The Atlanta Symphony Woodwind Quintet is featured as the closing concert of the 2021-22 season of Casual Classics Concert Series, Monday June 6, 2022, 7 pm at Fellowship Presbyterian Church, 389 Bent Tree Drive, Jasper GA 30143. The performers in this ensemble are the first chair players in the symphony on flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon. The repertoire for woodwind quintet dates from the eighteenth century by such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Danzi and Stamitz, and continues to be a favored ensemble today because of the colorful possibilities of these different wind instruments, in contrast with the more uniform timbres of violin, viola and cello forming a string quartet.
Christina Smith is one of the most sought-after flutists in the country as an orchestral player, soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. She joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Principal Flute in 1991. Ms. Smith’s flute solos can be heard on over 40 ASO recordings. She has also appeared with the orchestra numerous times as concerto soloist, in works of Mozart, Vivaldi, Ibert, Rodrigo, Nielsen, Jolivet, and Christopher Rouse. Ms. Smith performed the southeastern U.S. premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s “L’aile du songe,” with Robert Spano conducting.
After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, Ms. Smith studied at the Curtis Institute of Music as a pupil of the legendary Julius Baker. She has appeared as guest principal flutist with the Chicago Symphony, LA Philharmonic, the Vancouver Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Equally passionate about teaching, Ms. Smith serves on the faculty at Kennesaw State University and Emory University. She performs on a vintage flute made of 14K white gold, handmade in 1950 by Verne Q. Powell, and is proud to be a Powell artist. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two daughters.
Elizabeth Koch Tiscione joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Principal Oboe at the beginning of the 2007-08 season. She currently holds the George M. and Corrie Hoyt Brown Chair.
In addition to her responsibilities with the ASO, Mrs. Tiscione plays Principal Oboe at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Festival Mozaic, and is a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players. She has performed as a guest musician with the orchestras of New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Detroit, St. Paul, Baltimore, Rochester, Buffalo, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Solo engagements have included the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, and Dekalb Symphony Orchestras. She has been featured on NPR’s “From the Top,” and has performed with many of the top chamber music festivals across the country, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Prior to her position with the ASO, Mrs. Tiscione studied at Interlochen Arts Academy and the Curtis Institute of Music, studying oboe with Mark DuBois, Daniel Stolper, and Richard Woodhams.
Mrs. Tiscione has a love for teaching, and is currently a faculty member at Kennesaw State University. She also has a small private studio in Atlanta.
Clarinetist Laura Ardan was the youngest principal clarinetist to join a major symphony orchestra when she became principal clarinet with the Atlanta Symphony in 1982. She has been featured soloist with the orchestra in works by Mozart, Weber, Debussy, Finzi, Copland, Shaw and Rossini.
A student of Roger Hiller and Stanley Drucker, she attended the Juilliard School on scholarships from both the Juilliard and the Naumberg Foundation. Prior to coming to Atlanta, she was the resident clarinetist and teaching artist for the Lincoln Center Institute, and she played in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. She regularly appears at many festivals, including Tanglewoodk Marlboro, Rockport, Mostly Mozart, Highlands-Cashiers, the Grand Teton, and Sewanee. She is a founding member of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta, and teaches at Emory University.
“Ardan’s clarinet demonstrated all the molten gold color, the coloratura agility, the suppleness in moving between registers, the ability to swell and expand a phrase for expressive purposes that characterize great singing. She dazzled the ear with her superb control of dynamics and color.” (Boston Globe, 2002)
Jaclyn Rainey is the Principal horn of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Before her appointment in 2020, Jaclyn was the Associate Principal horn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Third horn with the Atlanta Symphony for four seasons, Acting Principal horn with the Naples Philharmonic as well as Associate Principal horn with the Louisiana Philharmonic. Rainey, a Louisville, KY native, has also performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and the Sarasota Orchestra. She has spent summers performing at the Tanglewood Music Center, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Lakes Area Music Festival and at the Hollywood Bowl. Ms. Rainey has toured with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City and across Europe, and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Asia, Europe and Mexico. She has also competed in solo competitions and was a winner in the National MTNA Senior Brass Competition.
When not performing, Ms. Rainey is an Artist affiliate at Emory University, has served on the faculty of Georgia State University in addition to maintaining a private teaching studio.
She received her undergraduate degree in horn performance from the Eastman School of Music, followed by a Masters degree at the New England Conservatory of Music. She has studied with W. Peter Kurau, Richard Sebring and James Sommerville.
Principal bassoon with the ASO since 2016, Andrew Brady previously served as principal bassoon with the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans. Brady received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Colburn School Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Richard Beene. Other teachers include Anthony Parnther, Rick Ranti and Suzanne Nelsen.
Brady is from Johnson City, TN, where he began his musical studies on saxophone but switched to bassoon at age 14, after seeing the quirky instrument at a band clinic. Four years later he performed on NPR’s From the Top; and in 2010 he received the Grand Prize in the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts Competition, adjudicated by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In January 2011, Brady performed Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto with the Seattle Symphony under invitation from then Music Director Gerard Schwarz. While in Seattle, he gave free public concerts as well as interactive demonstrations in area schools.
An active soloist, Brady has performed concertos by Mozart, Weber, and Zwilich with the Southeast Symphony, the Los Angeles Doctor’s Symphony, and The Colburn Orchestra, respectively. Enthusiastically involved in music education, he has worked as a teaching artist with the Harmony Project’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles program, where he assisted underserved teens in learning to play bassoon.
Brady has appeared with the Los Angeles Opera Company orchestra, and recently with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall and abroad on European tours. He has attended many music festivals including Sunflower Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and the Tanglewood Music Center.
There is no charge for admission, although contributions are gratefully received; donations from the series’ patrons cover the expenses of these concerts. Following protocols established at the church, all those attending are strongly encouraged to wear masks while inside the facility and during the concert.
Casual Classics was established in 2007 by Suzanne Shull, then a resident of Bent Tree and member of Fellowship Presbyterian Church. Over the years, the series has featured many soloists and ensembles associated with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, faculty at Kennesaw State University, and emerging artists. With Suzanne’s move to Atlanta, Calvert Johnson stepped up to be the new Concert Manager, beginning with the 2018-19 season. Members of the Board of Directors include Kelly Lohman, Lloyd McDonald, Marc Unger, Richard White, and Suzanne Shull as past director.
For additional information, contact Calvert Johnson at 404-373-0748 or [email protected]