PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (April 5, 2010) – SUNY Plattsburgh Department of Music’s ChoralFest, an annual, week-long celebration of choral vocal music, begins Friday, April 16, and includes two public concerts, a master classes and a lecture by internationally acclaimed soprano Kristine Ciesinski.

The first event of the week features the Cardinal Singers and College Chorale, directed by Associate Professor of Music Jo Ellen Miano, in a public concert performing works by Britten, Brahms, Bach, and a vocal arrangement of Rossini’s overture to “The Barber of Seville,” Friday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Plattsburgh United Methodist Church, 127 Beekman St., Plattsburgh.

The two choirs will also combine to perform Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb,” featuring SUNY Plattsburgh student soloists Meighan Jupin, Antonette Knoedl, Benjamin Pomerance and Matthew Lawliss, with Dr. David Neiweem, University of Vermont music professor, on pipe organ. 

Tickets for the April 16 concert, available at the Angell College Center desk and at the door, are: $8 general admission; $5 seniors/students/SUNY Plattsburgh faculty and staff; and $2 SUNY Plattsburgh students. For more information, call 518-564-2243.
 
ChoralFest special guest artist, soprano Kristine Ciesinski, will be in residence throughout the week. On April 18, at 3 p.m. in Krinovitz Recital Hall, Hawkins Hall, the music department will host, “In Conversation with Kristine Ciesinski: A Classical Singer’s Career and Art,” a free, public lecture in which she will speak about her career and work on the operatic and concert stages and will perform at the end of the event, accompanied by Joe Pepper.

She will share insights and stories with the audience, beginning with her early days performing with regional opera companies and the international recognition that she received when she won the top honor in the Geneva International Competition, first place in the Salzburg International Opera Competition, and when she was a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Competition during the 1977-1978 season.

Ciesinski’s lecture will be enhanced by multi-media contributions from some of her most memorable performances, including portrayals of many of the great operatic heroines with which her career has become identified.

 Ciesinski will also offer a voice master class on Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. in Krinovitz Recital Hall where she will involve members of the audience throughout the process. They will observe Ciesinski while she works with four students from the music department voice studios. She will concentrate on topics of vocal technique, interpretation and diction. After a brief question-and-answer period, the evening will close by featuring two graduate voice students from the Eastman School of Music. This event is free and open to the public.

ChoralFest 2010 culminates April 24, with “The Touches of Sweet Harmony,” a concert by SUNY Plattsburgh Choral Union and Champlain Valley Voices at 7:30 p.m. in E. Glenn Giltz Auditorium, Hawkins Hall. Miano will conduct as Ciesinski performs the title role in a concert version of “Dido and Aeneas,” a Baroque opera by Henry Purcell. Joining her will be graduate voice students Alyssa Doggett, soprano, and Constance Waddell, mezzo-soprano, from the Eastman School of Music. The concert will also feature soloists from the chorus and SUNY Plattsburgh voice students. Tickets for this concert are available at the door for $17 general, $12 seniors and students, $5 children 12 and under, and $2 SUNY Plattsburgh students.
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