PianoVoce: Bio

PianoVoce was formed in 2003 to explore music originally written for piano 4-hands and piano vocal literature, but is not averse to other musical instruments - the clarinet for example!

Virginia Ryder is a lecturer in the music department at Humboldt State University. She teaches studio and class woodwinds, Music Fundamentals and World Music. Ms. Ryder has performed extensively throughout the United States in orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Denver Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and the Opera Company of Boston. She is a current member of the Symphony of the Redwoods in Mendocino County and the Mendocino Music Festival Orchestra. In her free time she enjoys watercolor painting.

Kevin Sharkey is a singer, dancer, actor, costume designer, and graphic designer. He studied Art History at San Diego State University where he graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. He also studied music at HSU with voice teacher Jim Stanard and has had additional voice coaching from Sheila Marks. It is through his partership with pianist and vocal coach Nancy Correll, though, that Kevin has begun to discover his true potential as a singer. Last summer, Kevin sang the role of the ship’s architect in HLOC’s production of Titanic. He owns Threadbare Dancewear in Arcata, CA.

Annette Gurnée Hull earned her B.A. in Music from HSU where her piano teacher was Charles Fulkerson. She has accompanied Humboldt Light Opera Company productions since 1983, the women’s chorus “The Babes,” is retired from the accompanying staff at HSU, has been a private piano teacher for 25 years, and plays regularly for services at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. She studied violin with Floyd Glende and played in the FaDa's string quartet.

Nancy Correll served as staff accompanist for the Music Department at HSU from 1975 to 2001. She comes from Ohio and holds a B.A. in English from Carleton College and a B.A. In Music from HSU, where she studied with Charles Fulkerson. Now retired, she continues to teach piano and voice in McKinleyville, makes beautiful pottery, writes novels, and lives with her husband, Richard Duning.

Richard Duning, our narrator, has had many years of amateur theater experience in the role of actor, singer, and director. Richard’s primary focus is in the visual arts, and he describes his work as “symbolic expressionism.” He works from dreams, exploring psychological and spiritual images. He is currently represented by Claudia Chapline Gallery in Stinson Beach and Solomon Dubnick Gallery in Sacramento. His work can be seen at Cin Cin all’Italiana Restaurant in Eureka.
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