On Monday, Oct. 21, you will be treated to a concert by alumnus and accomplished violinist, Geronimo Oyenard, accompanied by pianist Melia Garber. The program will include W.A. Mozart’s Sonata in A Major, K. 305, Johannes Brahms’ Sonata no. 3 in d minor, Op. 108, Arthur Foote’s Romanza in E Major, Op. 8 no. 3 and Joaquín Turina’s “El poema de una sanluqueña.” The performance will take place at 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 Saint Philip Street. Admission is $10 at the door and free for College of Charleston students with I.D.
Uruguayan violinist Geronimo Oyenard has studied with Ludmilla Cavallaro, Amos Lawrence, Lee-Chin Siow and Kevin Lawrence. After serving as concertmaster for the National Youth Orchestra and as the youngest member of the National Symphony Orchestra in his native country, Mr. Oyenard attended the College of Charleston on a full scholarship, where he obtained his Bachelor’s in Arts and an Artist’s Certificate in Performance. He furthered his musical studies at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), where he received a Master’s Degree in Performance.
In the United States, Mr. Oyenard has been a member of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, the North Carolina Symphony, and the West Virginia Symphony, among others. He has served as concertmaster and soloist with the College of Charleston, UNCSA, and Virginia Tech orchestras. As a chamber musician, Mr. Oyenard as been a member of the Charleston Promusica early music ensemble, and the Stern Scholar and Blue Ridge string quartets. Mr. Oyenard has also participated in numerous summer chamber music workshops and orchestral festivals in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Spain, and France. He is currently in his sixth season in the first violin section of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra (RSO) and performs frequently as part of the Roanoke College and Hollins University faculty recital series.
As a teacher, Mr. Oyenard has been on faculty at the UNCSA Community Music School, the Performing Arts Institute of Virginia, Bluefield College, and was the RSO’s Strings Instructor for three years. In this position, Mr. Oyenard created and directed violin programs for Franklin County and Salem City public schools, taught underprivileged students for the Friends of the RSO, coached the Roanoke Youth Symphony, judged its annual concerto competition, and taught at the Summer Music Institute at Ferrum College. Currently as an Artist-in Residence for Franklin County Public Schools, Mr. Oyenard directs an in-school Suzuki-based program that reaches over 60 elementary and middle-school children every week. A certified Suzuki instructor, Mr. Oyenard also maintains busy private studios in Roanoke, Blacksburg and Lynchburg.
Melia Garber holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Tennessee and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from West University of Timisoara, Romania.
A native of Romania, Mrs. Garber has won numerous piano competitions, including first prize at the prestigious International Piano Competition in San-Bartholomeo, Italy. She also won MTNA competitions in piano at the state and regional levels and won the Concerto Competition while at the University of Tennessee playing the Liszt Piano Concerto in E-flat Major. Mrs. Garber has performed concertos by Bach, Mozart, Liszt and Grieg with the Philharmonic Orchestra of “Banatul” Timisoara, Romania, and also premiered the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Ryan Garber with the Salem Choral Society.
Ms. Garber also has performed at Hollins University, Roanoke College, Radford University, Shaftman Performing Arts Center in Roanoke, and Performing Arts Center in Lynchburg. Currently she is the choir director, pianist and organist at Virginia Heights Baptist Church in Roanoke, the accompanist for The Chorus of the Blue Ridge in Salem and has been teaching piano at Hollins University since 2001.