The chamber orchestra for the January 2016 premiere performances of A Roadkill Opera returns four players from previous incarnations. Martine Micozzi, flautist, is the key link who introduced librettist Stephan Alexander Parker to conductor/music director Jeffrey Sean Dokken. Like Martine, trumpeter/flugehornist Michael Thompson performed in the Artomatic 2012 workshop and on the 2013 studio recording. Val Rauch will return on viola, which she played on the 2013 studio recording of A Roadkill Opera.
As of noon on October 31, 2015, you can go to Brown Paper Tickets to buy for the January 8-9, 2016, tickets for A Roadkill Opera – world premiere performances. Shows are at 630 and 830 pm each night at the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint.
You can see the complete conductor’s score and parts through December 12, 2015, at Artomatic 2015 in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Michael Thompson – Trumpet – is Associate Conductor and Principal Trumpet of the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia. He attended Grammy Award-winning South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon where he was a member of the Wind Ensemble, Full Orchestra, and Jazz Band and the recipient of the John Philip Sousa and Louis Armstrong awards. Michael studied trumpet performance and music at the University of Oregon and was the trumpet section leader of the Oregon Symphonic Band and all Oregon Athletic Bands and the musical director of the Green Garter Band. Michael was a member of the original orchestra for A Roadkill Opera and has also played in productions of Les Misérables, Into the Woods, and The Music Man. Besides the original recording of A Roadkill Opera, Michael has recorded with the Oregon Marching Band, Green Garter Band, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Salem, OR and can be also be found on numerous live recordings and in the introduction to EA Sport’s NCAA March Madness 2004.
Martine Micozzi -Flute- originally hails from Los Angeles where she started her foray into music while in elementary school. While not a music major and pursuing music as a hobby, she enjoyed performing with the Solar Winds Woodwind quintet in L.A. and has performed internationally at venues including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Hollywood Bowl, Meyerhoff Hall, the Strathmore Center, and La Madeleine in Paris. Martine participated in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Corwin Master Class and Ransom Wilson’s Master Class in Italy. While in Paris, she founded, managed, and performed as Principal flutist of the orchestra of the Paris Choral Society. Upon her return to the U.S., she has participated in summer academies and performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Martine presently performs with and serves on the Board of Directors for the Symphony Orchestra of Arlington, Virginia.
Francesca Martin -violin- has been performing twenty-two years with the violin, earning musical merit and academic scholarships for orchestral studies, chamber music ensemble classes and private lessons. Most notably, Francesca was the recipient of the “Blackwood Theater Organ Society Scholarship” in 2006. Prior to her acceptance into the Mary Pappert school of Music in 2007, Francesca was under the tutelage of Marian Irwin of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. She was awarded merit scholarships to pursue violin performance in the studios of Charles Stegeman from the Curtis Institute of Music and Christopher Wu, a violinist and member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Prior to becoming Concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, Francesca led her university’s chamber orchestra as Concertmaster for five years. She was a member of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony under the baton of Daniel Meyer for three years in which she was awarded principal second violin her first year with the orchestra. Her orchestral and chamber playing have taken her on tours throughout Eastern Europe (2005), a National Festival of the States Tour (2006), and a special performance at the White House with the Maryland Classic Youth Quartet for their 2007 Christmas season. Since, she has been privileged to return again as a member of Sonova in 2013 for their annual “Holidays at the White House”. Before her acceptance into Sonova, Francesca volunteered for the University of Maryland Baltimore County Orchestra while studying for a masters degree at the Washington Montessori Institute.
Whitney Miller -bassoon- was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and raised primarily in Dumfries, Virginia. She graduated from James Madison University in 2012 with a Bachelor’s in Music Industry, concentrated in the recording arts, and from Western Michigan University in 2014 with a Master’s in Bassoon Performance. Her career as a bassoonist has led to international performances in Canada, Mexico, and across Europe, and with legendary musicians, such as the band KANSAS and under the direction of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s music director Leonard Slatkin. Combining her love with performance and for sharing that with young people, she is currently pursuing her initial Virginia teacher certification, with the goal of becoming an elementary music educator in mind. She is currently employed as a substitute teacher for Prince William County Schools. When she’s not working, performing with the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, or making reeds, she can be found reading, spending time with her family, or getting in one last bike ride before it becomes too cold to do so.
Jorge Alvarez -cello- graduated with Bachelor of Music in cello performance from Shepherd University. There he participated in many activities/shows/events the music department put together; was part of the Two River Chamber Orchestra; taught the cello; led cello sectionals of the Shepherd University Orchestra; participated in marching band (it is hard not to think of Woody Allen in Take The Money and Run); and played in the honors recital.