SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music will officially open the 2017-18 academic year with the annual Faculty Gala, on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall.
The performance will highlight members of Crane’s illustrious and world-renowned faculty of scholars and artists. This performance is dedicated to the memory of Crane’s beloved choral faculty members, Dr. Heather J. Eyerly and Dr. Rebecca R. Reames, who both passed away after battles with cancer this spring.
Bethany Cencer will open the concert on the harpsichord, with selections from the “Suite in D-Major” by Jean-Philippe Rameau. Soprano Suzanne Kantorski will perform an aria from Mozart’s “Così Fan Tutte,” accompanied by Kirk Severtson on piano. Jill and Doug Rubio will perform a duet for flute and guitar, titled “Da Chara (Two Friends),” after which Julianne Kirk Doyle and Crane School of Music Dean Michael Sitton will take to the stage to present a rhapsodie for clarinet and piano by Claude Debussy. Baritone Jonathan Stinson will perform two selections from his own composition, “Uncivil Relief,” alongside Severtson on piano. Closing out the first half of the program, violinist Liesl Schoenberger Doty will perform Henryk Wieniawski’s “Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16,” with Julie Miller on piano.
Following an intermission, tenor Donald George will present “Granada” by Augustin Lara, accompanied by Geoffrey Snow on castanets and Severtson on piano. Cellist Marie-Elaine Gagnon will present “Libertango” by Astor Piazzolla, along with pianist Miller. Saxophonist Casey Grev will follow, presenting a contemporary work by David Lang, “Thorn.” Soprano Colleen Skull will join Severtson to sing “Hat Dich die Liebe Berührt” by Joseph Marx, after which Raphael Sanders, clarinet, will join Miller for “Fantaisie” by Philippe Gaubert. Rosemarie Suniga will round out the program with two movements from Alberto Ginastera’s “Sonata No. 1, Op. 22” for piano. The concert will conclude with a special rendition of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” by Jerome Kern, arranged for string quintet, performed by Doty and Sarah Hersh on violin, Shelly Tramposh on viola, Gagnon on cello and John Geggie on bass.
This concert is free, and the public is invited to attend.
This concert will be broadcast live on the SUNY Potsdam website at the performance time. To view the program and see other upcoming streaming performances, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.
For more information about SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.
Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York’s only All-Steinway institution.
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