NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

10/15/2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES-Flutist Dennette McDermott, pianists Nikita Fitenko and Katarina Zaitseva and cellist Richard Rose will present "An Evening of Slavic Sonatas" Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. The recital is sponsored by the Mrs. H.D. Dear Sr. and Alice Estelle Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts at Northwestern State University. Admission is free and open to the public.

The program will include "Sonata in e minor" by Jiri Cart, "First Sonata" by Bohuslav Martinu, "Sonata Semplice" by Petr Eben and "Sonata for Flute and Piano in D Major" by Serge Prokofiev.

McDermott, an associate professor of music at NSU, has performed throughout the United States and in Europe. She made her European debut in 1992 in the Czech Republic with the Czech premiere of Jindrich Feld's "Introduzione, Toccata e Fuga." In 1995, as a recipient of the Magale Endowed Professorship, she participated in a mastercourse and taught at the Janacek Academie of Music in Brno, Czech Republic. McDermott is a three-time winner of the National Flute Association Conventions' Performers Competition. In 1998, she was awarded the Mildred Hart Bailey Award at NSU for her research and performances of Czech music. She released a compact disc recording which included the premiere recording of "Introduzione, Toccata e Fuga," which was funded by the Council for University Research Award and the Donald F. Derby Endowed Professorship.

Fitenko is an assistant professor of piano at NSU. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with a Citation for Excellence in piano performance given to only five other graduates in the last 50 years. After being awarded a "City of Weimar" stipend from East Germany, he made his formal debut in 1992 with the St. Petersburg Capella Symphony and has performed throughout Europe. Fitenko continued his studies at the University of North Texas where he received the Anton Rubinstein Memorial Award. In 1995, he was awarded top prizes in the

Beethoven International Competition of the Houston Symphony. In 1996 he won the Beethoven Prize at the Byelorussian International Piano Competition in Minsk. Since 1996, Fitenko has worked with the Altarus Records Co. to record a series of contemporary Russian piano music.

Zaitseva is a native of Moscow, Russia. She graduated from the music school associated with the Moscow State Conservatory. Zaitseva earned a bachelor's in music performance at the University of North Texas and a master's from Southern Methodist University. She was the winner of several competitions including the MTNA and SMU concerto competitions. Zaitseva has also appeared as a soloist with the Moscow State Conservatory Orchestra, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, UNT Symphony and SMU Symphony. In 2001, she performed for King Juan Carlos of Spain at the opening of the new Museum of Arts in Dallas.

Rose has been a faculty member at Northwestern since 1968 and is an associate professor of music. He was principal cellist of the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony for 25 years and has served as principal cellist for the Rapides Symphony Orchestra and the Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra. Rose was conductor of the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony Orchestra in 2001-2002. He received a bachelor of music from the University of Louisville and a master of music from Florida State University. For a number of years, Rose has also an active composer/arranger. He is a member of the Back Porch Band and has been musical director for the NSU Summer Theatre since 1994.

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