Indiana State University Newsroom

Flutist Rebecca Johnson will perform alongside pianist Cara Chowning and percussionist Jamie Ryan as part of the Indiana State University School of Music's Visiting Artist Series. The performers will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15 in the Landini Center for Performing and Fine Arts, Recital Hall.

Johnson is a gifted flutist on the faculty of Eastern Illinois University who also performs with the Illinois Sinfonia da Camera. She has performed and taught internationally at the Convencion Internacional de las Flautistas in Quito, Ecuador annually since 2009.

She has been a Rotary International Ambassadorial scholar to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, where she studies with renowned flutist Peter Lloyd. She holds degrees from the University of Illinois, University of Louisville, the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Northern Iowa.

Equally at home with vocal and instrumental works, Chowning is in demand as a coach and collaborative artist. She served as assistant chorus master and staff pianist for Cleveland Opera and as the musical director and pianist of Lyric Opera Cleveland's Apprentice Showcase and Spaces Art Gallery. As music director of Opera Cleveland's Great Works outreach programs, she created several new educational programs for performances in schools across Northeast Ohio. She is currently the music director for the vocal series of the Bar Harbor Music Festival and the principal coach/assistant conductor of the opera division at the University of Illinois. She holds degrees from Northwestern University and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Ryan thrives on playing and teaching many varieties of music and performs regularly with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. He co-founded the Africa-West Percussion Trio, which plays original music influenced by the African Diaspora and the Western tradition, as well as standard repertoire for chamber percussion. The trio performs and gives masterclasses and workshops throughout the country. He was a member and co-founder of El Clan Destino, an Afro-Cuban quartet in which he played congas and bata drums, and played with the Tony Castaneda Latin Jazz Sextet. He holds degrees from Lawrence University and the University of Wisconsin, where he is a student in the Doctor of Musical Arts program.

Admission to the event is free and attendance by campus and community members is encouraged. For more information, contact the School of Music at 812-237-2771.

Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications and Marketing, 812-237-3783 or paula.meyer@indstate.edu