BALLARD-REILLY DUO

Tenor and Guitar

In Recital

April 21 – Ball State University (Choral Hall, Music Instruction Bldg) 7:30 pm

 

April 29 – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Indianapolis) 7:30 pm

 

Jeffrey Ballard

Lyric Tenor

Jeffrey Ballard has appeared in operas, recitals, and as soloist with orchestras throughout much of the United States and in Italy. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has described him as “a rich tenor, with a delightful flair for comedy as well as for singing.” He has performed principal operatic roles with Chattanooga Opera, Eugene Opera of Oregon, Southeastern Savoyards of Atlanta, Rome Festival Opera, Operafestival di Roma, Southern Light Opera of Mississippi, Opera in the Ozarks of Arkansas, Crossroads Opera of Indiana, and most recently, Harmonie Opera of Indianapolis. He was twice selected nationally as Artist Fellow to the Bach Aria Festival of New York and was among twelve professors selected for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Intern Program held at Penn State University in 1997. As a frequent duo partner with guitarist Paul Reilly, Ballard has given numerous recitals nationally and regionally, including at Harvard University and Vanderbilt University.  He has had extensive training both as a singer and pianist and holds three degrees in vocal performance.  Ballard has studied with some of the finest voice teachers in the nation, including Mollie Rich, David Holley, former Met soprano Inge Manski-Lundeen, Karen Brunssen, and for many years with Dr. Thomas Houser, who was internationally recognized as one of the world’s finest teachers of singing.

 

Dr. Ballard has trained hundreds of singers over the past thirty years while serving on six music school faculties, including full-time positions as Director of Opera at Susquehanna University, Western Oregon University, and Ball State University. He now devotes his professional time primarily to Ballard Music Studio (which he founded in 2004), with studios in Muncie and Indianapolis. He trains singers of all levels and ages, with students ranging in age from seven to late seventies. He focuses on technique and the creative process, tailoring lessons to each student’s unique gifts and goals, while instilling the art of bel canto (beautiful singing). Many of Dr. Ballard’s students have won competitions and are performing professionally and avocationally in a wide array of genres across the country, as well as teaching at universities, secondary schools, and privately throughout the United States. More information about Dr. Ballard and his studio can be found at ballardmusicstudio.com. Jeff resides in Muncie with his teenage children, Julia and Max.

 

Paul Reilly

Classical Guitarist

Classic guitarist Paul Reilly is professor and director of the Ball State University, School of Music, Classic Guitar Ensemble since 1970. He received the Bachelor of Music degree from De Paul University in 1969 and the Master of Music degree from Ball State University in 1972. Both degrees are with a major in composition. During his undergraduate years he studied guitar privately with Richard Pick, a noted American Classic Guitarist and performed regularly in Chicago for the Chicago Guitar Society and appeared several times on WTTW, Chicago Public Television. Reilly has also spent two summers in Spain where he studied at the International Summer Music Academy with Gabriel Estarellas. He received, from the Academy, an Excellence in Performance Diploma and an Excellence in Study Diploma. He has also studied with Pepe Romero, Carlos Barbosa-Lima and Michael Lorimar and received from Romero a distinguished performer certificate. He has toured extensively in Taiwan, finishing his ninth tour this past October 2011 with five solo concerts, master classes and lectures. The China News described him as a “dynamic performer with a solid technique and excellent musical taste.” He was one of the founding members of the Indiana Society of the Guitar.

 

He has presented performances of Leo Brouwer’s Concerto for Guitar and Small Orchestra, and the Indiana premieres of Claude Bolling’s Concerto for Guitar and Jazz Trio and Picnic Suite for Flute, Guitar and Jazz Trio. He has also performed the Midwest Premiere of Thea Musgrave’s Soliloquy III for Guitar and Chamber Ensemble and in California he has done Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Napa Symphony. He also premiered Garland Anderson’s Sonata for Guitar and Anderson’s Five Studies for Guitar. He has also performed in New York City as soloist for the Composers Concordance and as a duo performer with Professor Maureen Miller, mezzo-soprano. As ”Duo Elegante” with Professor George Wolfe he has performed at Interlochen Summer Music Academy and at the Chautauqua Institute in New York and as a Duo partner with Assistant Professor Jeffrey Ballard he has performed at Harvard University as part of the Music at Noon for the Cambridge Music Society. Reilly has recently performed Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Concerto in D Major with the Ball State University Orchestra. His solo performances include the cities of Chicago, Portland, Dallas, and Indianapolis.