January 7, 2010 – Student members of the UA Opera Theatre, Jennifer Bryant, Jeanette Fontaine, Amy Todhunter, Jordan Lawson, and Perry Harper performed at the finals of the National Opera Association Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition, Atlanta Georgia.

January 14, 2010 – Faculty Recital:  Dr. Susan Fleming, mezzo-soprano and Kevin Chance, piano; works of Poulenc, Wilson, Heggie, and Sondheim. 7:30 pm, Concert Hall.  

January 21, 2010 – University Singers: Featured choir at the American Music Educators Association Conference. John Ratledge, conductor.  8:30 pm, Concert Hall.

January 24, 2010 – Junior Recital: Jarrod Demming, bass-baritone; with Kevin Chance, piano and Julie Franklin, viola.  Works by Finzi, Schumann, Presser, Hahn, Puccini, and Strouse. 6:00 pm, Recital Hall.

January 26, 2010 – Faculty Recital:  Osiris Molina, clarinet and Dr. Jennifer Cowgill, soprano, and Kevin Chance, pianist. Works include “Ariel”  for soprano and clarinet by Ned Rorem with text by Sylvia Plath. 7:30 pm, Recital Hall.

January 29, 2010 – The University of Alabama Church Music Conference: “Lift Up Our Voices and Instruments in Song: A Progressive Concert featuring UA Music Faculty and University Singers;” Featured vocalists include: Dr. Stephen Cary, tenor; Dr. Jennifer Cowgill, soprano; Dr. Susan Fleming, mezzo-soprano; Prof. Paul Houghtaling, bass-baritone; and Professor Doff Procter, baritone.  Works by Handel, Haydn, Bach, Vaughan Williams, Langlais, and O’Hara. 7:30 pm, Recital Hall and Concert Hall.

January 31, 2010 – DMA Lecture: William Martin; “To vibrate or not to vibrate: Straight tone as an expressive device in musical theatre singing.” 8:00 pm, Recital Hall.

February 7, 2010 – Video presentation: The voice area presents a showing of the film The Audition produced by the Metropolitan Opera in 2007.  3:00 pm, Recital Hall.

February 18, 2010 – University Singers: Schubert’s Mass in G; with guest conductor, Professor Juong and featured student soloists.  7:30 pm, Concert Hall.

February 21, 2010 – Junior Recital: Amy Hill, soprano and Laura Ashley Missildine, mezzo-soprano. Works of Barber, Bellini, Ravel, Wolf, Bernstein and Mozart.  2:00 pm, Recital Hall.

March 5, 6, 7, 2010 – The University of Alabama Opera Theatre: The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan, Paul Houghtaling, Director. Ticket prices are as follows: Adults, $10; students: $5. Limited Seating.  Early arrival suggested. For tickets, call the School of Music Box Office at 205-348-7111. For further show information, call 205-348-3396.  Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 3:00 pm.  Choral Opera Room.

March 9, 2010 – Recital: University of Alabama Opera Theatre. “Terrific Tuesday” Concert Series at Shelton State Community College, Tuscaloosa. 1:15 pm, Alabama Power Recital Hall at Shelton State.

March 9, 2010 – Presentation: College of Education’s Research on Teaching in the Disciplines Forum Series; “Learning Mathematical Concepts Through Opera: An Instructional Strategy for Four and Five Year-Olds;” Professor Paul Houghtaling talks about his research with “Opera and Pre-K.”  Noon, College of Education Dean’s Conference Room, University of Alabama. 

March 9, 2010 – University of Alabama Contemporary Ensemble: A concert of works by Endowed Chair Composer-in-Residence Peter Westergaard, featuring Paul Houghtaling, bass-baritone, and Dawn Neely, soprano. 7:30 pm, Concert Hall.

March 11, 2010 – University of Alabama Endowed Chair series, video presentation of Peter Westergaard’s opera Alice in Wonderland preceded by a talk by the composer.  Time and location TBA. 

March 2010 – Professor Doff Procter, Instructor in Voice, will lead the Alabama Boychoir and the Alabama Girls Chorus of the Alabama Choir School in a concert tour of Italy, and will lead these ensembles in performances in Chicago in May. 

March 30, 2010 – Senior Recital: Megan Newman, soprano. 5:30 pm, Recital Hall.

April 15, 2010 – Senior Recital: Kimberly Cockrell and Casey Brasher, sopranos; Works by Bach, Mozart,  Wolf, R. Strauss, Hundley, and others.  7:30 pm, Recital Hall.

April 16, 2010 – Junior Recital: Zacchaeus Kimbrell, tenor and Leslie Procter, mezzo-soprano; Works by Bach, Scarlatti, Cavalli, Schumann, R. Strauss, Gounod, Auber, Duke, Bucchino, and others. 5:30 pm, Recital Hall.

