MacPhail Presents: Spectrum
Spectrum: A Faculty Showcase
A Spotlight Series variety concert featuring MacPhail faculty members Timothy De Prey, Roland Hawkins, Soojin Lee, Rosa Thompson-Vieira, Jacqueline Ultan, Carrie Vecchione, Gail Olszewski, and Joan Wallace.
Experience the full spectrum of MacPhail’s musical talent in this vibrant Spotlight Series faculty showcase. Spectrum brings together an extraordinary lineup of performers—Timothy De Prey, Roland Hawkins, Soojin Lee, Rosa Thompson-Vieira, Jacqueline Ultan, Carrie Vecchione, Gail Olszewski, and Joan Wallace—in an evening that spans genres, instruments, and artistic expression. From classical to contemporary, solo to ensemble, this dynamic program highlights the creativity and range that define MacPhail’s world-class faculty.
About the Performers:
Timothy De Prey has been a Piano Instructor at MacPhail since 1997. Throughout his teaching career his students have won many competitions. Timothy is an active performer in the Twin Cities and has performed on six MacPhail Spotlight Performances including “By George” – the music of George Gershwin, “Flirting with Sondheim” and most recently to a sold-out performance “It Takes Two – the greatest duets of Broadway. In addition, Timothy has been the principal accompanist for the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus since 1991. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges proclaimed December 5, 2015 as Timothy De Prey Day in the City of Minneapolis. Timothy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Minnesota.
Roland Hawkins II brings over 20 years of experience across diverse musical venues and genres. A performer, educator, and creator, he is celebrated for his powerful tones, warm delivery, and versatility, with a repertoire spanning operatic classics to cabaret standards. He has performed with the Minnesota Opera, Chanhassen Dinner Theater, Theater Latté Da, History Theatre, Artistry, Mixed Precipitation, and the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand, among others. Known for connecting communities through live theater, Roland’s innovative approach refreshes beloved standards while fostering cultural understanding. He has portrayed figures like Bayard Rustin and James King and collaborated with icons including Simon Estes, the Tuskegee Airmen and Oprah. Critics praise his “rich and resonant tenor” and “power and clarity…reaching somewhere beyond the stars.”
Dr. Soojin Lee is a professional performer on the gayageum—a traditional Korean string instrument (pronounced ka-ya-kum)—with a passion for introducing gugak (Korean traditional music) and expanding the expressive possibilities of the gayageum. She is frequently invited by educational and arts institutions across Minnesota and the United States to give lecture-demonstrations on gugak and the gayageum. Dr. Lee has presented multiple sessions at the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) conference, helping teachers discover accessible ways to learn and teach gugak. Since 2021, she has been selected every year as a Teaching Artist in Residence at the MacPhail Center for Music, reaching over 2,800 students through her school visit projects.
As a performer, Dr. Lee has held solo and duo recitals and collaborated with musicians from diverse genres in a variety of ensembles. She has received multiple grants for projects aimed at exploring and expanding the boundaries of the gayageum and engaging diverse communities in Minnesota—including the University of Minnesota’s Community Engagement Team Grants (2015, 2016), the MacPhail Artist Development Grant funded by The McKnight Foundation (2018), and, most notably, the Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Support for Individuals grant (2023), which supported her mission to collaborate with a wide range of musicians.
Dr. Lee earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in gugak (specializing in gayageum performance) from Seoul National University, South Korea. She went on to earn a master’s degree in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Irvine, and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota, focusing on multicultural and Indigenous music education. She currently serves as a faculty member at the MacPhail Center for Music and Jang-mi Art.
Lux String Quartet is a Twin-Cities based ensemble that brings a dynamic edge to performance and education. Since 2013, Lux has maintained an active presence in a wide array of musical spheres, from concert halls and churches to coffee shops and podcasts.
The members of this creative quartet contribute a wide spectrum of musical perspectives, and frequently collaborate with local and international artists. The group is committed to performing 20th and 21st-century repertoire, as well as works by living composers, including Twin Cities’ own David Evan Thomas and the Dean of Music at The Juilliard School, David Ludwig. During the 22/23 season Lux performed David Evan Thomas’s Trio innocente with Minnesota-based dancer and choreographer Danielle Ricci. In the 24/25 season, the quartet premiered the first work written for and dedicated to Lux, Confessions of a Pangolin by Australian composer, Nicholas Vines.
