CONTEMPORARY VOICES

PROGRAM:

The Colors of the Water, Op. 22 (2013) Gotthard Odermatt (1974 – )

I. calm and powerful river

II. splashes

III. waterfall

Contrast (1998) Chiayu Hsu (1975 – )

I. A Love Song

II. Conflict

Homenatge (2011) Tania León (1943 – )

Jhula Jhule (2013) Reena Esmail (1983 – )

Four Personalities (2007) Alyssa Morris (1984 – )

I. Yellow

II. White

III. Blue

IV. Red

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Melody Quah, Piano

Described as a "poet with titanium fingers" by the Vancouver Sun, Dr. Melody Quah has performed extensively on the stages of her native Malaysia as well as across Asia, Europe and North America. Quah’s music career encompasses a wide range of activities — soloist, collaborative pianist, chamber musician, educator, adjudicator, masterclass clinician, and music director.

A prizewinner of the 7th International Paderewski Competition held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, she has appeared in recital at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and as chamber musician at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre. Quah has soloed with the Ku-Ring-Gai Symphony and Central Coast Symphony Orchestras in Australia, the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Poland, and the Richmond Philharmonic, Academy Philharmonic, Vancouver Philharmonic, West Coast Symphony and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras in Canada, as well as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Quah is also a proponent of diversifying the piano repertoire. In 2019, for instance, she commissioned Malaysian composers Adeline Wong and Tazul Tajuddin to write two solo piano works, which she premiered in the ’20-’21 season and presented at the 2021 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Virtual Conference. Her presentation, Diversifying Student Repertoire Through Works by Alberto Ginastera was released as part of the 2020 MTNA Virtual Conference. Upcoming projects include a collaboration with Canadian/Iranian composer, Parisa Sabet.

Quah is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at Penn State University. Prior, she served as Visiting Instructor of Applied Piano at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She has been on the faculties of the Community College of Baltimore County and Levine Music in Washington D.C., and taught secondary piano lessons at Yale University. She is an active adjudicator for the MTNA in the United States, and has presented masterclasses in Medan, Indonesia, and for institutions such as Baylor University, University of Georgia, Elizabethtown College and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Quah has a long history of community-engaged music making. She regularly gives presentations at senior living communities and schools, performs benefit concerts internationally, and, between 2016-2020 served as Music Director of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore, MD. She also served as a Junior Board Member of the Shriver Hall Concert Series in Baltimore between 2015-2017, and is currently a board member of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association.

Quah earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University as well as graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School. She received her Bachelor of Music from the Vancouver Academy of Music and completed her high school education at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. Her adventure with the piano began at age six with lessons in Kuala Lumpur. Quah’s principal teachers included Boris Slutsky, Peter Frankl, Matti Raekallio, Lee Kum Sing and Snezana Panovska.

Andreas Oeste, Oboe

Andreas Oeste is an active performer, chamber musician, and educator who currently serves as Lecturer of Oboe at Pennsylvania State University, Principal Oboe of the Harrisburg Symphony, oboist of the Pennsylvania Quintet, and Chair of the Gillet-Fox International Oboe Competition. Andreas appears regularly as an orchestral performer, having held positions with the Lexington Philharmonic, Battle Creek Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, and Symphony of Northwest Arkansas among others. A frequent chamber musician, Andreas has performed across the United States and Europe as part of Market Square Concerts, the Wingra Wind Quintet, Chamber Music Michigan, AEPEX Contemporary Ensemble, and the Thy Festival in Denmark. He is featured often as an orchestral soloist, performing with orchestras including the Penns Woods Festival Orchestra, TACTUS Chamber Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony, Ann Arbor Camerata, Conway Symphony and more. Andreas holds prizes from several prominent international competitions, most notably from the Hugo-Fox Gillet Competition and the Barbirolli International Oboe Competition. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts and Masters of Music in Oboe Performance and Chamber Music degrees from the University of Michigan, and Bachelors degrees in Oboe Performance and Music Composition from the University of Central Arkansas.

Host or Publisher Annunciation Cathedral Concert Series