Esther Olin

Grace Cavanaugh ~ Co-Editor in Chief

     At 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20, Dr. Cynthia Ramsey will be giving a lecture as part of the 13th Annual Esther C. Olin Lecture Recital on Piano Performance.

     An email was sent out by Anne Wilkinson on Jan. 27 inviting faculty and students to the lecture recital, which will be held in Sydnor Performance Hall on the bottom floor of Schewel.

     According to the program, the presentation will consist of a lecture on “Beethoven and his Musical Collaborations” by Dr. Ramsey and performances of Beethoven pieces by Dr. Ramsey, Dr. F. Johnson Scott, III, Mark Craig and Jeremy Craft, Dr. Armenio Suzano, Teresa Angell, Noémi Lee, Christi Salisbury, and Joseph Nigro.

     “Dr. Esther Clark Olin was a long-term adjunct professor of piano and music composition at Lynchburg College,” according to the program. “In addition, she taught music theory, piano class, accompanied senior voice recitals, and performed in string ensembles for numerous LC musical events. She has chaired several Westover committees for music students.”

     The program continues, “This lecture recital series, named in her honor, has an annual tribute to the musical legacy she cultivated at Lynchburg College.” The recitals began in 2008 with Nationalism as Portrayed in the Mazurkas of Frederyk Franciszek Chopin.

     Dr. Ramsey said, about the performance, “In addition to music faculty, we are joined by clarinetist Dr. Armenio Suzano from Houghton College in New York.”

     According to Dr. Suzano’s bio, “Dr. Armenio Suzano was born in Brazil and at the age of 16 won a competition to become the youngest member ever of the renowned Rio de Janeiro Opera House Symphony Orchestra (Orquestra do Teatro Municipal).”

     The bio continued, “Dr. Suzano’s accomplishments include the Outstanding Music Graduate Award as well as the President’s Award for Outstanding Performer of the Year from Stephen F. Austin State University (TX) and the 1st prize at the Sul-America International Competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An avid soccer player and accomplished clarinetist and saxophonist, Suzano has performed with the Northwestern University and The University of Michigan Symphony Orchestras, South Bend Symphony (IL) and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (MI).”

     “Recent performances include the Frank Ticheli Clarinet Concerto with the Stephen F. Austin State University Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Frank Ticheli and an All-Brazilian Music Recital program at various colleges in the Northeast. […] Before joining the faculty at Houghton College, Suzano served as director of the Liberty University Symphony Orchestra, director of bands at Brewton-Parker College, professor of music at Indiana Wesleyan University, and as [a] graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University,” the bio finished.

     For more information, please see the flyer attached to Wilkinson’s email.