Bach’s 333rd Birthday Bash: Westport Center for the Arts Brown Bag Concert featuring Marian Thomas, Lyra Pherigo, and Eman Chalshotori performing J.S. Bach’s Flute Sonata V in E Minor, French Suite IV in E Flat Major, Cello Sonata in G Major, and Sleepers, Wake! plus a birthday surprise. Coffee and cookies will be served at the birthday party reception. FREE, donations gratefully accepted.

Marian M. Thomas earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Oberlin College, and the Master of Music in Applied Organ degree from Boston University’s School for the Arts. Her piano studies were with Geraldine Stout, organ studies with Garth Peacock, John Hamilton and Mary Crowley Vivian, and harpsichord studies with Gerald Kemner. She was Organist/Choir Director at Saint Paul School of Theology for fifteen years, where she also taught courses on Hymnody and The Arts in Ministry. Mrs. Thomas taught music for the Purple Dragon Preschool for thirty-two years and retired in June 2009 from her position as Music Director/Organist at Westport Presbyterian Church.

Marian Thomas founded the Westport Brown Bag Concert Series and directed it for twenty-one years. She built and decorated her two-keyboard French harpsichord, which is patterned after a Paul Taskin French instrument from 1750, using a Frank Hubbard kit. Using the knowledge she gained from working at the Hubbard Harpsichord Workshop in Massachusetts, she maintains and tunes harpsichords in the Kansas City area. Mrs. Thomas has a piano studio at her home, and also teaches harpsichord.

Lyra Pherigo is a flutist, soprano and choral conductor is an active musician in the Kansas City area. She received her Bachelor and Masters degree in Flute Performance from Arizona State University and Northwestern University respectively. As a flutist, she has played with newEar, KC Symphony, KC Chamber Orchestra, KC Ballet, and KC Civic Opera. She also plays for Starlight and Theater League productions. Recent collaborations include recording for a documentary titled “We the People” created for IMAX Theater, and learning to play Asian flutes, called Dizi flutes, for Starlight’s production of Miss Saigon.

As a singer, Lyra adds her soprano voice to Schola Cantorum, a professional ensemble that provides music for The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Kansas City. As a conductor, she enjoys leading the chancel choir at Bonner Springs United Methodist Church.

Her favorite musical collaboration is with her husband; pianist, singer, and composer: Robert Pherigo. Her son Lucas is a talented singer-songwriter and barbershop enthusiast in the Kansas City area.
Lyra is grateful for a life filled with music.

Eman Chalshotori leads a dynamic career as a performing artist performing internationally in Asia and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. He enjoys a merited reputation as a musician of exceptional versatility and integrity. Outside of the classical music realm, Eman has collaborated with artists such as Imogen Heap, Elspeth Summers, Simple Tree, Quixotic, and Calvin Arsenia

He made his solo debut in 2002 with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic performing the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto. Eman was most recently featured with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory Orchestra performing Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote.

Currently, Eman is the Principal Cellist of the Topeka Symphony and Assistant Principal Cellist for the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.

Eman received his Bachelors of Music from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Masters of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. His teachers include Dr. Tess Remy-Schumacher, Dr. Evgeni Raychev, Carter Enyeart, Mark Gibbs, and Michael Mermagen.