Franziska Nabb
music and performing arts lecturer, 308.865.8618
UNK- Maria Harding, the principal flutist for the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, will lead a flute master class and give a concert at the University of Nebraska at Kearney on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
The master class will begin at 10 a.m. in the UNK Fine Arts Recital Hall. At 7:30 p.m., Harding will present a recital in the Fine Arts Recital Hall. Both the master class and the concert are free and open to the public. Christi Zuniga, the principal keyboardist with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, will accompany Harding.
Harding, a 1989 Yamaha Young Performing Artist, will work with UNK and high school flute students from across Nebraska on issues such as stage presence, performance anxiety, intonation, phrasing and playing in a chamber music setting.
The master class is open to all high school and college students, UNK faculty/staff and Kearney community members. To register, contact Jane Jameson, office associate, at 308.865.8618, or email Franziska Nabb, UNK flute lecturer,nabbf@unk.edu. Walk-ins are also welcome that morning.
According to UNK flute lecturer Franziska Nabb, the master class is geared towards flute students, but is open to all instrumentalists.
“Everybody is welcome and encouraged to ask questions about orchestra playing, the life of a professional musician and any related subject,” Nabb said.
Harding, who is both a professional flute performer and a teacher, began her orchestral career when she was 16-years-old. She earned a bachelor of music degree in performance from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester and a master of music degree in performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Since then, Harding has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony and held the position of principal flutist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.
She has earned first-place solo awards in prestigious competitions sponsored by the National Flute Association, the Richardson Symphony Orchestra, the McCarty Artists’ Competition and the Texas Flute Society. In 1989, Harding was named a Yamaha Young Performing Artist, and in 1996, she was named a Yamaha Artist/Clinician.
In addition to her career as a soloist, Harding has spent her summers participating in the Sunflower Music Festival Orchestra in Topeka, Kan., and at the Schlossfestspiele Orchestra in Heidelberg, Germany.
Zuniga, a native of Atlanta, Ga., earned her bachelor of music degree in piano performance from Clayton State College, and her master of music degree in chamber music and accompanying from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Before moving to Omaha, Zuniga was the staff accompanist and class piano instructor at Clayton State College.
