Final coffee concert May 29 at local church; free
The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is pleased to present its final coffee concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 29, at First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge, 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The concert is free and open to the public. Sean Claire, violin, Scot Williams, cello, and Marette Denninger St. John, piano, will be performing music by Bach, Beethoven, Gliere and Handel/Halvorsen.
Claire has been a violinist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra since 1990, has appeared several times as soloist with the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, and holds the distinction of being the first of a select group of solo performers in the KSO’s Music and Wellness program. In 2010, Claire was appointed to the position of Concertmaster of Symphony of the Mountains (SOTM) with which he has appeared as soloist on several occasions, and he is a very active chamber musician and recitalist in the East Tennessee area.
His orchestral credits include the Syracuse Symphony, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and Asheville Symphony, among others. He is a 15-year veteran of the Crested Butte Music Festival from 2002-2016. Raised in California, Claire began his training at age 11, made his first solo appearance with the North Coast Symphony at 15, and at 16, he was admitted to San Diego State University with a full scholarship under the tutelage of Professor Michael Tseitlin; he later continued studies at the Eastman School of Music with renowned Professor, Zvi Zeitlin.
When he’s not in the studio or on the stage, he’s putting as many miles on his road bike or mountain bike as possible.
Scot joined the Knoxville Symphony in 1977, after receiving his Bachelor of Music Degree in cello performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Since moving to Knoxville, he has performed with most of the regional orchestras in the East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia areas. In 2020, he was engaged to perform a solo recital at the Big Ears Festival featuring works of Crumb, Overall, and Hindemith. Alas, this did not come to fruition due the the pandemic.
In addition to his own compositions, Scot has commissioned and premiered a number of pieces for solo cello, including the Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello (1996) by Robert Cronin, Sonata for Solo Cello (2016) by Wm. Harrell, Adoration (2017) by Lucas Richman, Suite for Violoncello Solo (2018) by Jason Overall, as well as a work in progress by Dosia McKay.
In 2017, he recorded a CD of contemporary solo cello music, comprised of pieces written for him, as well as two of his own compositions. In 2019, he released a recording of the Bach Suite #1.
Scot is active in the choir of The Episcopal Church of the Ascension, as well as a vocalist with Orison, a vocal ensemble specializing in plainsong and polyphony based on chant.
By day, he is a professional cabinetmaker, designing and crafting a variety of custom woodwork, furniture and cabinetry. He is an avid fly fisherman, and has been recognized internationally for his fly tying abilities
St. John earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois with instruction from Dr. Marie Garritson Juriet-Beamish. For several years she taught piano independently, and then became an early childhood music educator at BMMA in Chesterfield, Missouri. Primary musical work has been as a church pianist from Middletown, N.Y. to Beverly Hills, California.
She currently lives in Knoxville with her husband Roy, sings with the Knoxville Choral Society, and studies collaborative piano with Laura Harmon.n
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