Woods & Carlson Combine for Recital in Bjorling

Senior nursing major Alecia Woods, from Kasota, and Erik Carlson, a junior vocal performance and Scandinavian studies double major from Fridley, will combine efforts to present a vocal recital on Sunday, May 18, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in Jussi Björling Hall. The two students of Michael Jorgensen will be accompanied by pianist Leah Rodmyre and assisted by a number of fellow student musicians for this performance which is free and open to the public.

The two vocalists will each present a number of solo sets and go to the stage as a duo with a string trio to present two works. Alecia Woods will open Sunday’s performance with “Dormendo stai” by Stefano Donaudy and “Che faro senza Euridice?” from Orfeo ed Euridice by Willibald von Gluck. Her second set will include the well-known Edvard Grieg work, “Vaaren,” and Handel’s “O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion” from Messiah. She will continue with “I’m Not That Girl,” from the musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz and “A Change in Me,” from Alan Menken’s Beauty and the Beast. Her final set includes “The Gentleman Is a Dope,” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Allegro, and Harold Arlen’s “Come Rain or Come Shine,” from St. Louis Woman.

Erik Carlson will begin with “O del mio dolce ardor” by von Gluck and “Vezzosa Aurora” by Alessandro Melani. In his second set, he will open with a work from Handel’s Samson, “Total Eclipse,” followed by “En fermant les yeux” from Manon by Jules Massenet, “Standchen” by Franz Schubert and “Svarta Rosor” from Tristi Amori by Hugo Alfven. Ms. Woods will then join him on stage with the string ensemble of Kendra Frey and Elizabeth Froden, violin and John Baron, cello, to perform “Et misericordia” from Bach’s Magnificat. Erik will then continue solo to perform “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat,” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser, and rejoin the trio and Woods to perform his arrangement of “Falling Slowly” from the musical Once by Hansard and Irglova.

Sunday’s recital by Alecia Woods and Eric Carlson will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Jussi Björling Recital Hall. The performance is open to the public at no charge. A reception for the recitalists will follow the performance in the recital hall lobby.