Stephen Carlson, pianist
A member of the Bemidji State University Music Department since 2006, pianist Dr. Stephen Carlson is a versatile soloist and chamber musician who has performed at many colleges, universities, and festivals throughout the Midwest, Southeastern U.S. and Eastern Canada.

In 2005, Dr. Carlson made his highly regarded New York debut as a solo recitalist in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. From 1995 to 2003, he appeared at Minnesota Valley Sommarfest (St. Peter, MN) where he performed an array of solo and collaborative works. One-half of the McKay-Carlson Piano Duo, Carlson has also performed chamber music with members of the South Carolina Philharmonic as well as the Charleston and Greenville (SC) Symphonies. He was appointed to the Performing Artist Roster of the South Carolina Arts Commission and remains in demand as a performer, adjudicator and clinician.

He completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa where he studied with Uriel Tsachor. He is also a graduate of the University of Illinois and Gustavus Adolphus College where he studied with Ian Hobson and John McKay, respectively.

Prior to coming to Bemidji State where he is Assistant Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Piano Area, Carlson was a tenured faculty member at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina. He has also taught piano at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, Gustavus Adolphus College and St. Josephs School of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Joseph Adams, composer
Joseph Adams (1978 -) was born and raised in the Twin Cities, but received the majority of his compositional training on the east coast. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Music Composition from New York University in 2002, where his primary instructors were Brooklyn based contemporary composer Mary Inwood, and jazz composer/film scorer Phillip Johnston. Highlights of his time in New York include performances by the Brentano String Quartet, Millwood Chamber Ensemble, and by members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Buddy Baker Film Scoring Workshop.

He continued his compositional studies at the Hartt School of Music/University of Hartford, Connecticut, where he earned his Masters Degree in 2005. His primary instructors included orchestral/band composer Steven Gryc and Minimalist composer Ingram Marshall.

“Efflorescence” is a highly contrapunctal work based on three primary thematic figures, representative of spring arriving after a difficult winter. Every family of the orchestra is individually featured, while eventually combining melodies to give a sense of continuity.

Joseph has received commissions for orchestra, concert band, and various chamber ensembles, and continues to write for orchestra and band.  He works for the Music Theory Department at the McNally Smith College of Music, in St. Paul, where he teaches orchestrations and music theory.