The second Marsh Memorial Advent recital will be held on Wednesday at the First United Presbyterian Church, 19 W. Fourth St., at noon. The Marsh recitals are free public concerts during the lunch hour. Attendees are encouraged to bring a lunch and enjoy the church's complimentary coffee.
Wednesday's concert features Father Sean Duggan, piano; David Rose, viola; and Brian Walnicki, viola. All three return as admired participants in the recital series. Duggan holds degrees in piano performance from Loyola University and from Carnegie Mellon University. In 1983, Duggan won first prize in the Johann Bach International Competition for pianists in Washington, D.C., which entitled him to tours, including a two-month tour of Germany. In 1991 he participated again and was one of three first-place winners, entitling him to another round of engagements and tour of Germany. Throughout 2000, the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, Duggan performed the complete cycle of Bach's keyboard works eight times in a series of 15 recitals in Marseilles, France, Rome, Italy and across the United States.
Rose was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and began his musical education there on the violin. He switched to viola at age 12 and immediately enjoyed the deep, warm sound. A few years later he became a member of the Regina Symphony Orchestra. He was associated with the Vancouver Symphony, the CBC Vancouver Orchestra and many chamber music series from coast to coast. He served for eight seasons as principal viola of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and violist with the Canadian Chamber Ensemble. Most recently, Rose served as the acting assistant principal viola with the San Francisco Symphony.
Walnicki holds degrees in Performance from the Eastman School of Music and from SUNY Fredonia School of Music. He currently is principal viola for the Western New York Chamber Orchestra and also serves as librarian for the group. As a freelance violist he is very active in a variety of solo, chamber and orchestral contexts. He regularly plays with the Erie Philharmonic, the Chautauqua Symphony and Slee Sinfonietta. He also plays viola with the fusion rock band Ould Pound. He has participated in summer festivals including the "Schlossfestspiele" in Heidelberg, Germany and the Norfolk Contemporary Chamber Music Festival. He recently started a shop rehairing and repairing bows and instruments.
