Wednesday, February 27, 2008

UW concert explores Mozart's final year

From a UW press release:

The University of Wyoming Department of Music will present "Mozart, 1791," a concert featuring works written by the famous composer during the last year of his life, Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center concert hall in Laramie.

Tickets cost $10 for the public, $7 for seniors and $6 for students. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Fine Arts Web site at www.uwyo.edu/finearts, call (307) 766-6666 or e-mail fatickets@uwyo.edu.

The performing ensembles are the UW Symphony Orchestra, Collegiate Chorale, and Civic Chorus, directed by Nathan Leaf, interim director of choral activities.

The concert will include Mozart's final work, "Requiem," and performances of "Magic Flute Overture" and "Ave Verum Corpus." Soloists for "Requiem" are soprano Maureen Sorensson, mezzo-soprano Katrina Zook, tenor Gary Ruschman, and bass Jan Kliewer.

Sorensson, one of the favorite regional sopranos in oratorio and operatic works, is a member of the UW Vocal Arts faculty. She has performed with orchestras and choruses in Colorado, Kansas and Illinois. She has been awarded the Noris Performance Award and has placings in Metropolitan Opera Guild regional competitions and the Denver Lyric Opera Guild.

Zook, an associate professor of music at UW, has studied voice and languages in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. She has recently performed with the Cheyenne Chamber Singers, the Summit Chamber Players, and at solo recitals in Virginia, Ohio, Colorado and Brazil.

Ruschman, a Kentucky native, has appeared nationally and abroad in concert, opera, jazz, theatre, studio and chamber music settings. His solo work includes appearances with The Boston Pops, the Portland Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Center.

Kliewer, a professor at Northwest College, recently performed with the Casper Chorale and Orchestra, the Cheyenne Chamber Singers and Orchestra, the Billings Symphony. He has also held roles in "Sweeney Todd," "Don Giovanni" and "Carmen".