Free Faculty Concert to Open Wilmington College Chamber Music Series

Wednesday Event Features WC's Brianna Matzke and Evan Hatter and CSO's Eric Bates A concert featuring members of the WC faculty and a special guest from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will inaugurate the 2022-23 Wilmington College Chamber Music Series Wednesday (Nov. 9), at 7:30 p.m., at the historic Murphy Theatre in downtown Wilmington. The College's Music Department is partnering with the Murphy Theatre to present a three-concert series with shows this fall, winter and spring. The opening concert will feature pianist Dr. Brianna Matzke, assistant professor of music; trombonist Dr. Evan Hatter, assistant professor of music and director of the Quaker Thunder Pep Band; and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra violinist Eric Bates. Matzke will accompany both musicians in addition to her solo performance This concert is free of charge. A meet-and-greet with the artists will be available following the performance. Matzke’s dynamic pianism shows “a sense of refinement, flair and technical prowess,” according to Cleveland Classical. An avid performer and commissioner of new music, she has collaborated with many composers and has appeared in concerts across the globe, including in Italy, Beirut, São Paulo, and in series such as TriBeCa New Music and Vanguard New Music Series. She has given multiple concerts with the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center and has performed with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the concert:nova chamber ensemble. Matzke is the founder and artistic director of an ongoing and widely acclaimed commissioning initiative, called The Response Project, which asks composers to write music for piano in response to a pre-existing artwork or idea. Additionally, in 2021 Matzke was named CEO and president of the International Foundation for Contemporary Music and appointed as executive director of the Cortona Sessions for New Music. Hatter is an in-demand educator and freelance musician in the greater Cincinnati area. He has performed with a wide variety of groups and ensembles, such as the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Sacred Winds Ensemble and Cave Run Symphony Orchestra. He holds a bachelor's degree in music education from Morehead State University and both a Master of Music degree in trombone performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He previously served as an adjunct professor for low brass and assistant director of bands at Thomas More University between 2019 and 2022, and director of the Basketball Band at Morehead from 2015 through 2016. He maintains an active private lesson studio in the greater Cincinnati area. Bates is the second assistant concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He has toured extensively throughout the United States, Asia and Europe, appearing at Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and, most recently, Royal Albert Hall in London and The Edinburgh Music Festival in Scotland. Bates made his solo debut at the age of eight, performing the "Violin Concerto in A Minor" by Antonio Vivaldi with the Centenary Chamber Orchestra. Since then, he has appeared as a soloist with CSO, The Shreveport Symphony, The la Grande Symphony, The Monroe Symphony Orchestra and The Starling Chamber Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Bates has performed with the Amicus Chamber Players, the Duvenck String Quartet and is currently a member of Cincinnati’s premiere contemporary music ensemble, concert:nova.