The Music:
Conversation for Two Trombones
Duet for Marimba and Vibraphone
Baires
Digga-digga Digga-digga Digga-digga Digga-digga Deegot
Trois Gymnopedies: Lent et douloureux, Lent et triste, Lent et grave
Three in the Afternoon
Selections from Image: 20 Children’s Songs for Marimba: 1. From the Cradle, 2. Cat-Nap, 3. Stepping-Stone, 4. Crocodile Tears, 6. Slip’N’Slide, 7. Mobile, 9. Merry-Go-Round, 20. Music Box
Double Take
The Musicians:
Tim Mocny is a performer, educator, and arranger based in mid-Michigan. He is the principal percussionist for the Baroque on Beaver Festival Orchestra, the co-principal percussionist for the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, and the section percussionist with the Saginaw Bay Symphony. He has performed as a substitute with the Traverse Symphony, the Midland Symphony, the Michigan Sinfonietta, the Flint Symphony, and the Lansing Symphony. In the educational sphere, Tim coaches the drumline of the Chippewa Marching Band at Central Michigan University, and maintains a studio of over 40 private students at B’s Music Shop in Mt. Pleasant, where he also serves as the coordinator of the lesson and recital program. He also enjoys working with area schools, most recently Gladwin and Breckenridge. Finally, he creates all of the percussion arrangements for the Chippewa Marching Band. His hobbies include long-distance running, gardening, fixing his vehicles and home, and spending time with his wife and four children.
Rob Kratz-Hahn is an active percussionist, educator, and arts administrator in southeast Michigan. He taught at the Flint School of Performing Arts from 2009-2020 before becoming the FSPA Program Coordinator in June 2020, overseeing all of FSPA’s outreach programs and major performances. Rob is very active as an orchestral percussionist, serving as the Principal Timpanist in the Midland Symphony Orchestra and performing regularly with the Flint, Saginaw Bay, and Lansing Symphony Orchestras. He is currently the President of the Michigan Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, and serves as the Percussion Award Chair for the Michigan Federation of Music Clubs. Rob holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Western Michigan University, a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Cleveland State University, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Instrumental Performance from Oakland University. Rob lives in Ann Arbor with his wife and son.
Tony Manfredonia is a composer and orchestrator for video games and concert halls living in Petoskey, MI. He provides a multi-layered and sensory experience through expressive, colorful orchestration and intricate melodies. Tony’s compositions, arrangements, and orchestrations have been played and commissioned worldwide, with performances and readings from renowned ensembles such as Apollo Chamber Players, the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
While Tony branches out into multiple styles, many of his projects involve sacred music, such as the full, orchestral score for Saint Luke Productions’ latest drama, “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” as well as their upcoming film, “Heart of Mercy.” Most recently, he finished composing Joyfully We Adore Thee, commissioned by Strake Jesuit’s Symphonic Band in Houston, TX, which takes the plainchant Adoro Te Devote and presents it in the style of a fanfare.
Vern is Co-Principal Trumpet in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra (GLCO). Vern studied trumpet with Dr. Dennis Horton, trumpet professor at Central Michigan University while in high school and later as a university student. Before obtaining his doctorate degree at Michigan State University and completing a medical residency in ophthalmology, Vern performed two years with the Blue Water International Symphony. Vern relocated to Petoskey in 2000 and continued his trumpet studies with Scott Thornburg, professor of trumpet at Western Michigan University. He joined the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra in 2012 and eagerly anticipates each performance. He especially enjoys playing with the orchestra’s brass quintet. Vern enjoys visiting his wife’s family and friends in Shanghai and traveling throughout China. He is an avid cyclist and skier.
Violinist, violist, conductor and professor Dr. Eric Lawson has had a varied career in performance and education. Past performances as a conductor, soloist and lecturer have taken him to Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, Romania and Scandinavia. Before returning to his home state of Michigan, he was based in North Dakota where, in addition to serving as a violin instructor at Bismarck State College, Jamestown College, and the University of Mary, he was also concertmaster of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and established the Bismarck-Mandan Youth Symphony. Other former academic appointments have included Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Central College in Pella, Iowa and the University of North Dakota where he founded the string program and the UND Chamber Orchestra.
Here in Michigan, Dr. Lawson as been very active with the Alpena Symphony Orchestra as its concertmaster, conductor and president of the board. He also performs with many other orchestras in Northern Michigan and participates in the Traverse Symphony as a first violinist, in the Gaylord Symphony as concertmaster and as assistant concertmaster in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.
And finally, in what has been one of the most important experiences of his life outside of music, he also served almost four years as an Alpena County Commissioner, representing Ossineke and Sanborn Townships. In addition to serving as chair of the Salary and Personnel Committee, he also served on the Airport, Ambulance, District Court, Circuit Court Management and Jail Committees. He also represented Alpena County in Gaylord with the Northern Michigan Regional Entity Substance Use Disorder Board and continues to serve on the Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Board. Dr. Lawson resides in Ossineke with his wife and two children.
