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The Charlton-Fisher Duo will present “An American Brown Bag,” a flute and piano performance, 12:15 p.m. today in room 123 of Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts.
Sponsored by the music department, the event is free and open to the public. Dessert and beverages will be provided.
The four selections in the program are by American composers: Sonatina, Eldin Burton (1913-79); Serenade, Howard Hanson (1896-1981); Sonata, Robert Muczynski (1929- ); and Canzone, Samuel Barber (1910-81).
The Charlton-Fisher Duo is comprised of Lafayette music instructors Susan Charlton, flute, and Alexis Firstenberg Fisher, piano. They have been performing together since 1992.
“We take great joy in the process of planning and rehearsing the music for a program,” says Fisher. “We respect each other’s musical judgment and experience and are able to work easily in shaping the repertoire for performance.”
In addition to music faculty recitals, the duo has performed for Friends of the Williams Center and has given concerts at the Free Library of Philadelphia, Allentown Art Museum, Kirkland Village, and Moravian Hall Square.
Charlton has held principal flute positions with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo Festival Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and Ambrosian Wind Quintet, and was a finalist in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. Locally, she has performed with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Bach Festival Orchestra, Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, and various chamber music ensembles. She has held the positions of instructor of flute and director of wind chamber ensembles at Lafayette since 1992.
A native of St. Paul, Minn., Charlton earned bachelor of music and master of fine arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin. Her principal teachers include Robert Cole, Robert Goodberg, and Mary Roberts Wilson. She has performed in master classes given by Julius Baker, Paula Robison, and Thomas Nyfenger.
Fisher is director of piano studies at Lafayette, where she has taught applied piano and classical piano since 1986. She performs as an ensemble pianist and piano soloist in the Lehigh Valley.
Fisher earned her bachelor of music and master of music degrees from Manhattan School of Music and also attended Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Ind. She was a member of the piano faculty at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and also taught at Santa Clara University and San Jose City College. Her piano studies were with Adolph Baller, Leander Dell’Anno, and Abbey Simon. She is currently a student of Constance Keene.