April 17, 2010 – Graduate Recital: Sara Hughes Shipp, mezzo-soprano; Works by Vivaldi, Hahn, Schumann and Hundley. 12:00 p.m., Recital Hall.

April 17, 2010 – Senior Recital: Tara Cochran, soprano. Works by Debussy, R. Strauss, Rossini, Hundley and Copland. 5:30 pm, Recital Hall.

April 18, 2010 – Senior Recital: Jordan Lawson, tenor; Works by Bach, Mozart, Lortzing, Honegger, Finzi, and others. 2:00 pm, Recital Hall.

April 18, 2010 – Senior Recital: Brian Skoog, tenor; Works by Bach, Mozart, Le?har, Ravel, and others. 6:00 pm, Recital Hall.

April 19, 2010 – University Singers: Duruflé Requiem and Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb; John Ratledge, conductor and featured soloists.  7:30 pm, Concert Hall.

April 22, 2010 – University Chorus and Alabama Symphonic Band: Marvin Latimer and Randall Coleman, conductors. 7:30 pm, Concert Hall.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuscaloosa, AL – The University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences School of Music presents a guest recital featuring Anna Pennington, oboe on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building on the campus of The University of Alabama. The program, entitled “Art and Song” will feature works inspired by works of art. The program will include works by Edmund Rubbra, Jan Koetsier, Gilles Silvestrini, Wayne Barlow, and Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda. The concert is FREE and open to the public.  For more information visit: www.music.ua.edu/calendar or call 348-7111.

BIOGRAPHY

Oboist Anna Pennington has performed solo, orchestral, opera, and chamber music throughout Europe and the Americas. She has been a part of numerous chamber ensembles performing live on National Public Radio and at Lincoln Center and made appearances in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Alice Tully Hall, among others. She has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony, and the Florida West Coast Symphony. She currently holds the English horn chair of the Pensacola Symphony. Her numerous orchestral credits include playing under the baton of conductors Valery Gergiev, Marcello Viotti, Mariss Jansons, Alan Gilbert, Kurt Masur, and Lorin Maazel. She has performed in many festivals, including the New Texas Festival, the Brevard Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Victoria Bach Festival, and the Salzburger Festspiele.

In 2003 Dr. Pennington was chosen as the solo oboist of the Planets, a classical fusion ensemble signed with EMI Classics in London. She appeared as soloist with the Florida State University Symphony in 2005, performing the Corigliano Oboe Concerto to enthusiastic accolades. She has been involved in many different recording projects, including the Jacksonville Symphony’s first CD, featuring Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Passionate about teaching, Dr. Pennington has maintained an active studio alongside her dynamic performing career. She taught at the Manhattan School of Music in 2002, and she has given master classes in France, Venezuela, and the United States.

Dr. Pennington is the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In addition to teaching oboe and freshman theory, she performs as a member of Category 5, the wind quintet featuring other faculty members at the School of Music.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuscaloosa, AL – The University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences School of Music presents a faculty recital featuring Diane Boyd Schultz, flute on Friday, January 15, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Moody Music Building on the campus of The University of Alabama. The program will include “Danzas Argentinas” by Alberto E. Ginastera, “L’Isle joyeuse” by Claude Debussy, “Six Pieces for Flute and Piano” by Fikret Amirov, and “Sicilienne et Burlesque” by Alfredo Casella. The performance will also feature guest artist Steele Moegle on piano. The concert is FREE and open to the public.  For more information visit: www.music.ua.edu/calendar or call 348-7111.

Flutist and piccoloist Diane Boyd Schultz has established her career through solo and chamber performances in the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Romania, and Austria. She has performed as flutist and piccoloist of the Dallas Bach Society, Terre Haute Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, and Richardson Symphony Orchestras. She is a prizewinner of several national and international competitions, including the Mu Phi Epsilon International Competition and the National Federation of Music Clubs Orchestral Winds Competition. Her festival appearances include Interlochen and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camps, the British Flute Society, National Flute Association, Mid-South Flute Festival, Florida Flute Association, and the Flute Society of St. Louis, and performances have been broadcast on Red River Radio and Blue Lake Public Radio. She has also recorded for the Emmy award-winning documentary Weathered Secrets and for incidental music to the play Death of A Salesman.

She has presented masterclasses and clinics in England, Québec, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Colorado, New York, Oklahoma, and Florida. A Rotary International Scholar, she studied at McGill University in Montréal, and she has received grants to pursue her interest in studying and commissioning new works for flute and piccolo by American composers. She commissioned Robert Frank’s Rhapsody and Allegro (piccolo and harp) and Stephen Lias’s Sonata (flute and piano) and premièred these works at festivals in Orlando and Columbus, OH. Her articles have appeared in Flute Talk, Pan, and Instrumentalist.

