Earlham College | News from Public Affairs

Pianist Heather MacPhail, clarinetist Michele Gingras and violinist Harvey Thurmer formed Miami³ in 2006 to perform crossover music. The group will perform on Sunday, Oct. 7, during Earlham's Meetinghouse Concert.

RICHMOND, Ind. — Miami³, a trio of celebrated music faculty from Miami University, will perform a concert of crossover music on Sunday, Oct. 7, during Earlham College's Meetinghouse Concert.

The music begins at 4 p.m. in Earlham's Stout Meetinghouse. Admission is free, and the public is invited.

"Miami³ formed almost one year ago," says clarinetist Michele Gingras. "Back then, we were not officially Miami³, however the concert was so well received that we decided to form an official group right after the concert."

Violinist Harvey Thurmer and pianist Heather MacPhail complete the group, which focuses on crossover music, a style of music containing elements of classical or concert music mixed with other styles such as rag, jazz, Klezmer, folk, pop, world music and more.

"We chose to focus on crossover music to appeal to a wider audience and to have fun in the process," Gingras says. "The three of us love all kinds of musical genres, and we also wanted to focus on performing for concert series that are scheduled during the day because we estimate that many true music lovers attend these concerts, not to mention that crossover music fits day concerts well."

The program includes Afternoon Cakewalk — A Suite of Rags arranged by William Bolcom, and two pieces from The Garden of Eden: Four Rags for Piano composed by Bolcom, a Pulitzer Prize-winning and Grammy Award-winning American composer, who developed a style of playing ragtime that put in him in the forefront of the ragtime revival in the 1970s.

Thurmer, who is also the concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, joined the faculty at Miami in 1997, where he is associate professor of violin.

Gingras has been professor of clarinet at Miami since 1986 and was named Crossan Hays Curry Distinguished Educator and Distinguished Scholar of the Graduate Faculty.

MacPhail is staff accompanist at Miami and has been the piano accompanist for the Cincinnati May Festival for 17 years. She is a frequent keyboardist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.

Contact:
Denise Purcell, public affairs assistant
765/983-1323 — E-Mail Denise