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CCU voice faculty gives recital of opera, musical theater selections

February 3, 2010

The voice faculty of Coastal Carolina University will give a concert featuring selections from opera, oratorio and musical theater at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 7 in the Edwards Recital Hall on campus. Admission is $3, and children 10 and under are admitted free.

The event will showcase the talents of music professors David Bankston (tenor), Ann Benson (mezzo-soprano), Patti Edwards (soprano) and Jeffrey Jones (baritone). They will be accompanied by pianist Renee Jackson.

The classical section of the program will include arias from Bizet’s “Carmen” and “The Pearl Fishers,” Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus,” Puccini’s “Turandot” and Verdi’s “Macbeth.” All four singers will join together for the Domine Jesu from Verdi’s “Requiem.”

The group will also present selections from the Broadway musicals “Fiorello!,” “She Loves Me,” “My Fair Lady” and “On the Town.”

Bankston has performed extensively in opera and musical theater, and he also composes and performs popular music with a folk-jazz orientation. CDs of his original songs include the autobiographical “Galvez Town” (2002) and “Jazz, Blues, Gospel Shoes” (2007).

Benson has performed widely in opera and oratorio, including her New York debut in the title role in Puccini’s “Tosca” at the New York City Opera. She is the founder of MusiCares, a community service project that takes music to Alzheimer’s patients.

Edwards, a native of Georgetown, has sung opera and chamber music across the United States. She has been invited to the Czech Republic four times to perform recitals of American music and teach master classes at the Janacek Conservatory.

Jones is the artist-in-resident with the Carolina Master Chorale. He has performed with many opera and musical organizations. As a member of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, he participated in three recordings for Telarc Records and performed in two concerts at Carnegie Hall with Robert Shaw.

For ticket information, call the Wheelwright Box Office at 843-349-2502.