Clinicians and Guest Performers

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26 11:00-11:30
Trio de Llano

NSU Faculty Trio Concert
Miro Room

The Trio de Llano (Dennette McDermott, flute; Malena McLaren, clarinet, Douglas Bakenhus, bassoon) was founded in August 2004 in an effort to promote and actively perform the unique chamber music repertoire for this often overlooked combination. Each member of Trio de Llano is a full-time faculty member at Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Natchitoches, LA. Performances include recitals at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of North Texas, and Northwestern State University of Louisiana. The Trio de Llano was invited to perform at the University of New Mexico in February 2006. In addition, the Trio de Llano was awarded Enrichment Fund Grants to perform concerts in the Slovak and Czech Republics, Victoria, British Colombia and, Manchester, England. Most recently, they have performed at the 2009 National Flute Association Convention in New York City, and they have been invited to perform in August 2011 at the International Clarinet Association Convention in Los Angeles, CA.

Dennette Derby McDermott made her European debut in 1992 in the Czech Republic with the Czech premiere of Jindrich Feld's Introduzione, Toccato e Fuga. She presented the American premiere of the work at the University of North Texas in 1991. In 1995, as a recipient of the Magale Endowed Professorship, she participated in a master course,studying with Arnost Bourek and taught at the Janacek Academie of Music as as part of an Exchange . She has presented recitals in Brno, Czech Republic, Bratislava, Slovakia and throughout the United States, including numerous performances at National Flute Association Conventions. She was a winner of the Conventions Performers Competition in 1994, 1996, and 1999. In 1998 she was awarded the Mildred Hart Bailey Research Award and the Donald F. Derby Endowed Professorship which funded her CD Solo Czech Flute. In 2003 she received an Arts Link Grant which funded the first Slovak Flute Festival held in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2006 she was the recipient of the Magale Endowed Professorship and the NSU Enrichment Grant, that funded performances of the NSU faculty woodwind trio Trio de Llano, at the University of New Mexico, The Conservatory of Music in Bratislava, Slovakia, Victoria, BC., The Royal Northern Academy of Music in England and most recently in New York City at the 2009 National Flute Association Convention. In 2008 she recorded for www.classicalrecords.ru, a CD of Trios for Flute, bassoon and piano with her husband and Russian pianist, Katerina Zaitseva. She has been published by The Flutist Quarterly, Pan Pipes, The American Piper and is featured regularly by Flute Talk, with articles on Czech music. As an active researcher,she has compiled and published the Czech flute sonatas of Jiri Cart. She holds a bachelor of music degree in performance from Michigan State University, a master of music in flute performance from the University of Michigan and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of North Texas. Principal teachers have included Ervin Monroe, Renee Siebert, and Mary Karen Clardy.

Malena McLaren is the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. She received the Bachelor in Music Education and Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance at The University of New Mexico where she studied with Keith Lemmons. Malena has also studied with James Gillespie at the University of North Texas, where she received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Clarinet Performance. She has recorded with the University of New Mexico Chamber Orchestra, the University of North Texas Wind Symphony and has performed in orchestras throughout Mexico and the United Kingdom. In Spring 2006 she performed in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Victoria, British Columbia as a member Trio de Llano. She has played with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and been a member of the University of North Texas Wind Symphony, the North Texas Graduate Woodwind Quintet, as well as various professional orchestras and chamber groups Albuquerque and the Dallas metroplex. Malena is currently a member of Trio de Llano, an artist faculty ensemble-in-residence at Northwestern State University. She also performs frequently with the Rapides Symphony Orchestra. Malena’s scholarly works include an article in The Clarinet. Additionally, in July 2007 she received the second place prize in the International Clarinet Association’s Research Presentation Competition at the ClarinetFest® in Vancouver, Canada; a trip in which her travel was funded by an Enrichment Fund Grant provided by Northwestern State University. Most recently, Malena was invited to perform at the 2008 International Clarinet Association’s Annual ClarinetFest® in Kansas City, MO, as a member of Trio de Llano at the 2009 National Flute Association Conference in New York City, and at the upcoming August 2011 ClarinetFest® in Los Angeles, CA.

Dr. Douglas Bakenhus is the Music Director and Conductor of the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony where he also teaches bassoon, music theory, aural skills, and conducting. His music degrees are from the University of Texas at Austin (DMA 2006, B.Music Ed.1983), Texas A&M University-Commerce (M.M. conducting 1985) and he has completed additional graduate courses in conducting at the University of Michigan. In addition, Dr. Bakenhus has been the music director of the Northeast Texas Symphony since 2002, and he served as the music director of the Austin Philharmonic from 2001-2004. Other teaching positions include Texas Lutheran University, the University of Mississippi, and public school teaching experiences at Crockett High School in Austin and at Langham Creek High School in Houston. Throughout his teaching career, Dr. Bakenhus has remained active as a guest conductor, clinician, and bassoonist. He recently conducted the San Pedro Sula Chamber Orchestra in Honduras and has toured Canada, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic with the NSU Faculty Woodwind Trio. Other recent ensemble performances include, on the baroque bassoon with Ars Lyrica in Houston, Texas, The Texas Bach Collegium in San Antonio, Texas, and on the modern bassoon with the Shreveport Symphony, the Longview Symphony, the Austin Symphony, and the San Antonio Symphony. Dr. Bakenhus is frequently called upon to adjudicate and clinic orchestra festivals, band festivals and solo/ensemble festivals throughout the United States and abroad.