VIOLA BY AMERICAN WOMEN COMPOSERS was released by Centaur Records in June 2014. A frequent guest artist on the university campuses both in the United States and Taiwan, Dr. Lee has given master classes and performances at universities including Florida State University, Ohio State University, and the University of Kentucky, to name a few. Dr. Lee’s many students have placed in competitions, such as the Young Artists Concerto Competition (Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra), have earned distinction in research (Dalton Research Competition, American Viola Society), and have been appointed to orchestral and teaching positions both in the United States and in their home countries. At Southern Miss, Dr. Lee is the recipient of several awards, including the Committee on Services and Resources for Women Competition, the Scholarly & Creative Research Awards from the College of Arts & Letters, and The Aubrey Keith Lucas and Ella Ginn Lucas Endowment for Faculty Excellence. Her research project has received support from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. In 2012 and 2017, the Mississippi Arts Commission selected Hsiaopei as one of the Artist Fellowship recipients, a highly competitive grant that is open to artists of many different artistic disciplines to support professional development or the creation of new work. Dr. Lee holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music from the National Taiwan Normal University, a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from Columbia University and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Viola Performance from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Masao Kawasaki, Catharine Carroll, Lawrence Fader, and Ting-Hui Chen.