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Fifth House Ensemble returns for Wednesday concert at Gobin
Members of Chicago's Fifth House Ensemble (who produced the DePauw School of Music's May "Harvest" celebration of Putnam County) return this week to Greencastle to perform in a free 7:30 p.m. Wednesday concert as the Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues at Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church.
Festival events are supported by individual donations and an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation. This week's concert is cosponsored by the DePauw School of Music and the Inn at DePauw.
Last week's concert, a tribute to Pete Seeger, was standing room only, with nearly 200 people in attendance. Wednesday evening, flutist Melissa Snoza and clarinetist Jennifer Woodrum will join festival director Eric Edberg in a program of music by Bach, Beethoven, Lake, Muczynski and Villa Lobos.
Anyone who has not been to a chamber music concert before might be surprised by the engaging interactiveness of the performers.
"It's like a thrilling soccer game," said Kevin Smith, the DePauw senior who is the festival's summer intern and concert manager, "except the players pass sound back and forth instead of a ball. And the really great thing is that unlike the World Cup, no one gets eliminated. It's a game where everyone wins."
"Melissa and Jenny are fantastic performers, and this is their first appearance in one of our summer festival concerts," said Edberg, the cello professor at DePauw. "Our motto is 'bringing the community together with friends making music for friends.' We became friends during Fifth House's residency this past year at the School of Music, and it is a joy to make music with them.The program is a lot of fun and I know the audience will enjoy it."
A passionate advocate for chamber music, Melissa Snoza currently performs with the Peninsula Music Festival and freelances throughout the Chicago area. Also an active educator, she currently serves as adjunct professor of flute at Carthage College, teaches a music entrepreneurship course at DePaul University and maintains a private studio.
As a member of 5HE, Snoza has presented workshops at Northwestern University, Yale, NEIU, UW Milwaukee and the Colburn Conservatory on arts entrepreneurship and creative programming, and contributes to the Entrepreneur the Arts blog.
Previous award credits include first prize at the National Flute Association's Orchestral Audition Competition, as well as being selected as a winner of Northwestern University's Concerto Competition. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, has performed with the New World Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival and was the only American flutist invited to the first Music Master's Course in Kazusa, Japan.
Snoza is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University, with principal teachers including Bonita Boyd and Walfrid Kujala. She is not only a well-known flutist and teacher in Chicago -- she also makes a mean spread of Brazilian food and a mouth-watering chocolate pecan bourbon pie.
Clarinetist Jennifer Woodrum, born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, maintains a busy schedule playing and teaching clarinet throughout Illinois. Jennifer holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern University, where she studied with Russell Dagon. Her other principal teachers have included Aris Chavez and Leslie Grimm.
Woodrum holds many awards from local competitions including the Evanston Music Club, the Farwell award from the Chicago Musicians' Club of Women, the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation and the American Opera Society, and performs several solo recitals a year. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Rockford Symphony. She has performed with the Elgin Symphony, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the South Bend Symphony, and the Grant Park Symphony.
Woodrum is the proud parent of a pit bull pointer mix, named after one of her favorite vocalists, Miss Peggy Lee. When not involved in clarinet activities, you'll probably find Jennifer at the Evanston Pooch Park or singing karaoke at the nearest karaoke bar.
The Greencastle Summer Music Festival brings the community together with friends making music for friends. Free concerts, supported by donations, every Wednesday through Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church, plus informal preview events at the Greencastle Starbucks on Tuesdays at 8:15 p.m.