ELLISVILLE – Music will fill the air once again on the Jones College campus during April. The musical feast featuring musicians from the region and music from around the world, composed centuries ago to the present, will be heard on Fridays in April at the Foote Chapel. The annual Spring Recital Series begins on Friday, April 1, at 12:30 p.m. and will continue each Friday through April 29. All concerts are free and open to the public, following COVID-19 guidelines. For more information call the JC Fine Arts Department at 601-477-4203 or online at https://www.facebook.com/JCJCFineArts/
On Friday, April 1, at 12:30 p.m. in the Foote Chapel, the Series opens with,
“The Hattiesburg Flute Consortium,” featuring flutists, Rachel Ciraldo, Noah Cline, Lindsey Keay, Danilo Mezzadri, and Susan Ruggiero. The Hattiesburg Flute Consortium is a diverse collaboration of local professional flute performers and teachers living in the Hattiesburg area. Their program includes an assortment of uniquely orchestrated flute duos and larger flute ensemble pieces that display the versatility and beauty of the flute and auxiliary instruments such as the bass flute, alto flute, and piccolo.
Dr. Danilo Mezzadri is a flute professor at USM. Dr. Susan Ruggiero teaches flute and voice at William Carey University. Dr. Lindsey Keay is an Assistant Director of Bands and flute teacher at Jones College. Rachel Ciraldo and Noah Cline are free-lance 
flutists.
The Friday, April 8, at 12:30 p.m. in the Foote Chapel, features a performance by “The Impromptu Piano Trio,” with Stephen Redfield on violin; Alexander Russakovsky on cello and Theresa Sanchez on piano. This trio will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, a beautiful Romantic era virtuosic standard of the chamber music repertoire.
A unique program, “Keys, Bow, and a Slide – Music for Violin, Trombone, and Piano,” will feature Anne-Gaëlle Ravetto, on violin; Douglas Mark, on trombone and Jung-Won Shin on piano, on Friday, April 22 at 12:30 p.m. in Foote Chapel.
This program showcases original works for an unusual chamber ensemble grouping, with uniquely adapted timbres for a special blend. The performance will include three works, Double Concerto in F by Anthony O’Toole, Refrains for Three by Robert Patterson, and What’s Next by Rodrigo Camargo. The latter two selections were expressly written for this ensemble.
The final serving of the musical feast will be, “A Mezzo’s Three-Course Meal.” Rachel Gibson, a mezzo-soprano and pianist, Patience Pierini perform a quick exploration of the mezzo-soprano’s sonic palate through German art song, pants role arias, the ultimate vixen aria, and jazz, on Friday, April 29, at 12:30 p.m., in the Foote Chapel.
MORE ABOUT MUSICIANS:
Impromptu Trio Violinist Stephen Redfield has taught violin and chamber music at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music since 1996. He spent 2011-12 on leave as Chair of the Music Department at the New Mexico School for the Arts, where he is also concertmaster of the Santa Fe Pro Musica. Each summer since 1992, Stephen has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival. He is a long-standing participant in the Oregon Bach Festival, often featured as concertmaster, and in numerous recordings, including the Grammy Award-winning disc “Credo.” Stephen plays with his faculty colleagues in the Impromptu Piano Quartet and Trio and performs regularly as a Baroque violinist with the Albuquerque Baroque Players and with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra. He has also performed concerts with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and the Newberry Consort. His Sebastian Ensemble with harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh has performed throughout the US, and in Spain, Cuba and Peru.
A graduate of the Yale University and the University of Santa Barbara, Alexander Russakovsky has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music performances in Russia, Israel, Europe and the United States. A founding member of the Jerusalem Academy String Quartet, he also performed in the Chamber Music Series of the Spoleto Festival in Italy, the Barge Music in New York City, and the Western Slope Music Festival in Colorado. In the fall of 2001 Dr. Russakovsky joined the music faculty of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He also has served on the faculties of the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Bonefro, the IV Violoncello Biennal in Peru, and the CICA Chamber Music Festival. Most recently, Dr. Russakovsky has given master classes and recitals in Taiwan, Israel, and Latin America. His disc, featuring Russian works for cello and piano, was released by Brilliant Classics in April 2014.
Pianist Theresa Sanchez pursues a varied performing career as a soloist and collaborative musician. She has performed as soloist with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (including the Southern Nights CD) and The Wind Ensemble. With the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, she premiered and recorded Carey Smith’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Dr. Sanchez was the founding Artistic Administrator for the Vicksburg Chamber Music Festival and performed in each series with various outstanding artists. She has been a faculty member at Jones Junior College since 1995 and is a past president of the Mississippi Music Teachers Association. She currently serves as Chamber Music Coordinator for the Hattiesburg Concert Association and FestivalSouth and is listed on the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Touring Artist Roster.
