Notice Board

Music at Noon concert series presents: FOURtitude
12:15 p.m. | February 27, 2024
University Recital Hall

FOURtitude is a newly-formed ensemble of Canadian pianists based in southern Alberta. We share a passion for collaborating and exploring music that we would not be able to perform on our own, including operatic and orchestral arrangements and new compositions for multiple hands on one or two pianos (and sometimes more!)  We invite our audiences to have fun with us as we exponentially expand the sonic possibilities of the piano and negotiate the athletic and contortionist choreography necessary to share the keyboard. As dedicated performer-educators, we aspire to bring our enthusiasm for ensemble music making to our students and our communities!  Most recently, FOURtitude performed and/or led master classes in Calgary at the Adults Learning Music Support Group, Crowsnest Pass Art Gallery, Medicine Hat College Conservatory, Music at Noon series at the University of Lethbridge, and at the Keys to Piano Workshop and Lunch and Listen Series at ULethbridge Conservatory of Music. We are also founding faculty members of Lethbridge Piano Intensive (LPI), a memorable summer music program for teens, juniors, adults, and teacher auditors held each summer at the University of Lethbridge.

Canadian pianist Cheryl Emery-Karapita specializes in the field of song in recital with Canada’s emerging vocal and instrumental talent. After completing an M.Mus in Vocal Operatic Coaching at McGill with Michael McMahon, Cheryl moved to Europe to pursue a Post-Graduate degree in Concert Accompanying with Julius Drake at the Kunst Universität in Graz, Austria. In addition to studies in Graz, Cheryl spent two summers in Baden bei Wien working with Helmut Deutsch, Roger Vignoles, Rudolph Jansen and Wolfram Rieger at the Franz Schubert-Institut. In addition to current recital and recording projects, Cheryl is busy with students at the University of Lethbridge, Casa Art Centre in Lethbridge and enjoys collaborating with Luminous Voices based in Calgary and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Carolyn Herrington is a pianist based in Lethbridge, Alberta. Carolyn has taught studio piano, collaborative piano, vocal repertoire, chamber music and other classes at the University of Lethbridge and Western University, and piano at the University of Lethbridge Conservatory of Music. Carolyn holds a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano Performance from Western University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan. Her former teachers include Martin Katz and John Hess. Drawing on her extensive experience with art song, opera, and diction of several languages, Carolyn also works as a freelance vocal coach.

Dr. Kevin Ngo is a Canadian musicologist, piano teacher and freelance pianist based in Southern Alberta.  Ngo holds performance degrees from the University of Victoria, and Texas Tech University, and a PhD in musicology from the University of Calgary.  Ngo has performed across Canada, the United States, and in Europe and currently performs regularly with the FOURtitude Piano Ensemble based in Lethbridge.  His research interests as a musicologist are focused on improvised ornamentation in Mozart’s keyboard music and aim to make this performance practice more accessible to pianists today.  In addition to running a private teaching studio in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Ngo teaches at the Lethbridge Piano Intensive summer program.

Pianist Dr. Deanna Oye is Associate Professor and Co-Chair of the Department of Music, University of Lethbridge, where she teaches Studio Piano and developed the Collaborative Piano/Guitar course series.  She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Dr. Jean Barr, and has given solo and collaborative performances throughout Canada, the U.S., Scotland, Germany, and Japan, with broadcasts on CBC Radio Two and National Public Radio in the U.S.  Deanna is active as an adjudicator, master class clinician and is frequently invited to give career talks to aspiring musicians.  She is also passionate about helping her students make connections between music and their other passions and mentoring them to find their own unique niche in the music world.

Dr. Brad Parker has performed extensively as a soloist and collaborative pianist in Canada, the US, France, Italy, and Haiti. Recent performances include solo recitals in Alberta, South Carolina and California, concertos with the Lethbridge Symphony, Charleston Symphony and Lyra Vivace Chamber Orchestra, as well as multiple events in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Lethbridge, and previously taught in South Carolina for ten years. Brad completed a Masters and DMA in Piano Performance at the Eastman School of Music with further graduate studies at the Paris Conservatory. His principal teachers include Rebecca Penneys, Dr. Heather Dawn Taves, and Jean Koerner.