Lux performs in several concert series including the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series, the Waverly Chamber Music Series, the Lakes Chamber Music Society, Music Among Friends Series at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, and the Music @ Lynnhurst series in Minneapolis. Dedicated to music education and instilling a love for art in the next generation, Lux regularly presents recitals and workshops at elementary schools, early music education programs, and middle and high school orchestra programs in partnership with Schmitt Music. The quartet has served as MPR ClassNotes Artist for three seasons and is currently quartet-in-residence at the Colorado Chamber Music Institute.
Jacqueline Ultan is a singularly creative cellist, composer & improvisor who’s unique versatility is reflected in her many current artistic collaborations that include: Duo CORDA (world); Chris Lynch’s Dust Of Suns Ensemble; Pop/folk bands Barbara Cohen and Little Lizard and The Starfolk; Beatles Tribute band The Shabby Road Orchestra; The Laurels String Quartet; Marc Anderson’s Not Always So; free improv ensembles, Vertighost and Hover. Jacqueline has recorded and collaborated extensively with theater, dance, pop, rock and new music artists including: Dan Wilson, Semisonic, Chastity Brown, Ondara, Soul Assylum, Prof, Annie Humphrey, Kill The Vultures, Roma di Luna, The Jayhawks, among others. Jacqueline is honored to have received a McKnight Performing Artist Fellowship; MacPhail Artist & Commissioning Grants; MRAC’s Next Step Grant and a State Arts Board Arts Tour MN grant. As a composer, Ultan co-wrote music and performed in TED Talks! conferences in Minneapolis and L.A. and co-wrote an original duo cello score for a production at Theater Latte Da. Jacqueline is also honored to have been a six-time artist in residence at Tofte Lake Center in Ely, MN. Jacqueline is a dedicated teacher on the faculty at the MacPhail Center for Music and holds a Masters Degree in Performance from Yale University.
Oboist Carrie Vecchione is an active performer and teacher in the Minnesota Twin Cities. She is one half of the award-winning musical duo OboeBass! with bassist Rolf Erdahl.
Vecchione has been a sub in various Twin Cities ensembles such as the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Sinfonia and performs with the The Northern Lights Music Festival. She has also been a member of The Duluth/Superior Symphony, The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and The Baton Rouge Symphony.
With OboeBass! she has won commission grants from Chamber Music America, the Fromm Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, and the Jerome Foundation. supported through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the South Dakota Arts Council.
Currently she is Artist Faculty at The MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis and the University of Wisconsin/River Falls.
Dr. Joan Wallace is an active solo and chamber pianist. A Michigan native, she holds degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan, the University of Oklahoma—where she was assistant to Dr. Jane Magrath—and a DMA from the University of Minnesota under the guidance Dr. Paul Shaw. She spent three years teaching at an international school in Northern India and has adjudicated competitions in both India and the U.S. Joan brings a dynamic and expressive approach to classical repertoire, shaped by her international experience and deep commitment to artistry. She regularly presents on pedagogy and performance at national music conferences.
Gail Olszewski piano, harpsichord and chamber music instructor. There is no doubt that after 40+ years of teaching, Gail loves music so much, that her hope is to pass along her own passion for music and how fun it is to play the piano to her own students. She likes to think she’s training not just pianists, but musicians!
She has been teaching classical, with some pop and jazz thrown in, at MacPhail since 2000. Gail is also a Vocal and Chamber Music coach. Gail’s performance career has taken her across the globe, from Canada, Europe, Central America to Australia. Closer to home, she has soloed and collaborated with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra; performed a piano concerto with the Minneapolis Philharmonic, served as rehearsal pianist for Ordway Center for the Arts productions and pianist and musical director for venues such as the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Loring Playhouse, and the Nautilus Theater.
Her recent solo recording of piano music of late 19th-early 20th century Finnish composers, Northern Lights: Finnish Favorites, was made on an 1877 Blüthner grand piano from the Frederick Collection, Ashburnham, MA. The CD and digital downloads as well as audio selections and videos are available on her website.
Gail’s additional projects include The St. Croix Chamber Ensemble and The WolfGang Ensemble.
Gail holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish/music history/harpsichord from the University of New Hampshire, a Master of Music in piano performance from Boston University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in accompanying/coaching from the University of Minnesota.