Dr. Gerald Evans, piano & Janine Porter, vocalist

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Dr. Gerald Evans, Bio

Dr. Gerald Evans is in his 33rd year at LCCC. He holds a Ph.D. in Composition and Theory at Kent State University and earned a BA and MM in music at CSU. His teachers include Bain Murray and Frank Wiley for composition and Andrius Kuprevicius for piano. Formerly the Theory and Composition Department head at the Cleveland Music School Settlement, he also taught graduate and undergraduate music offerings in the area universities. Presently, he is Professor of Music at Lorain County Community College teaching the Theory/Ear Training/Music History sequence for the LCCC Music Majors. Dr. Evans is an active conductor, performer, composer and adjudicator in the Northern Ohio area with an emphasis on contemporary music. He has presented works at such institutions as John Carroll University, Notre Dame College, The Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Youngstown State University, The Western Reserve Society, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Akron University, Heidelberg University, The Akron Art Museum, Butler Museum of American Art. He has also provided musical direction for over forty musicals, written music for an original musical Serendipity III and served as guest conductor and soloist for the LCCC orchestra.

His contemporary keyboard performances include such works as Makrokosmos Volume III for Two Pianos and Percussion by George Crumb, A piacere and Swinging Music by Kazimierz Serocki, Eros/Thanatos by Joseph Packales, Sonata for Piano by Alberto Ginastera and Concerto for Piano and Winds by Igor Stravinsky. He has performed Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” for two pianos with the pianist, Dr. Margarita Denenburg. Cleveland Music Blog called their performance “breathtakingly beautiful”. Multiple performances of “Le Sacre” were subsequently presented in northern Ohio as well as Universitie de Savoire in Chamberie, France.

His composition Urban Excursions for piano solo (a work commissioned by the Cleveland Foundation) was performed at the Midwest Composers Forum at Indiana State University with many subsequent performances following. He is a winner of Two University Fellows and the NISOD National Teaching Award. Two publications include an article on “The Development and Application of the Chain Technique in the Recent Works of Lutoslawski”, and Brass Windows, for Brass Quintet. He has delivered Papers on Contemporary music theory at the ‘Society for Music Theory’ Conference at The University of Cincinnati, The Indiana State University ‘Theory Symposium’, The Bowling Green State University ‘New Music and Art Festival’ and ‘Polish Music Symposium’ at Youngstown State University. His pre-concert lectures include ‘Musings on Frank Loesser’ for The Great Lakes Shakespeare Production of Most Happy Fellow. His musical direction with Worldview International has taken him to Basil, Switzerland where he performed the Brahm’s Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa playing lead keyboard for multiple performances of an original musical “Cries of the City”, one of the first multi-ethnic productions to be done in that city. He currently resides in Elyria with his wife Patti.

Janine Porter Bio

Janine Porter, lyric coloratura soprano, performed extensively with the former Cleveland Opera on Tour. Her roles included Madame Butterfly, Olympia, Rosina, Mabel, Josephine, Peter Rabbit, and City Mouse. Other leading roles include Gretel in E.J. Thomas Hall’s production of “ Hansel and Gretel,” the Mother in Tri-C Western Campus’ production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” the Countess in Stocker Center’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro,” the title role in “Little Red Riding Hood” with True North, and Rosina at Duke University’s production of “The Barber of Seville.”

Her concert and oratorio work include the soprano solos in Handel’s Messiah with the Cleveland Messiah Chorus, Haydn’s Creation, Schubert’s Mass in G with True North Cultural Arts, and Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony with Choral Spectrum. Her many solo performances at Lorain County Community College include Brahms Requiem, Rutter’s Magnificat, Bach’s Cantata No.140, Mozart’s Regina Coeli, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Berlioz’s Herminie. Janine also had the rare opportunity to perform Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the Ars Futura Ensemble at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The challenge of performing new music written by local composers at the Cleveland Composers Guild has been a pleasure for her.

In addition to her singing, Janine enjoys teaching voice at Lorain County Community College, and at the Tri-C Western Campus. She has a passion for helping students of all ages develop their best solo voice, no matter what style of music they are singing. Janine received her Bachelor of Music degree from Ohio Northern University, and a Master of Music degree in voice from the University of Akron where she studied with Dr.Mary Schiller. During her free time, she loves spending time with her husband and two children.

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