The FEU’s beloved Sunday concert series is back! During the Rendez-Vous Musical #97 coordinated by Isabelle Pazar, some of the FEU’s talented musicians & guest artists will pay homage to the classics and put their own spin on contemporary works in a dynamic and captivating performance.
These concerts, which are an opportunity for the musicians to present the works they are perfecting or creating, are known for their friendly and warm atmosphere. The audience, delighted by the (re)discovery of classical and contemporary works and new compositions, often stays to chat with the musicians, who take great pleasure in these exchanges, always talking about music and their discipline with great passion.
Pratical Information
Date Sunday, March 3 | Time 5pm | Facebook Event
Save the Date! Next concert on Sunday, April 7th
Program
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
Chanson de Neige
Christina Koti, piano
Jared Michaud, baritone
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)
Le Retour
Christina Koti, piano
Jared Michaud, baritone
Katherine Hoover (1937-2018)
Kokopeli for solo flute
Isabelle Pazar, flute
Lawren Brianna Ware (b.1994)
Borealis
Ian Tomaz, piano
Samin Moradi Fard (b.1993)
Fearring (2024, world premiere)
Ethan Nylander, flute
Madeleine Dring (1923-1977)
Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Pianoµ
Gillian Bobnak, oboe
Ethan Nylander, flute
Khalid McGhee, piano
Resident Musicians
Gillian Bobnak is an American oboist who specializes in historical and modern oboes. She is newly based in France, where she is studying with Antoine Torunczyk at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris. She holds degrees from the New England Conservatory, where she was a student of Mark McEwen, and the Juilliard School, where she studied with Gonzalo Ruiz. At Juilliard, she worked with a wide array of esteemed faculty and guest artists, including William Christie, Paul Agnew, Jakob Lehmann, Lionel Meunier, Rachel Podger, Laurence Cummings, Peter Whelan, Laurence Equilbey, and Masaaki Suzuki. She has performed throughout the United States with groups such as the Oregon Bach Festival, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the San Francisco Early Music Festival with Vox Luminis, and Symphony in C. In the summer of 2023, she received a grant from the Netherlands-America Foundation to pursue a brief period of study with oboist Frank de Bruine at Koninklijk Conservatorium den Haag, and received a full scholarship for a week of study at the Vielklang Festival in Tübingen, Germany. Her interests include the performance of 17th and 18th century sacred German music, especially the vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his predecessors; historical woodwind improvisation; early recordings and their relation to performance practice research; and France’s influence on the modern American oboe sound.
American pianist and collaborator, Khalid McGhee, is dedicated to exploring the convergence of musical genres. Originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, he received comprehensive training in classical piano and voice, while also covering genres like gospel, jazz, soul and musical theater. A Blue-Chip Full-tuition Scholar at the Northern Arizona University – Kitt School of Music, he received a Bachelor of Music with Distinction in Piano Performance. He continued his studies at the Institut für Musik der Hochschule Osnabrück in Lower-Saxony, Germany, winning prestigious awards such as the Deutschland Stipendium (twice) and a Fulbright grant. Parallel to his musical pursuits, Khalid’s deep-rooted passion for diverse cultures, human behavior, and cross-cultural communication is evident in his studies in pedagogy and linguistics, as well as his impactful work as an educator and collaborator. During his recent Fulbright experience, he actively explored the use of music as a tool to enhance language learning and promote social integration among school students with migrational backgrounds. He currently resides in Paris as an Artist-in-Residence and Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar at the Fondation des États-Unis, pursuing a Diplôme Supérieur at the École Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot”.
Franco-American baritone Jared Andrew Michaud is a Fulbright/Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar for 2023-2024 in Paris, where he studies with François Le Roux and Pascal Rogé as part of a duo singing course at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, and studies privately with Susan Manoff. With his duet partner, pianist Christina Koti, Jared won first prize in the Federation’s Lied Art Grant Competition 2022 (New York), the 4th SGSM International Singing Competition (Slovenia) and the Elisabeth Schumann Lied Duo Competition 2022 (London). They also represent France as emerging artists in the Young Europe Sings program, co-funded by the European Union. The duo has performed in recitals in the UK, USA and Greece, appearing in venues such as St. James Piccadilly in London, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Manhattan, Yale University, the Rhodes International Music Festival and the Theocharakis Foundation in Athens. Jared obtained his Master’s degree from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in London and his Bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
Holding a Bachelor’s of Music in Flute Performance from West Virginia University, Ethan Nylander is a rising professional flutist who especially enjoys orchestral music, contemporary music, and composition. Ethan is the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to France, and he currently studies at the École Normale Supérieure de Musique de Paris with flutist Mihi Kim. Some of Ethan’s prized accomplishments include winning First Place in the Atlanta Flute Club Young Artist Competition and Carl D. Hall Piccolo Competition, First Place in the Central Ohio Flute Association Collegiate Competition, First Place in the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute Solo Competition, and Second Place in the Mid Atlantic Symphony Orchestra’s Elizabeth Loker Concerto Competition. He also won the WVU Young Artist Competition in 2022 and performed solo with the WVU Symphony Orchestra. During his studies at WVU, Ethan recorded an album of solo pieces for Alto and Bass flute by French-speaking composers titled Métamorphose: Contemporary Solo Works for Low Flutes which can be found on streaming platforms. He briefly studied composition at WVU and has written multiple pieces for flute, to include flute and piano works, solo flute, and flute and electronics- one of which has been recorded on his album. Ethan has performed in concert halls such as the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kresge Concert Hall in Pittsburgh.
