Featured Soloists for February 2024
Jacob Landau
Known for his “brilliant” and “crystal clear” tone on the trumpet, Jacob is a classical trumpeter from Southwest Virginia, working towards a BM in Music Performance from the University of Georgia. At UGA, Jake is a recipient of the Fred Mills Scholarship Award and a student of Philip A. Smith, former principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic. Jake has performed with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and Opera Roanoke Orchestra. He is currently Artist-in-Residence at First Christian Church in Athens, GA, and has given guest solo performances at churches across the American Southeast.
Adelle Rodkey
Adelle is an instructor of oboe at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California where she maintains an active teaching studio and performance career. She has won distinction with awards and recognition from the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara and the Fresno Summer Music Festival, and is a frequently featured soloist and chamber music performer throughout the Central Coast region. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Wheaton Conservatory, where she studied under Carl Sonik, and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Oboe Performance at UCLA under Dr. Jonathan Davis.
Steven Gross
Steven Gross is Professor of Horn and Head of the Wind, Brass and Percussion Area at the beachside campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also a former member of the Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and for 24 years Principal Horn of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. At the age of 21, he won the First International Heldenleben Horn Competition. He is now Executive Director of the International Horn Competition of America, which has had winners from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Hungarian State Opera orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Empire Brass, St. Louis Symphony and other institutions. He has had international solo appearances and, when preforming at Carnegie Hall in New York City, debut was described by the New York Concert Review as, “offering some of the cleanest articulation and purest musicality.”
Meredith McCree
Meredith plays frequently in regional ensembles, including the Roanoke Symphony, Opera Roanoke, Symphony of the Mountains in Tennessee, and as principal oboe of the Lynchburg Symphony. She also appears with church and community choruses such as the Blacksburg Master Chorale and Jefferson Choral Society in Lynchburg. She maintains a lesson studio with students from Blacksburg and Salem. She was a member of the Campanile Orchestra while studying at Rice, and has performed with the Aspen Music Festival. She is a past winner of the Austin Symphony Young Artist Award, earning her a solo performance with the Austin Symphony.
Drew Phillips
Drew holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, a Master of Arts in Horn Performance from the University of Iowa, and the Doctorate of Musical Arts in Horn Performance from UNCG. He is the principal horn of the Lynchburg Symphony and performs frequently with large and small ensembles throughout the southeastern United States. Drew is the Associate Professor of High Brass at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.
Heather Sumner
Heather Sumner, a resident of Bedford, Virginia, earned her Instrumental Education Bachelor’s degree from Lynchburg College in 2010, and her Instrumental Conducting Master’s from Lynchburg College in 2012. Throughout her education at Lynchburg College, Heather performed in numerous ensembles, including the Wind Symphony, Orchestra, Pit Orchestra, Jazz Band, Handbell Choir, Woodwind Quintet, and Concert Choir. She has also had the honor of playing at Schönbrunn Palace in Austria, and performed as an oboe soloist in Tianjin, China. She continues to play oboe and English horn in various chamber groups and symphonies, including Lynchburg Symphony, Lynchburg College, Randolph College, Opera on the James, with the Lynchburg Academy of Fine Arts, and more. Heather currently serves as an adjunct professor at Randolph College teaching double reeds and as an Elementary school music teacher with Buckingham County Primary-Elementary Schools.
Additional October Soloists
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Christi Salisbury
Violin
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Rick Dolan
Violin
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Julee Hickcox
Flute
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Michael Shasberger
Baritone