Prayers and Premieres

John Villar, composer, has had his instrumental and vocal works performed in venues across the United States, ranging from the Hammer Theatre Center in San Jose, CA to the National Opera Center in New York City, the latter featuring the premiere of his Serenata bajo la luna performed by mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna, guitarist Francisco Roldán, and pianist Max Lifchitz. John Villar is a graduate of the Thornton School of Music at USC, having studied there with Ellis Kohs and Robert Linn, and thereafter studying privately with William Kraft and Mario Pelusi. His compositions range in scope from solo pieces to works for large orchestra, and in style from atonal to tonal. He is currently at work on a set of symphonic variations.

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Kyra Folk-Farber has sung operatic roles and concert performances across North America and Europe. Her Mozart roles include Donna Anna, Zaide, Despina, and Susanna; she has also portrayed Mimì, Poppea, Mélisande, Anne Truelove, and The Soprano in Claude Vivier’s Kopernikus. Kyra has performed as a soloist under the batons of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kent Nagano, and Paul McCreesh, and has been featured as a soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Tel Aviv Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She specializes in new music and has premiered works by composers Ori Barel, John Villar, Hans Christian Détlefsen, and José Evangelista, among others. Kyra has also performed Yiddish songs at Canadian music festivals such as Ashkenaz and Chutzpah!.

Bridget Hough, pianist, is equally at home in solo, chamber, and duo repertoire, and is regularly engaged for competitions, performances, and recording projects. A piano student of Paul Berkowitz, Robert Koenig, and Betty Oberacker, she has been an invited pianist for summer festivals, including SongFest at the Colburn School (Los Angeles), the Schubert-Institut (Austria), and the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, where she was a Fellow for two seasons. She earned her B.M. Degree summa cum laude and her D.M.A. Degree from UCSB. Committed to new music, Dr. Hough has premiered works by many contemporary composers, including Tom Cipullo, Juliana Hall, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, Thea Musgrave, John Musto and John Villar.

Adelle Rodkey, oboist, received her BM Degree in Music Pedagogy, magna cum laude, from Wheaton Conservatory of Music (Illinois), where she studied oboe with Carl Sonik. A native of Santa Barbara, she was an oboe student of Anne Anderson and a piano student of Lana Bodnar and Marilyn Clemons. Honors accorded her have included the President’s Award from Wheaton College, as well as awards from the Music Teachers National Association and the Pillsbury Foundation. Adelle performs frequently in several orchestras and chamber music ensembles, and is Instructor of Oboe at Westmont College. As a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, she maintains a private studio of oboe and piano students.

A native Manhattanite, Eric Valinsky has, for more years than he would like to admit, maintained dual careers in computer systems architecture and music. He was educated at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois, finally achieving his DMA in music composition from Columbia University. He studied composition with Walter Aschaffenburg, Salvatore Martirano, Jack Beeson, and Darius Milhaud; piano with Sara Crawford Drogheo and Emil Danenberg; and conducting with Harold Farberman. While living in Los Angeles, he became music director and composer-in-residence for The Storie-Crawford Dance Theatre Ensemble. Returning to New York, he served in a similar capacity for Danny Buraczeski’s Jazzdance, Uris Bahr and Dancers, and The New American Ballet Ensemble as well as composer-in-residence for The Rachel Harms Dance Company, Opera Uptown, and the Dance Department at City College of New York. He is currently Music Director for the American Dance & Music Performance Group and moonlights as founder and partner of Inlineos LLC, a strategic Internet consulting company.