Recital of vocal and piano music set at Coastal
Romantic art songs by Mahler, Strauss, Brahms and Wolf will explore the emotional world of fin-de-siècle Vienna. The program also includes works by Liszt, Satie and Rorem. The Mahler songs were originally written for singer and orchestra. They include some of the Rueckert Lieder with texts by the Romantic German poet Friedrich Rueckert. There are also selections by Leander and from the traditional folk stories of Germany.
The selections in French include three works by Erik Satie that were published as a set in 1916. They are amusing songs that include a singing frog, two little girls talking, and the Mad Hatter of “Alice in Wonderland” fame.
“The Cycle of Holy Songs” by the American composer Ned Rorem are based on four selections from the Psalms.
Edwards, assistant professor of performing arts at Coastal, is a native of Georgetown. She is director of the Coastal Carolina University Concert Choir. She has appeared with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony and the Brevard and Transylvania Symphonies. Edwards has performed roles with the Charleston Opera Company, Opera Theater St. Louis, Opera Unlimited, Opera Omaha, The Texas Gilbert and Sullivan Company and at the Brevard and Batiquitos Festivals. She taught at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, Charleston Southern University, the College of Charleston, Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, and was a doctoral teaching fellow at the University of North Texas.
Powell, who is associate professor and chair of the Department of Performing Arts, is a veteran performer who has served as president of the Coastal Concert Association, music director of the Festival of Music and Art at Pawleys Island, founding director of the Musicale de Geneve series and a member of the board of directors of the Long Bay Symphony. Powell has performed with the South Carolina Symphony Orchestra, the Jupiter Symphony and is a frequent soloist with the Long Bay Symphony. Powell earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s and doctorate in music from Indiana University, where he was a student of Michel Block.