Musical Prodigies

Performing November 16 and 17, 2012

Kit Weber is a transplant to Utah from the Midwest. A native of Illinois, Kit began playing the horn in third grade when, after his older sisters both joined the band, he wanted to play a wind instrument, too. His dad, a horn player in high school, pulled out his old horn and taught him the fingerings.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in music from Illinois State University, Kit attended the University of Michigan, from which he holds both a master’s and a specialist’s degree in music. After graduation, Kit freelanced in the Detroit metro area and was either a member of or substituted with most of the community and professional orchestras in southeast Michigan.

In the spring, Kit won an audition for a position with the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra; he now commutes to Boise monthly to perform there. Since moving to Utah, Kit has performed as the principal horn of the Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra, with the Aspen Winds chamber music ensemble, as a substitute with the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera and, in the summer of 2012, with the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre in Logan, Utah.

In the summer of 2010, Kit’s wife, Maureen Conroy, accepted a position with the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera as the associate librarian, the driving force behind their relocation from Michigan to Utah. Since moving, Kit and Maureen have fallen in love with the mountains and can frequently be found hiking, snowshoeing, skiing or otherwise enjoying nature.

Kit has studied primarily with Joe Neisler, Soren Hermansson, Denise Tryon, and Karl Pituch. Kit plays on a horn custom built for him in 2008 by Stuart DeHaro of Champaign, Illinois.

 

Jennifer Madsen first took to the stage in her childhood home of Sacramento, California. She was a featured vocalist with the Sacramento Junior Opera Guild and appeared on weekly network television shows with Galena Street East, an international touring company. After touring the United States and Europe as a Young Ambassador for Brigham Young University, she returned to California and made a name for herself in the entertainment industry. In Los Angeles, she was a talent coach for both Star Search and Natalie Cole’s Big Break, as well as artistic director for the American Children’s Theatre of Southern California, and she did all this while maintaining a thriving vocal studio. Her students have gone on to win Tony, Emmy, and Drama Desk awards.

In Utah, Ms. Madsen continues her career as a performer, choreographer, singer, teacher, and director. She was music director for the Sundance production ofThe Sound of Music and now teaches on the music faculty at the Conservatory of Performing Arts. Her voice can be heard on CBS in the show Cold Case, on three Kenneth Cope albums, and on three of her own releases. A bit of a chameleon, Jennifer sings jazz, Broadway, classical, soul and funk.

 

Ligia Verduga-Paredes holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in flute performance and education from the Antonio Neumane National Conservatory of Music in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She has been a featured soloist in the international flute festival En La Mitad del Mundo, and has performed as a guest soloist with the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony in Quito, Ecuador. Mrs. Paredes served as first flute with the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra for thirteen years before retiring to spend more time with her family. In Utah, she has played with the Utah Valley Symphony and now plays first flute with the Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra. Active as a music educator, flute teacher, and performer, Mrs. Paredes participates in summer workshops with the Aspen Winds giving master classes, coaching chamber groups and performing in recitals.

 

Mallory Wahlstrom Wright began her study of the harp at the age of three. At age fifteen, she was chosen to play in Ireland at the World Harp Congress.  At the college level, Ms. Wright studied for two years at the University of Arizona before transferring to Brigham Young University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in harp performance. Her teachers include Carrol McLaughlin and Nicole Brady. Ms. Wright has played with the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra and has toured Europe and Brazil as a featured soloist with Harpfusion, the world’s largest performing harp ensemble. Ms. Wright maintains a private harp studio in Provo, Utah.