December 11, 2010
The West Windsor Arts Council Presents

"Blending of the East and West"

Featuring
The Bravura Philharmonic Ensemble

Ellen Deerberg, Flute
Deborah Gers, Clarinet
Elizabeth Randolph, Bassoon
Yang Yi, Guzheng
Yang Yi Guzheng Academy Ensemble

Program
Telemann Sonata for flute & basso continuo
Claude Debussy Syrinx
A. Lauro/P. D'Rivera arr. Carora
W.A. Mozart Divertimento No. 3, K439b
The Nocturne of Fishing-Boat 渔舟唱晚
Arid Day's Thunder 旱天雷
Wonderful Days 欢乐的日子

Return to 2010-11 season

Ellen Fisher-Deerberg holds a degree in Music Performance from Temple University where she studied with Murray Panitz, principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has performed principal flute with the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Delaware Children's Opera, Kennett Symphony Orchestra, and has performed in numerous solo recitals and concerts in the Delaware Valley. Ellen is a member of the flute quartet "Volanti Flutes" based in Princeton New Jersey, and is a faculty member of the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and the Westminster Conservatory of Music in Princeton, New Jersey.

Deborah Gers  received her M.M. from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where she was a student of Thomas LeGrand, Emil Schmachtenberg and Carmine Campione; and her B.M. from Eastern Kentucky University where she studied with Earl M. Thomas. She was also a student of the late Joe Allard. An active performer and teacher, she won her first orchestral position at the age of 19. Ms. Gers has performed and recorded with such groups as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Network for New Music, Lexington Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, Delaware Valley Philharmonic, Trenton Symphony, Riverside Symphonia, Pennsylvania Sinfonia and is Principal Clarinetist of the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed with such artists as Dave Brubeck, Henry Mancini, Dinah Shore, Mitch Miller, Lionel Hampton, Eric Kunzel, Gunther Schuller and Michael Gielen. She also has an extensive chamber music background and has performed and taught extensively in the Pennsylvania /New Jersey region including the University of Pennsylvania and Westminster Conservatory, and maintains a private studios in Flemington, NJ. Her students have been selected to All-State Bands in all 4 states she has taught in: Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Elizabeth Randolph, principal bassoonist of the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, studied with Mark Popkin at the North Carolina School of the Arts where she earned a Bachelor of Music Degree. She also studied with Loren Glickman and receiving a Masters Degree from Queens College. She did some free lance playing in NYC and also played at the Casals Festival with both her teachers. She worked for Barrett Management in NYC while attending grad school. From there she went on to work with horses, married and raised a daughter. She became a teacher while living in NJ and continues in that field, teaching Ancient History to 6th graders at Community Middle School in Plainsboro. Ms. Randolph also performs with the  Eastern Wind Symphony.

Yang Yi is recognized as a foremost Guzheng master in the world, described by the New York Times as “fascinating, surprising and extraordinarily beautiful",“extraordinarily fantastic, intensive and passionate." by the West German News, and “She really sets the instrument on fire," by the Daily Record, NJ .   A winner of the  International Chinese Instruments Competition and numerous awards, Yang Yi is a highly acclaimed guzheng virtuoso, distinguished guzheng educator and lecturer. She has been profiled in music documentary programs on radio and TV here and abroad. Yang Yi was a faculty at the prestigious China Conservatory of music, where she graduated. She has performed as a soloist with the most renowned Chinese Musical  Groups such as Chinese National Orchestra, China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, China National Song & Dance Ensemble, China National Opera House, and Beijing Song & Dance Ensemble. 

A resident of West Windsor and a board member of the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra,  Yang Yi has toured extensively as a soloist throughout Asia, Europe and the U.S., and performed in prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall (UK), Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal (Germany), Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Ms. Yang has world premiered many new composition of renowned composers such as Chen Yi, Tan Dun,  Lutz-Werner Hesse, Lee Tzyy-sheng, and Zhou QinRu.  Born in Nanking, Yang Yi studied under gushing  master Qui Da Cheng at the prestigious China Conservatory of Music. She was a winner of the 1989 International Chinese Instruments Competition and numerous other awards in China before coming to the United States. 

Yang Yi is a respected teacher of many prize-winning guzheng students in both China and the US. She is also on the jury of many music competitions.  Ms. Yang has lectured and performed extensively in universities across the country on Chinese Music.   Yang Yi  is the founder and the music director of the Eastern Culture & Performing Arts Center (ECPAC), the first non-profit professional Chinese Music Organization of its kind in New Jersey.  It is based in West Windsor, dedicated to educating the audience in Chinese music through its broad and diversified programs. Her award-winning teaching methods in developing her students’ technical and  musical abilities have enabled many of them receiving national and international recognition. Her studios in  New Jersey where students from seven to 70 can take private or group classes for Chinese Guzheng.