CCU music department presents Spring Choral Concert
CCU choirs and three faculty members will perform a concert of opera scenes and choruses. Selected CCU voice majors will also perform arias, duets and ensembles.
The program will include selections such as "Carmen," "La Traviata," "The Magic Flute" and "The Gondoliers." More contemporary operas will also be included, such as Aaron Copland's "The Tender Land," Kurt Weill's "Street Scene" and Bernard Herrmann's "Wuthering Heights." Familiar choruses from these operas to be performed by the Chamber and Concert Choirs include the famous "March of the Toreadors" from Bizet's "Carmen" and the finale from Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Gondoliers."
The program will feature all three of the CCU voice faculty David Bankston, Patti Edwards and Jeffrey Jones - as well as several voice and musical theater majors. To make the experience as much like attending an actual opera as possible, some staging, scenery/props, and costumes will be incorporated, and translations of the foreign language texts will be displayed on a drop-down screen.
Bankston, an associate professor of music at Coastal, joined the department in 1998. He has performed extensively in opera and musical theater, has had leading roles with several prestigious opera companies and has recorded two CDs of original songs.
Edwards, a native of Georgetown, graduated from Mars Hill College with a bachelor's degree in music education. She earned a master's degree in vocal performance and a master's in vocal chamber music from Saint Louis Conservatory. She has recently completed her doctoral studies at the University of Texas, and has been invited to teach and perform in the Czech Republic.
Jones joined CCU faculty in 2007 as an assistant professor of music. He earned a bachelor's degree in performance from the University of North Texas and a master's degree and doctorate degree in opera and vocal performance from Arizona State University. Jones was an instructor in applied voice at Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University, and has performed and recorded with several professional engagements.
Terri Sinclair, director of choral activities at Coastal, is directing the concert. Sinclair earned a bachelor's degree in piano performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master's degree in choral conducting from Florida State University and a doctorate degree in choral conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
For more information, contact Sinclair at 349-6482. For tickets and reservations contact the Wheelwright Box Office at 349-2502.