Dr. Cole Bartels, assistant professor of trombone at Central Michigan University, presents an evening of recital pieces for trombone and piano. He will be joined by Dr. Zhao Wang, assistant professor of piano and director of accompanying at Central Michigan University.
As a performer, Dr. Bartels has appeared with a range of ensembles and artists across genres. Highlights include featured performances at the International Trombone Festival and American Trombone Workshop, touring with the NYChillharmonic and Aberdeen, performing with famed jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and sharing the stage with legendary salsa artists such as Los Adolescentes, Tony Vega, and Willie Gonzales. Orchestral engagements have included performances with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, among others throughout the Midwest.
An avid soloist and collaborative musician, Zhao Wang has performed in cities throughout Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, the United States, Japan, Thailand, and China, in venues such as the Banff Centre, the Kennedy Center, and the Shanghai Grand Theatre. In recent seasons, she collaborated in concerts with renowned university faculties and members of major orchestras including Philippe Berrod, Rachel Childers, Richard Dean, Amir Eldan, Maura Marimucci, Denise Tryon, Stephen Williamson, among many others. As a founding member of the Circulo Trio (clarinet-violin-piano), she performed in multiple seasons at the Thailand International Composition Festival and in over twenty concert tours spanning North America, Thailand, and China.
Bartels holds degrees in trombone performance from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (DMA, 2022), the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (MM, 2019), and Concordia College (BM, 2017), along with additional certifications in jazz studies and music theory pedagogy. His principal teachers include Mark Hetzler, Dr. Alex van Duuren, Dr. Nat Dickey, and Dr. Ed Huttlin.
Zhao Wang is currently the Assistant Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano and Director of Accompanying at Central Michigan University School of Music.
A dedicated educator, Zhao is committed to working with young musicians and to cultivating more concert goers of all ages. She teaches regularly at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp as a piano instructor and at Interlochen Summer Intensive as a collaborative piano faculty. She has also given master classes and recitals in universities and conservatories in China, Thailand, and the U.S.
Zhao received her degrees in Piano Performance, Collaborative Piano, and Piano Pedagogy from Eastman School of Music and Michigan State University. She is forever grateful for the guidance she received from professors Deborah Moriarty, Nelita True, Boris Slutsky, Hung-Kuan Chen, and Chen Jiang.