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WT School of Music to Celebrate Brahms’ 125th with Two Concerts

ChamberSingers22
Chip Chandler Mar 23, 2022
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WT School of Music to Celebrate Brahms’ 125th with Two Concerts

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

 

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University’s School of Music will mark the 125th anniversary of the death of one of the giants of the classical world in a pair of upcoming concerts.

The Johannes Brahms Celebration will begin with a 7:30 p.m. March 29 concert in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall, then continue with a 7:30 p.m. April 6 concert in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex Recital Hall.

“It is our first-ever School of Music-wide celebration of a single composer,” said Dr. Choong-ha Nam, professor of piano. “I am very excited about these because Brahms is a major composer whose output has been significant in the Western art music repertoire, and the School of Music is celebrating him with some of the most beautiful works he has written for singers and instrumentalists.”

The March 29 concert will feature the WT Chamber Singers, led by Dr. Sean Pullen, associate professor of music and director of choral activities, performing selections from Brahms’ “Liebeslieder Waltzer.” Soloists will include Shannon Burr, a graduate vocal performance student from Harrisburg, Pa.; Francesco DiLello, a music performance graduate student from Highland Mills, N.Y.; Dr. Cloyce Kuhnert, professor of music; Dr. Robert Hansen, Regents Professor of Music and director of the School of Music; and Matt Oglesby, associate lecturer in voice.

The concert also will include Brahms’ Horn Trio, featuring Guglielmo Manfredi, professor of horn; Evgeny Zvonnikov, Harrington lecturer in violin; and pianist David Palmer, artistic director of Chamber Music Amarillo.

The April 6 concert will highlight two of Brahms’ sonatas for clarinet and viola, featuring Douglas Storey, associate professor of music; Vesselin Todorov, Harrington lecturer of viola; Dr. Sarah Rushing, assistant professor of piano; and Nam.

Finally, the concert also will include various Brahms lieder, or German songs, featuring Todorov, Rushing and Nam accompanying tenor Dr. Christopher Meerdink, associate professor of voice, and soprano Sarah Beckham-Turner, assistant professor of voice.

Both concerts are free. For information, call 806-651-2840.

Fostering an appreciation for the arts is a key mission of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which publicly launched Sept. 23 — has raised almost $108 million.

 

 

 

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs, 39 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

 

 

—WT—