FSUCO to Perform Concert April 22
The Fairmont State University Community Orchestra conducted by John Ashton will present
three student soloists as part of a free concert on Sunday, April 22, at 3 p.m. in
the Turley Center Ballroom.
The students, winners of the orchestra's annual concerto competition, include hornist
Gregory Lauer who will play Richard Strauss' First Horn Concerto and sopranos Leigh
Anne Bolyard and Ashley Davis who will sing arias by Mozart, Puccini, Barber and Delibes.
The orchestra will open the concert with the "Dances of Galanta," one of the most
popular works of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. The orchestra is celebrating the
125th birthday of the composer. Kodaly, along with Bela Bartok, was one of the earliest
collectors of authentic Hungarian folk music and much of that material is incorporated
in the dramatic, melodious and accessible Galanta Dances.
Ashley Davis is a senior at FSU. She is originally from Hundred, W.Va., and is the
daughter of Greg and Carolyn Hostutler. She resides in Farmington with her husband
J.J. Davis and their one-year-old son Isaac. At Fairmont State she is a member of
the chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, Collegiate Singers, Chamber
Choir, a recent member of the State ACDA Collegiate Honors Choir and has been a member
of the FSU African Drum and Dance Ensemble. Ashley will graduate in May 2007 with
a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, Music Pre-K through Adult, with voice as her
applied instrument.
Leigh Anne Bolyard will graduate in May 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music
Education with an emphasis in voice. At FSU she has been a member of the Collegiate
Singers, Chamber Choir, Marion Chorale and African Drum and Dance Ensemble. While
in these groups, she has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Charleston and
in late April will travel with the Collegiate Singers on tour in Toronto. Bolyard
has been active in Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) Women's International Music Fraternity,
MENC (Music Educators National Conference), and ACDA (American Choral Director's Association).
In 2005, she was one of six students chosen to perform with the WVACDA Collegiate
Honor Choir. She soloed with the FSU Jazz Ensemble in 2005 and will perform again
with the group on April 24. She has performed on several SAI musicales, featuring
several composers, including the works of Cole Porter this spring. Leigh Anne plans
to attend graduate school to continue her music degree.
Gregory Lauer, a native of York, Pa., is currently the Director of Music and Organist
at Gateway United Methodist Church in Fairmont. He is also an adjunct faculty member
at West Virginia Wesleyan College. He is currently finishing a degree in music at
FSU. In addition to his responsibilities at the church and college, he is in demand
as a soloist and accompanist throughout West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and
Ohio. Lauer has studied horn with Dr. Virginia Thompson, Dana Metheny, Carrie Strickland,
Beth Lucas and John Ashton. He had the honor of traveling in 1998 with the Pennsylvania
Ambassadors of Music service as principal horn for their European concert tour. Lauer
has performed with many orchestras, including the WVU Symphony, Hanover, Symphony,
Lancaster Symphony, F.S.U.C.A. Orchestra, Allentown Symphony and Littlestown Symphony.
In 1999, he gave the premier performance of composer Christopher Ruth's "Concerto"
for piano and orchestra. He is also very active in the musical theatre, where he has
served as music director/pianist for over 25 productions.
The free concert will conclude with the always popular Unfinished Symphony of Franz
Schubert.