Schultz joined the faculty of the School of Music of The University of Alabama in 2005 and was previously on the faculties of Stephen F. Austin and Eastern Illinois Universities. She is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuscaloosa, AL – The University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences School of Music presents a faculty recital featuring mezzo soprano Susan Fleming on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building on the campus of The University of Alabama. The program, entitled “Art and Song” will feature works inspired by works of art. The program will include works by Cy Young, Francis Poulenc, Richard Wilson, Paul Simon, Ray Evans, Jake Heggie, and two works from Sunday in the Park with Charlie by Stephen Sondheim. The recital will feature guest appearances by UA School of Music faculty members Diane Boyd Schultz, flute; Osiris Molina, clarinet; Jonathan Noffsinger, alto saxophone; Jenny Gregoire, violin; Carlton McCreery, cello; Michael Johnson, bass; and Paul Houghtaling, bass-baritone. The concert is FREE and open to the public.  For more information visit: www.music.ua.edu/calendar or call 348-7111.

Susan Fleming is the Voice Area Coordinator and Professor of Voice at The University of Alabama. As a mezzo-soprano, she maintains an active and varied career, appearing frequently as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and in opera. A native of Richmond, Va., she has been acclaimed for her impeccable and communicative musicianship, as well as the clarity and beauty of her voice.

Fleming has appeared in concert as soloist at such venues as the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, Cantebury Cathedral, the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Library of Congress. She has given concerts and recitals in Switzerland, Italy, Japan, and England, as well as numerous venues throughout the United States. In May 2008, she served as a master clinician and gave a recital at West University of Timisoara in Timisoara, Romania. She was invited back for more master classes and recitals in May 2009.

Fleming was twice the recipient of fellowships for the Bach Aria Festival and Institute.  Her extensive oratorio and concert experience includes repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Bach to Britten, Crumb, and Westergaard. Concert appearances include engagements with the Green Bay, Abilene, Macon, Annapolis Chamber, Tuscaloosa and Alabama symphonies.

A specialist in American Art Song, Fleming has been the guest recitalist for the Southern Regional and Mississippi State National Association of Teachers of Singing Conventions, as well as a Convention artist for both the Mississippi and Alabama Music Teachers Association. She also appeared in recital at the Festival of American Song in Boulder, Colo. She continues to be in demand for recital work, singing on concert series in Maryland, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, as well as Washington D.C.’s prestigious Cosmos Club. Fleming was invited to perform for a Conference for 19^th Century French Studies in Ohio, and the 7^th International Conference of Spanish Caribbean/Latina Writers in New York.

Fleming received critical acclaim from Andrew Porter in the New Yorker for her portrayal of the role of Alessandro in the American premier of Handel’s Tolomeo with the Smithsonian Concerto Grosso conducted by Nicholas McGegan. Additional operatic roles include Prince Orlofsky, Hansel, Miss Todd, Dido, Tessa (The Gondoliers), Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti), Herself (The Proposal), Volpino (The Apothecary, Flora (La Traviata), and Queen of the Fairies (Iolanthe). She will premiere the role of Cornelia in a newly commissioned work for Alabama Operaworks.

Fleming was a semifinalist in the 1990 Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York, and in 1991 was selected for the first International Marian Anderson Vocal Competition in Washington, D.C. She holds degrees from James Madison University (BME), Ball State University (MM), and The University of Maryland (DMA).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TUSCALOOSA, AL – The 2010 Church Music Conference will be held Jan. 29-30 at The University of Alabama School of Music. The conference will include workshops and concerts featuring notable performers in organ, choir and other forms of church music.

The conference will kick-off on Friday, January 29 at 7:30 p.m. with Lifting Up Our Voices and Instruments in Song: A Progressive Concert featuring the first place winner of the 2010 UA Organ Scholarship Competition. Other performers include UA music faculty members Stephen Cary, Paul Houghtaling, Susan Fleming, Jennifer Cowgill, Doff Proctor, Jenny Mann, Shelly Meggison, and Faythe Freese, the Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Marvin Latimer, and the University Singers under the direction of John Ratledge. The concert will include works by J. Haydn (Missa brevis Sti. Joannis de Deo [Kleine Orgelmesse]), J. Langlais, and L. Boulanger, and excerpts from J.S. Bach’s Cantata 140 and St. Matthew Passion, G.F. Handel’s Joshua and Israel in Egypt, and R. Vaughn Williams’ Five Mystical Songs.Tickets for the concert can be purchased at the door for $12 for adults and $7 for seniors. Conference participants and students are free with ID.

