Biographies

Taylor Frey is a senior from Fairbanks, Alaska and will be earning her B.A. in Biology with a music minor upon graduation. After graduating she is planning on taking a year off to work in the biology field before entering graduate school to get her Masters in Epidemiology and Public Health. She has been playing violin since she was five years old and has studied with Jean Krause, Gail Johansen, Dr. Kathleen Butler-Hopkins, Dr. Brian Buckstead, Dr. Justin Knoepfel, Peter McGuire, and Jill Olsen. She has performed master classes for solo violin and chamber music across the country and has performed in Germany, Greece, and recently travelled to South Africa with the Gustavus Symphony. Taylor has been the concertmaster of the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra for the last three years, and was one of the concert/aria soloists with the orchestra in 2011. She is excited and nervous for the next step after graduating and is happy her friends and family will be here for the concert.

Beth Hauer is a senior Music Education major from Little Falls, Minnesota. She has been playing euphonium for twelve years. At Gustavus, she is a Presidential Scholar and Bjorling scholarship recipient and studied with Paul Budde. During her time at Gustavus, she was a member of the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble, Trombone Choir, Gustavus Jazz Lab Band (trombone), Vasa Wind Orchestra (clarinet), and the Lucia Choir. She also was the Presser Scholar for the 2011-2012 school year. In additional to her musical involvement, she also ran Cross Country and Track throughout her college career and competed in the National meet in the fall of 2012. She recently completed student teaching and will be starting as the Band Director for the Sleepy Eye Public School in the fall.

Ben Whalen is a senior Music Performance and Religion double major from Germantown, WI, currently studying trombone with Dr. Larry Zimmerman. He is a member of the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, and the Christ Chapel Brass. After graduation Ben will be working with Lutheran Volunteer Corps for a year before pursuing a career in Youth Ministry. He has been playing trombone for over ten years now and plans to continue doing so, hopefully part-time with a professional ensemble.