Trumpeter Seelan Manickam to Perform

The Department of Music is pleased to welcome trumpet artist Seelam Manickam to campus 3:00 p.m. Sunday, October 24, 2010 in a performance of the Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble by Robert J. Bradshaw.

UPDATE: In conjunction with his visit, Seelan Manickam will give a Masterclass on Saturday, October 23 at 9 a.m. in Room 231 of the Marwick-Boyd Fine Arts Center. All are invited to this free event.

Seelan Manickam began his musical studies on the trumpet at the age of ten. Seelan received his Bachelors of Music at the University of Victoria where he studied with Louis Ranger. He has also finished his Graduate work in trumpet performance at The Boston Conservatory where he studied with Steven Emery. Additional studies have been with Jens Lindemann of the Canadian Brass and Charles Schlueter, principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony.

As a top prizewinner of several solo competitions, Manickam has appeared as a frequent soloist with the Boston Chamber Orchestra, Cambridge Choral Society, South Coast Community Chorale and most recently The University of Massachusetts Orchestra.

Other professional experience has included playing principal trumpet with The Indian Hill Symphony, New Hampshire Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, Thayer Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, Taipei Sinfionetta and Cape Ann Symphony. A founding member of the award winning Bala Brass Quintet, Manickam has toured the globe appearing in Japan, Canada and Thailand. His keen interest in contemporary music, has led Manickam to be instrumental in the commissioning and performance of numerous chamber and solo works for brass. He has been a featured artist at several conferences including the International Trumpet Guild Conference and the New York Brass Conference. His debut solo CD will be released this spring on the Beauport Classics Label and will contain several new works for trumpet.

An advocate of music education, Manickam has given master classes and clinics at the nation’s top conservatories and schools, including the University of Connecticut, SUNY-Purchase, Shenandoah Conservatory, Wisconsin Lutheran College, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Bridgewater State College, Salem State College and Phillips Academy.

In addition to performing with Bala, Manickam is the Music Director at St. John’s Preparatory School and is currently on faculty at The University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is a Sonaré Performing Artist and performs on the Sonaré Bb and C trumpets.

The performance is part of the annual Fall Wind Ensemble concert, and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Department of Music at 814-393-2287.

Lazich to Perform

Professor Emeritus of Music (voice) and former Director of Choirs, Milutin Lazich, bass, will return to campus on Friday, April 9, 2010 to present a recital of art songs and arias. Joining him will be his son, Dimitrie Lazich, baritone, and current music faculty member Dr. Paula Amrod, piano.

After retiring from Clarion University in 2003 Mr. Lazich moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he continues to sing opera and concert repertoire and at the same time conducts several choral organizations. He is the Music Director and founder of the Masterworks Concert Choral in Murrysville/Monroeville area.

Mr. Lazich started his international career singing in Lucca and Barga Italy, as well as in Belgrade, Serbia. He has performed Ramfis in Aida, King Philip in Don Carlo, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, and the title role in Don Giovanni, among many others. His most recent operatic credits include: Alfieri in Bolcolm’s Veiw from the Bridge, Donner in The Rheingold, King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors and Bartolo in Marriage of Figaro. As a musical theater performer, he has sung the leading roles in South Pacific, The Man of La Mancha, King and I, Mikado and Fiddler on the Roof.

He has performed extensively with symphony orchestras and choruses in many important choral works such as, The Messiah, Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and many others. He also was invited to teach several times as a guest lecturer at the University of Malta on the island of Malta.

Dimitrie Lazich, bass-baritone, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. He has performed leading roles in Carmen, Die Zauberflote, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Rake’s Progress, La Boheme, Die Fledermaus, among many others both here and abroad.

Mr. Lazich also has performed leading roles with the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh as Maximilion in Candide, Louis in their production of Bolcolm’s A View from the Bridge, and Marco in their production of Gianni Schicchi. With the Opera Company of Philadelphia, he has performed Marullo in Rigoletto, Wagner in Faust and Lakai in Ariadne auf Naxos. He has also sung as the Erste Soldat with Cleveland Opera in Salome, and La Traviata with De Nederlandse Reisopera.

Mr. Lazich made his professional European debut with the Staatsoper Stuttgart singing in their production of Dr. Faustus. He also has performed as part of The Music Academy of the West where he performed Beaupertuis in Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Sid in Albert Herring as well as Don Alvaro in Il Viaggio a Reims where he worked closely with Ms. Marilyn Horne and the late Randal Behr.

Dimitrie Lazich made his UK debut with Dorset Opera singing Zurga in their production of Les pêcheurs de perles and most recently Escamillo in Carmen with the Longborough Festival Opera. He will return to Europe to perform the role of Falke in Die Fledermaus in a touring production in The Netherlands and Belgium.

No stranger to the concert stage, he has performed solos in Faure’s Requiem, Durefle’s Requiem, Carmina Burana and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with different groups in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. In Boston, he was the featured soloist with Worcester Symphony and Choir in both the Messiah as well as St. Matthew’s Passion. He will be performing The Creation and Durelfle’s Requiem in Pittsburgh later this spring.

The April 9, 2010 performance will take place in the Marwick-Boyd Auditorium on the main campus of Clarion University at 7:30 p.m. The performance will include works of Handel, Rosa, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Bellini, and Mozart, among others. The performance is FREE and open to the public.

For more information contact the Department of Music at 814-393-2287.

Michalski Returns to Speak

Have you heard the old adage “When one door closes, another opens?” Last week around the Boyd was a perfect example of this statment.

Due to last snow storm that blanketed us last week, trumpeter Judith Saxton, the guest clinician who was scheduled to arrive from North Carolina, was unable to find a flight into Pennsylvania so could not visit Clarion University as planned. It just so happened that the snow storm also cancelled the District 3 Band Festival taking place down I-80 at A-C Valley High School, where Clarion University Professor of Emeritus of Music and long-time Director of Bands Dr. Stanley F. Michalski happened to be guest conducting the Festival ensemble.

With Dr. Michalski without an ensemble to rehearse, and our students without a guest clinician, it seemed natural that we ask Dr. Michalski to come to campus for an impromptu presentation. After a few telephone calls, Dr. Toney was instroducing Dr. Michalski to the students by 11 a.m.

So, though it was unfortunate not to have Ms. Saxton with us last week, it was wonderful to welcome back such significant figure in the history of the Department of Music. You can enjoy his presentation below.