On Saturday, January 30 the conference continues with a number of workshops including seminars on Handbells; Liturgy, Word and Drama; Instruments in Worship; Children’s Choir Music Camps; Organ and Voice Masterclasses; Choral Singing; and Choral Reading Session. Guest masterclass artists include Robert Brewer, Faythe Freese, Carl Hancock, Paul Houghtaling, Phyllis Kirk, Marion Latimer, Marvin Latimer, Jeff McLelland, John Orr, and Stephen Tharp.

Finally, on Saturday, January 30 at 4:30 p.m. guest concert organist Stephen Tharp will perform a concert of works by works by Widor, Alain, Simmons, Sixten, Franck and Demessieux. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the door for $12 for adults and $7 for seniors. Conference participants and students are free with ID.

Stephen Tharp, hailed as “the organist for the connoisseur” (Organ magazine, Germany), “the thinking person’s performer” (Het Orgel), “every bit the equal of any organist” (The American Organist magazine) and “the consummate creative artist” (Michael Barone, Pipedreams), is recognized as one of the great concert organists of our age.  Having played more than 1,300 concerts worldwide, Stephen Tharp has built one of the most well-respected international careers in the world, earning him the reputation as the most traveled concert organist of his generation.  He is listed in the 2008 edition of Who’s Who in America and the 2010 edition of Who’s Who in the World.

In April 2008, Stephen Tharp was named the Official Organist for the NY visit of Pope Benedict XVI, playing for three major events attended by more than 60,000 people that were broadcast live worldwide.  Mr. Tharp’s playing has also been heard on both English and Irish national television, on Radio Prague, orgelnieuws.nl in the Netherlands, and in the U. S. on American Public Media’s Pipedreams. In November 2005, Pipedreams broadcast an entire program dedicated exclusively to his career, making him one of the few organists in the world so honored.

He is also an active chamber musician nationwide, having performed on organ, piano and harpsichord with artists such as Thomas Hampson, Itzhak Perlman, Jennifer Larmore, Rachel Barton Pine, the American Boychoir (James Litton, conductor), the St. Thomas Choir (John Scott, conductor, in Duruflé’s Requiem), and at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. His solo organ recordings can be found on the JAV, Aeolus, Naxos, Organum and Ethereal labels, and are available from the Organ Historical Society (http://www.ohscatalog.org/), JAV Recordings  (http://www.pipeorgancds.com/) and Aeolus (http://www.aeolus-music.com/).

His latest release, the Complete Organ Works of Jeanne Demessieux on Aeolus Recordings, received the 2009 Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Germany’s premier critic’s prize for recordings. Stephen Tharp earned his BA degree, magna cum laude, from Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL and his MM from Northwestern University, Chicago, where he studied with Rudolf Zuiderveld and Wolfgang Rübsam, respectively.  He has also worked privately with Jean Guillou in Paris. He is currently Artist-in-Residence at Grace Church (Episcopal), New York City.  He also served as Organist at St. Patrick’s Cathedral from 1995-1997 and the Associate Organist at St. Bartholomew’s, NYC, from 1998-2002.  His website is www.stephentharp.com.

The cost to attend the conference is $85 if registered by noon on Friday, January 22, 2010.  Registration at the door is $95. For group rates and further information please contact Dr. Faythe Freese, 348-3329, or email faythefreese@earthlink.net.

For full information on the conference please visit http://www.music.ua.edu/departments/organ/. Those interested in attending the conference are encouraged to register online at http://music.ua.edu/departments/organ/2009-church-music-conference-pre-registration/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TUSCALOOSA, AL – The University of Alabama School of Music will host the final round of the 2010 Organ Scholarship Competition on Thursday, January 28 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Moody Music Building. Observation of the final round is free and open to the public.

The first place winner will receive an $8,000 scholarship to the University of Alabama School of Music and be featured in an organ performance in the 2010 UA Church Music Conference. The second place winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship to the University of Alabama School of Music. The third place winner will receive a $3,000 scholarship to the University of Alabama School of Music

These scholarships are available to an organist who will matriculate as an organ performance major at the University of Alabama. The first place winner will perform in the University of Alabama 2010 Church Music Conference on Friday, January 29, 2010. The University of Alabama School of Music Scholarship Competition is open to organists who live or study in the United States or Canada.

For further information, contact Faythe Freese, auditions coordinator, at 205-348-3329 or e-mail: faythefreese@earthlink.net. For further information, you can also visit http://www.music.ua.edu/departments/organ/.
*Acceptance to the University of Alabama is subject to meeting the standard admission requirements. Should the admission requirements not be met, the scholarship award will automatically revert into the awarding of a cash prize.