Clarineting with the Stars Saturday, March 12, 2011 Varner Recital Hall 8pm
	The Artists George Stoffan clarinet Minjung Kim piano Ali Woerner dancer, choreographer Thayer Jonutz dancer, choreographer Greg Patterson choreographer Oakland Dance Theatre Francesca Garippa Kristen Manor AJ Sharp Repertory Dance Company Lindsay Chirio Vivian Costello Sara Daudlin Justine Gagne Maddie Metzger Jasmine Page-Cox Kerro Knox 3 lighting

George Stoffan is Associate Professor of Clarinet at Oakland University and Principal Clarinetist of the Oakland Symphony.  He had previously served as Principal Clarinetist and Concertmaster of the United States Air Force Band in Washington DC.  With this ensemble, he performed in 14 recordings, most of which were recently made available on the Naxos label.  His own recording, A Postcard from Europe, featuring contemporary East European clarinet music, in addition to the Brahms Sonata No. 2, Op. 120, in E-flat Major, was released in January of 2008, and characterized by the Detroit Free Press as benefiting from “Stoffan’s warm expression and confident attack.” 

Mr. Stoffan has performed in recital at International Clarinet Conferences in Kansas City, Atlanta, and College Park, MD, and most recently performed two weeks ago in recital at the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors conference in Gainesville, FL.  Last year, he performed at the Czech-Slovak National Music Conference at Grand Valley State University.  He has also performed in recital at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the University of Arkansas. 

Before joining the faculty at Oakland University, Dr. Stoffan taught clarinet at Southern Utah University. He has also been on the faculties of Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC, Washington Conservatory of Music, and George Mason University.

He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Clarinet Performance from the University of Michigan, a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance from Indiana University, and a DMA in Clarinet Performance from the University of Wisconsin. 

Pianist Minjung Kim was born in Seoul, Korea where she started her musical studies at the age of four. She graduated from Yewon Arts Middle School and Seoul Arts high school where she studied with Kyo-Sil Kang. After earning her Bachelor of Music degree from Yonsei University under professor Kyung-Sook Lee, she came to U.S and completed a Master of Music degree and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance at Michigan State University under professors Yong-Hi Moon and Panayis Lyras.
Dr. Kim was the winner of the 2007 Honors Concerto Competition at Michigan State University as well as the “Competition of the National Student”, the “Contest for the National Student”, the Chosun Times Competition and the Gold Medalist in the National Teenager Competition in Korea. Her solo and collaborative appearances include the 30th and 32nd annual Se-Jong Concerts in Michigan, the “Concert for Young Artist” and the “Yon-Lee Concert” in Seoul. In addition, she has performed with the Yonsei University Orchestra at the “Memorial Hall for the One Hundredth Anniversary” and Seoul Symphony Orchestra at Hoam Art Hall in Korea. In 2007, Dr. Kim performed with Michigan State University Philharmonic Orchestra in Fairchild Theatre and Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra at the Catherine Herrick Cobb Great Hall in Wharton Center for Performing Arts. Recently, she has performed with Trujillo Symphony Orchestra in the Premier Concert for “the Festi Musica Internacional 2009” in Trujillo, Peru. Due to success of the concert in 2009, she invited again to perform as a soloist for “Bach Festival” in Peru in August, 2011. 

Additional studies include playing in master classes for renowned pianists Dong-Il Han, Christopher Elton, Steven Rubin, Stephen Prutsman, Mikhail Voskresensky, Claude Frank and Sergei Babayan. Dr. Kim has also studied in numerous festivals with world renowned pedagogues including Ik-Ju Moon and Hwa-Kyung Byun at the Pusan Ye-Eum Winter Festival, and Vladimir Feltsman at the Piano Summer Festival at New Paltz.
Active solo and collaborative pianist, Minjung Kim is currently an adjunct professor in piano at Adrian College as well as a staff accompanist at Oakland University and instructor in Preparatory division at Oakland University in Michigan. 

