Studio Sessions With Rising Masters

Studio Sessions With Rising Masters showcases young talented performing artists from the Central Virginia region. The Rising Masters include the Graham Brothers, a dual grand piano sibling group that mesmerizes audiences; Ms. Anna Maples, a rising mezzo-soprano opera singer performing for The Virginia Opera, astounds audiences with her mature, seasoned delivery of the classics; Ms. Maggie Horan, a rising star with Virginia Commonwealth University, equally astounds audiences with her rich mezzo-soprano delivery of the Broadway classics.

Enjoy this special production Friday, July 13 at 9:00 p.m. on WCVE PBS/WHTJ PBS

Brothers David and Philip Graham both graduated from Washington and Lee University with a B.A. in Music and a B.S. in Business Administration. David won the Piano Award as the most outstanding senior in piano performance. His varied musical interests also include writing his own arrangements (two of which were featured in the Rhapsody on the River concert), singing in his church choir, and performing with his Richmond-based band, The Animal Beat. He composed and performed the musical score for the VCU TV/HD production of Giovanni’s Journey. Phillip has performed in numerous concert venues, from student performances at W&L to benefit concerts with his brother  throughout  the state of Virginia. Phillip completed his music degree in the spring of 2010 by performing a senior recital at W&L that included a seventy-five minute program of solo music, and was awarded the 2010 Piano Award, presented to the most outstanding student in piano performance.

Anna Maples earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at VCU. She has performed various operatic  roles such as Spirit Three (Magic Flute, Mozart), Yum Yum, (Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan), Suor Angelica, (Il Trittico, Puccini) and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus, Johann Strauss). Anna will be featured in three performances in the upcoming season of the Virginia Opera.

Maggie Horan is a rising senior BFA performance major at VCU where she has most recently performed in the roles of Olive Ostrovsky (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Juliet (Shakespeare’s R&J), and The Who’s Tommy. She was most recently seen at Virginia Repertory Theatre as Lauren (Circle Mirror Transformation), Pauline (2011 RTCC winner for Best Supporting Actress in Legacy of Light) My Fair Lady, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and White Christmas. She also appeared as Jesus (Godspell) at Shafer  Alliance Laboratory Theatre. She is currently playing Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show at The Firehouse Theatre Project, and this November she will be playing Kate Monster in Avenue Q at VCU.

Production funding was made possible by J. Harwood and Louise Cochrane and the Louise B. Cochrane Charitable Foundation, in support of young performing artists in our community.