Distinguished Artists Series

Lebanon Valley College is proud to present the third annual Distinguished Artists Series. Please join us for two spectacular performances presented in the Lutz Hall of the Blair Music Center.


Richard Elliott, organ - February 26, 2012, 3 p.m.

Richard Elliott is Principal Organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, where he participates in the daily recital series on the 206-rank Æolian-Skinner organ and accompanies the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the choir’s weekly radio and TV broadcast, “Music and the Spoken Word.” As accompanist for the Tabernacle Choir he has performed in many of the world’s great halls and appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including the NBC “Today Show,” the “CBS Morning Show,” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”

Dr. Elliott appears on more than 20 recordings and 10 videos with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. In his work with the choir he has collaborated with many guest artists including Andrea Bocelli, the Canadian Brass, Renée Fleming, Evelyn Glennie, the King’s Singers, Brian Stokes Mitchell, the Oak Ridge Boys, Charles Osgood, the Osmonds, and Robert Shaw. In 1994 he recorded his first solo compact disc, titled “In the Shadows of the Everlasting Hills,” on the Pro Organo label. His second solo CD on the Mormon Tabernacle organ, “Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” was released in the summer of 2009 on the Klavier label. He has also recorded three compact discs in collaboration with his colleagues on the Tabernacle organ staff. Dr. Elliott is a published composer and arranger of music for organ and for choir.

Prior to his appointment as a Tabernacle organist in 1991, Dr. Elliott was an assistant professor of organ at Brigham Young University. He has performed extensively as a recitalist in the U.S., has appeared as soloist with the Utah Symphony, and for several years was assistant organist at the John Wanamaker Department Store (now Macy’s) in Philadelphia, home to the world’s largest functioning pipe organ. A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Dr. Elliott has been a featured performer at national and regional conventions of the guild.

A native of Baltimore, Md., Dr. Elliott received his early musical training at the Peabody Conservatory. He went on to study organ at the Catholic University of America, the Curtis Institute of Music, from which he received a bachelor's of music, and the Eastman School of Music, where he received master's and doctoral degrees. His organ teachers have included David Craighead, Dale Krider, William Watkins, and John Weaver.

Dr. Elliott is married to a professional pianist, Elizabeth Cox Ballantyne, and they are the parents of two sons.

“Music and the Spoken Word,” featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, may be viewed online at www.byutv.org on Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time


Naoko Takada, marimba - October 2, 2011, 3 p.m.
World-renowned marimba soloist Naoko Takada presented the first performance in the 2011-2012 Distinguished Artists Series at Lebanon Valley College on October 2. A native of Japan, Takada's talent was discovered at age eleven when she performed a concerto with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. She studied the marimba in Japan with Akiko Suzuki and Keiko Abe. In the U.S., Takada studied with Karen Ervin Pershing at the California State University in Northridge where she earned a bachelor's degree in music. She then earned a master's of music from Ithaca College working with Gordon Stout. Later she studied with Nancy Zeltsman at the Boston Conservatory.

According to the Washington Post, "Naoko Takada plays a thrilling marimba, moving with speed, grace, and extraordinary accuracy. If you have any doubts that a solo mallet instrument can sustain your attention throughout an entire concert, Takada might make you change your mind."

 

 

For more information on programs and tickets, call the Music Department at 717-867-6275.

Tickets are available in advance at the Music Department Office for $10 and at the door for $15.

Valley Musica
Valley Musica is a network of alumni and other friends of LVC music who wish to make a tangible difference by providing a rich array of music programs for the students and the College’s neighbors in the central Pennsylvania region. See the Valley Musica website for more information.

Lebanon Valley College is located in Annville, Pa. just 15 minutes east of Hershey and 35 minutes east of Harrisburg. Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Baltimore are all approximately two hours from LVC. Founded in 1866, the College welcomes more than 1,600 full-time undergraduate students studying more than 30 majors, as well as self-designed majors. LVC has graduate programs in physical therapy, business administration, music education, and science education.