Thayer Jonutz toured and performed extensively with his dancing to places such as Tonga, Japan, and Mexico. He garnered more international touring experiences in the Philippines, South Korea, and India with Brigham Young University where he graduated with a BA in Modern Dance in 2003. As a senior, he joined Repertory Dance Theatre, and he continued as a full-time company member for five years, immersing himself in both historical and contemporary works.  Some of the choreographers that he worked with were Douglass Dunn, Zvi Gotheiner, Daniel Nagrin, Bill Evans, Scott Rink, and Susan Hadley. He has recently completed the MFA dance program at the University of Michigan where he furthered his professional career performing with the Peter Sparling Dance Company. Thayer was one of the lead roles in a new work that premiered in 08 by Rennie Harris, titled Heaven; this contemporary version of The Rite of Spring was a fusion of modern dance, break-dance and butoh.  This experience as well as master classes from other butoh artists led Thayer to travel to Japan this last summer to study butoh and other Japanese forms and ideas.  His newest work Doors is based on his travels to Japan.  Two of his choreographic solos, From Northwood and My Disappeared were performed at ACDFA in March of 08 and 09.  Thayer has joined the dance faculty at Oakland University and is teaching Modern dance technique, dance pedagogy, and is the director of the Repertory Dance Company.  He is also cofounder of Mise en Place, a new company that had its inaugural performance in May of 09.

Gregory A. Patterson, Associate Professor and Program Director of Dance at Oakland University and Artistic Director of Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Co. He received his B.A. from Bowling Green State University and his M.F.A. from the University of Michigan. He has been dancing and choreographing professionally in the Midwest for over twenty-five years. From 1991-2002, Mr. Patterson was a member of Eisenhower Dance Ensemble (EDE) where he served as Assistant Director. In the past he has also performed as a guest artist with both the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Doug Elkins Dance Company from New York, and has received the Maggie Allesse Choreography Award. Mr. Patterson also enjoys choreographing for musical theatre and has choreographed several musicals at Oakland University. In his career Mr. Patterson choreographed Die Fledermaus for Michigan Opera Theatre and has been on the faculty of the Classical Greek Theatre Summer Study program in Greece.

Ali Woerner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Oakland University, received her MFA from the University of Michigan and her BPA from Oklahoma City University.  Throughout her diverse career within both commercial (performing as a Radio City Rockette for six years) and contemporary mediums, Ali has performed and taught all over the world; including Colombia, Costa Rica and Japan.  She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the contemporary dance company, Shifting Sol, who has performed in Michigan, Colombia and New York City.  Ali has set choreography for various companies besides her own including; Gallaudet University Dance Company, Inaside Jazz Dance Chicago, Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company, Umbigada Dance Company, Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, Albion College and Danza Universitaria in Costa Rica. Ali also choreographs for the Musical Theatre Department at Oakland University and is the Private Studio Column Editor for the Journal of Dance Education.  Ali’s newest project is the creation of Happenings; a unique event for Detroit artists to display work, connect and collaborate with fellow creators, and build a thriving united community.  The event is set to happen again spring 2011 with the gracious funding of Oakland University’s Research Department.

Kerro Knox 3, Associate Professor, teaches lighting design and theatre history, as well as serving as the Theatre Program Director. 
He has designed countless shows in all areas of music, theatre and dance at Oakland including: Othello, Gypsy, Lysistrata, Lucky Stiff (scenery and lighting), A Chorus Line (costumes and lights),  Into the Woods (scenery), Opal (costumes), The Waiting Room (scenery), and lighting for Romeo and Juliet, Urinetown, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, By Jupiter, and The Rimers of Eldritch.  He also has directed several shows, most notably children’s theatre shows he has developed: Just So Stories, adapted from Rudyard Kipling’s book, and Serengeti Tales, adapted from African folklore. He also directed the one-man musical Herringbone at the Body Politic Theatre in Chicago. For several summers, he has traveled to Greece to teach, design, and perform as part of the University of Detroit’s Classical Theatre Summer Study Program.
Kerro designs lighting regularly for the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company, as well as several shows for Meadow Brook Theatre, including Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and  And Then They Came for Me.  He has also designed lighting for Stephanie Skura and Dancers at The Joyce Theatre and Lincoln Center in New York and at SUNY Buffalo. His scenic designs have been at Michigan State University and The Chapin School in New York. 
Kerro is also assistant director of OU’s African Drum and Xylophone Ensemble and the Steel Band. He has played the music in OU’s productions of Les Blancs and Death and the King’s Horseman.  He also plays professionally in both genres, which have taken him to New York City, Canada and Trinidad, as well as performing with local musical groups including the Warren Symphony Orchestra.  He has just released a CD of Christmas tunes on steel pan for which he arranged selections from The Nutcracker Suite. He also tunes and builds musical instruments for the ensembles. 
Kerro has worked at the Cleveland Play House, Syracuse Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, GeVa Theatre (Rochester, NY), and on the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera.  He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association as a stage manager and received his BA in American Studies from Yale College and his MFA in Technical Design and Production from the Yale School of Drama, where he studied with world-renowned designers Jennifer Tipton and Ming Cho Lee.