A busy spring semester of recitals and concerts comes to a close this weekend at Gustavus as the Department of Music presents a series of eight recitals in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall. Each of these performances is free and open to the public.
The weekend begins at 7:30 p .m., Friday, May 13, as vocalists Melissa Laine and Claire Anderson present their senior recital. With accompanists Lindsey Reimnitz and Lynette Schwagerl, Laine and Anderson will present works by Schubert, Saint-Saens, Bizet, along with traditional folk tunes and selections from the operas Samson and Delilah and Carmen, to musicals Chicago and Ragtime.
Senior pianist Hannah Brandts opens Saturday’s schedule at 1:30 p.m. in Bjorling Recital Hall. She will perform two works by Domenico Scarlatti, followed by Frederic Chopin’s Berceuse in D flat Major. She concludes the recital with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata in E flat Major.
The Lindele String Quartet continues at 3:30 p.m. with performances of string quartets by Philip Glass, Samuel Barber, Felix Mendelssohn and Two Tangos composed by Astor Piazzola. The quartet’s membership includes violinists Zach Armstrong and Emma Jordan violist Jolene Johnson, and ‘cellist Sara Given.
Saturday evening brings a combination voice recital and senior theatre project by tenor Kevin Hansen at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Hansen opens the performance with vocal works by Paolo Tosti, Nicola Vaccai, John Elliott and Reynaldo Hahn. He continues with a series of works for musical theatre with the help of a number of friends from the theatre and music departments at Gustavus. Included are selections from Rent, Chicago, and Wicked.
Senior violist Zach Armstrong opens Sunday’s schedule with a performance at 1:30 p.m. accompanied by pianist Esther Wang. He opens with the Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 in E flat Major, followed by Johannes Brahms’ Sonata for Viola and Piano in E flat Major and concludes with Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach.
Mezzo soprano Jillian Hiscock presents her senior voice recital beginning at 3:30 p.m. accompanied by pianist Alex Zupan. Her program includes works by Mozart, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Bizet and Poulenc. She will be joined by South African tenor and fellow Gustavus student Neo Moroka to present the South African freedom song Let There Be Love. Jillian concludes her recital with Landau and Gordon’s Finding Home.
Sunday’s performances end with senior violinist Anna Stenson and flutist Carrie Lingle at 7:30 p.m. Ms. Lingle opens the recital with Vivaldi’s Concerto for Piccolo in D Major, along with works by Francis Poulenc and Peter Tanner accompanied by Benjamin Marti. Ms. Stenson will perform two works for solo violin, Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G minor and Bartok’s Rumanische Volkstanze. With pianist Coni Liljengren, she will present Samuel Barber’s Concerto for Violin, Op. 14.
The final performance of the weekend is the Gustavus Chamber Singers’ Spring Concert, Monday, May 16 at 9:00 p.m. in Bjorling Recital Hall. Dr. Gregory Aune directs the Chamber Singers in this evening of vocal jazz which includes such well-known standards as Moon River, Trickle, Trickle, Misty, Embraceable You, Birdland and others.