April 22 Keys, Bow, and a Slide – Music for Violin, Trombone, and Piano
Anne-Gaëlle Ravetto, violinist, is an adjunct faculty member of the Delta State University Department of Music. She serves as a collaborative artist, provides instruction in the music education curriculum and maintains a private teaching studio.
She has performed at numerous music festivals and academic conferences including the Atlantic Music Festival, Heidelberg Castle Festival, the Ohio Light Opera, the College Music Society-Southern Region, the Big 12 Trombone Conference and the American Trombone Workshop. Regional recital appearances include Rhodes College, University of Memphis, Henderson State University and UT- Martin, among others.
Before moving to the US, she held numerous faculty positions in her native country, including Professor of Violin at the National Music School of Le Havre and National Music School of Notre Dame de Gravenchon. As a performer, Ms. Ravetto was active throughout France. Her credits include engagements with the Lyon Opera under Kent Nagano, the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire under Marc Soustrot, the Orchestre des Prix, and the Orchestre Colonne.
Ms. Ravetto was a Resident Artist of the Banff (Alberta, Canada) Centre of the Arts, and received her Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music.
Douglas Mark trombone, serves as Associate Professor of Trombone/Low Brass at Delta State University, in Cleveland MS. He provides instruction in applied trombone, euphonium and tuba, directs the DSU low brass ensemble and teaches brass methods and music appreciation courses. He has held similar positions at the Hochstein School of Music, Hamilton College, Nazareth College, and Colgate University, all located in western NY.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Dr. Mark has performed with several orchestras, including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Regionally, he has performed with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Tupelo Symphony and the Delta Symphony. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Dr. Mark received his DMA from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with John Marcellus. He earned his MM from the New England Conservatory of Music and undergraduate degrees in music performance and sociology from Northwestern University. His musical training also included studies with John Swallow, Frank Crisafulli, and Per Brevig.
Dr. Mark is an artist/clinician for Antoine Courtois Paris trombones.
Pianist, Dr. Jung-Won Shin has appeared as an active solo and collaborative pianist with a large range of repertoire for solo, vocal, and chamber music at recitals and concerts in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and Korea. Her recent projects include a recital series of Beethoven piano sonatas and concertos and an anthology of Korean art songs. She has been a prize winner or finalist at several solo, chamber music, and concerto competitions including the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, and the Annual Kankakee International Piano Concerto Competition. She has been invited to adjudicate several regional, state, and local solo, concerto, and chamber music competitions.
She has earned degrees in piano performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (D. M. A.), Indiana University (M. M.), and Seoul National University (B. M.). She is currently Associate Professor of Music at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, and Vice President for Pre-College Evaluations at the Mississippi Music Teachers Association.
April 29, 2022 Rachel Gibson grew up singing in Tupelo, MS. During her undergraduate studies at Millsaps College, she cultivated a love for classical music, and performed in her first opera. She continued her studies at Southern Methodist University, where she performed the role of Cherubino from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and also The Dallas Opera’s weekly children’s outreach program. Singing for kids and seeing their awe and joy in response to opera was inspirational. In her doctoral studies at USM, she performed in many operas (including singing the title characters in Bizet’s Carmen and Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel). She also performed in Italy and Germany, where she won the International Performing Arts Institute’s Aria Competition. She has performed professionally with Mississippi Opera (Carmen, Verdi’s Rigoletto, Leoncavallo’s Cavalleria Rusticana), Mobile Opera (Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Haydn’s La Canterina, Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segretto), and Opera Huntsville (Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore).
Patience Pierini holds an M.M. in Choral Conducting and a B.M. in Piano Performance, both from the University of Southern Mississippi. She is currently an Instructor of Music at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Harrison County Campus where she teaches private piano, sophomore music theory, and music appreciation. She is also the collaborative pianist for the concert choir and small ensemble. Alongside her departmental duties, Ms. Pierini is an Honors Faculty Fellow for the Harrison County Honors College and Honors Advisory Council. Ms. Pierini performs actively throughout the Gulf Coast as a collaborative pianist in addition to maintaining a private piano studio and serving as Vice-President of the Gulf Coast Music Teachers Association. Presently, she is most excited about founding and directing the MGCCC Music Academy, whose start date is scheduled for Fall 2022.