Season of Recitals Begins at Gustavus Adolphus College

The Department of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College announces a series of four student recitals in Björling Recital Hall on March 4 and 5. The weekend schedule includes a variety of recitals including flute, piano and voice. The four recitals are free and open to the public.

Sharon Jaffe, a senior from Park Ridge, Illinois, opens the weekend with her senior flute recital on Saturday, March 4, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Björling Recital Hall. Accompanied by pianist Beth Winterfeldt and assisted by Erin Crimmins on flute, Ms. Jaffe will present works by Bach, Hindemith, Poulenc, Doppler and Krentz-Organ.

Bass Alex Nelson opens Sunday’s schedule with his senior voice recital at 1:30. Nelson, a 2002 Waseca High School graduate, is accompanied by pianist Lindsey Reimnitz and assisted by the Snowbound Jazz Ensemble. For this recital he has selected works by Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Robert Schumann and Schubert, as well as comtemporary works by Stephen Sondheim and Bart Howard.

A senior piano recital follows at 3:30 p.m. presented by Pine River native Javen Swanson. He opens the recital with Beethoven’s Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3, and continues with Schubert’s Impromptu in A-flat Major, D. 899, No. 4. Swanson’s program continues with Two Preludes by Debussy and concludes with Grande Valse Brillante in A-flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1 by Frederic Chopin.

Sunday’s final recital will be a combined effort by soprano Sandra Stehman and bass-baritone Ben Richter beginning at 7:30 p.m. Stehman, a junior from Silver Spring, Maryland, opens the performance with two works by Vaughan Williams, accompanied by pianist Katie Fillius. Richter, a junior from Edina, Minnesota, follows with works by Mozart, Schubert and Fischer. He is accompanied by pianist Kristin White. The two vocalists continue with works by Beethoven, Offenbach, and Barber, before turning the program to more contemporary works. The final set of the recital includes works from the Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, The Secret Garden and jazz works by Cary John Franklin and Vernon Duke.