Isabelle Pazar, flutist and winner of the 2022-23 Fulbright scholarship, studies flute pedagogy and traditional techniques of the French flute school. Her research project led her to study alongside flutist Patricia Nagle at the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. Isabelle’s love of musical composition, and particularly of the Romantic era, brought her to Paris to study the flute in her native land. Originally from the United States, and more specifically Maine, Isabelle is a doctoral candidate in music performance at Stony Brook University in New York, where she had the good fortune to study with renowned flutist Carol Wincenc. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College after studying with assistant flute professor Judy Grant, creator and director of the Boston Flute Academy. In 2017, she received a scholarship from Boston College to attend the Cremona Italy International Music Festival and Competition. Isabelle earned a master’s degree in music performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020, where she studied flute with Dr. Cobus du Toit and worked as an assistant studio flute teacher. She also helped teach music history. She also studied with flutist Sooyun Kim of the renowned Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in New York, and performed in several MasterClasses for flutists Leone Buyse, Elizabeth Rowe, Mario Caroli, Linda Toote, and Lorne McGhee. Recipient of the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship for 2023-2024, Isabelle is thrilled to continue her studies in Paris as artist-in-residence at the Fondation des États-Unis.
Ian Tomaz is an American pianist currently based in Paris, France. He has studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot since 2021, working with Pascal Roge. He is in residence at the Fondation des Etats Unisin 2022-2023 as a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, performing concerts as an Artist in Residence at the Fondation des États-Unis and around Paris while working on the major solo, chamber and art song compositions of Francis Poulenc. Since moving to Paris, he has performed at Salle Cortot, Musee J.J. Henner and the Centre Culturel Czech and was also chosen as a full scholarship participant for the Academie de Musique Francaise, playing for renowned French pianists including Michel Beroff, Jacques Rouvier, Anne Queffelec, Marie Catherine Girod and Francoise Thinat. He began his studies at the ENMP thanks to the generous support of the Bourse Marandon from the Societe des Professeurs de Français et Francophones D’Amérique in New York.
Guest Musicians
Greek pianist Christina Maria Koti is musician-in-residence at the Hellenic Foundation in Paris for the year 2023-2024, where she studies privately with Susan Manoff, while pursuing an artist diploma in voice/piano duet at the École Normale de Musique de Paris with Pascal Rogé and François Le Roux. She holds a Master’s degree in piano performance under Professor Deniz Gelenbe-Arman at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, with a scholarship from Trinity College of Music, and previously obtained a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honors from Glasgow University. With her duo partner, baritone Jared Andrew Michaud, she won first prize in the Federation’s Lied Art Scholarship Competition 2022 (New York City), the Elisabeth Schumann Competition for Lied Duo 2022 (London), and the 4th SGSM International Singing Competition, Lied Duo category (Slovenia). The duo has also been selected to represent France at the Young Europe Sings (YES) 2023-2024 Academy. Christina Maria has recently taken part in the following masterclasses and festivals with Jared: the Heidelberger Frühling Liedzentrum masterclass with Anna-Lucia Richter and Ammiel Bushakevitz, the Schubertiada International Lied Duo with Wolfram Reiger, the Colla Voce/Horto Festival workshop, and the London Song Festival. Christina Maria has also taken part in festivals and competitions as solo pianist, such as the Gnessin Academy Summer Festival, the Concorso Internazionale Pianistico citta Villafranca di Verona, the Glasgow Music Festival, and the Dinu Lipatti International Piano Competition. She won the Founders’ Prize for Pianistic Accompaniment (London 2022) and was selected as one of the Young Artists of the Toronto Music Festival (summer 2023) in the Art of Song program.