Songs of the Theatre Fall 2023 Concert
Author: Jennifer Dowdy
Senior Composition Recital – Kelanie Frazier, composer
PROGRAM
Changes
Ginger Zingara, flute
Figuring It Out
Valentin Bogdan, piano
Distant Dissonance I-III.
Kelly Williams, bass clarinet & Ginger Zingara, flute
TV Cue
Pre-recorded electronics
Frazier’s Waltz
Valentin Bogdan, piano & Kelanie Frazier, piano
INTERMISSION
Thursday’s Are for Peace and Rain
Musique Concrete
For Love
Tommie Rice, bass & Tahj McKey, drums
Unstoppable Fusion
Tommie Rice, bass & Tahj McKey, drums
BIOGRAPHY
Kelanie Frazier is a senior Music Composition major at the W. She was born and raised here in Columbus, MS by her parents, Geno and Patricia Frazier. Despite an athletic background, Kelanie chose to pursue music by joining the Lee Middle School band playing trombone. With her education from band, she taught herself how to play both piano and bass guitar at the age of 16. Before arriving to the W, she gained her B.S. degree from Mississippi State University in Business Administration.
Kelanie is an active musician playing for multiple for ensembles, church services, and social events. In 2020, Kelanie had the opportunity to score a 4-part mini-series, Selma: The Untold Stories. During her time here at the W, Kelanie has won and been recognized for her compositions. In 2022, Kelanie won the MTNA Composition competition Young Artist division for the state of Mississippi for her brass duet, Could You Duet? On the national level of the MTNA Composition competition, she received honorable mention. In March 2023, Kelanie had her quintet, String Quintet, No. 1, read by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. After graduation, Kelanie looks forward to continuing her musical education.
Kelanie would like to thank the W and everyone for their love and support!
This recital is given in partial fulfilment of degree requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Music (Composition).
Kelanie Frazier is from the composition studio of Dr. Valentin M. Bogdan.
The W Wind Ensemble Fall Concert
Classics: Old & New
PROGRAM
MUW Counseling Center Contact: 662-329-7748
The W Jazz Ensemble Fall 2023 Concert
PROGRAM
Senior Voice Recital – Aaron Rishel, baritone
PROGRAM
Im Frühling – Franz Schubert
Ganymed – Franz Schubert
Sonntag – Johannes Brahms
Deh vieni alla finestra from Don Giovanni – W.A. Mozart
La ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni – W.A. Mozart
with Tiffani Jernigan, soprano
When I was One and Twenty – George Butterworth
Is My Team Ploughing from Six Songs from a Shropshire Lad – George Butterworth
I Never Knew from AIDS Quilt Songbook – Ricky Ian Gordon
Walt Whitman in 1989 from AIDS Quilt Songbook – Chris DeBlasio
Avant de quitter ces lieux from Faust – Charles Gounod
Agony from Into the Woods – Steven Sondheim
with Ricky Dubuisson II, baritone
Losing My Mind from Follies – Steven Sondheim
BIOGRAPHY
Aaron Rishel is a senior studying vocal performance at The W. Aaron was very active performing in musical theatre for the past decade on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He was a student of Westley Hodges for voice, piano, and saxophone; Brandon Ring for voice, MGCCC Perkinston Campus; and currently studies under the tutelage of Dr. Susan Hurley.
He enjoyed attending the Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta for many years and working with iTheatrics in New York City during the summers helping to make musicals into versions for students. Aaron was also cast with iTheatrics All-Star National JTF Europe Cast and performed at the inaugural JTF Europe, Birmingham, UK, in May 2019.
Aaron would like to thank everyone who has supported him throughout his endeavors.
This recital is given in partial fulfillment of degree requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Music (Performance).
Aaron Rishel is from the studio of Dr. Susan Hurley.
MUW Chamber Singers Fall Concert
BIOS
Dr. William Reber is Director of Choirs and Staff Pianist at MUW. He is Professor Emeritus of Opera and Music Theatre at Arizona State University where he was on the faculty for 24 years and served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Lyric Opera Theatre. Former Director of the 17th Air Force Men’s Chorus in Germany, he was head of the vocal coaching program for the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria (1993-2004), and was Music Director of the German Opera Experience/German Singer Summer in Freiberg, Germany (2008-2017). He was vocal coach, collaborative pianist and conductor for the Mittelsächsiches Theater in Germany. In the summer of 2019, joined the faculty of Spotlight on Opera as conductor and collaborative pianist and was appointed Music Director in 2020.
Dr. Reber has been Music Director/Conductor for more than 150 productions of operas and musicals and has been conductor of the Corpus Christi (TX) ballet for 37 years. As a collaborative pianist, he has performed recitals with singers and instrumentalists in Germany, Austria, Macedonia and throughout the United States. He is the pianist and music director for the annual AIDS Quilt Songbook benefit performances in Phoenix, AZ. Dr. Reber earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Opera and Conducting at The University of Texas at Austin under Walter Ducloux.
Dr. Susan Hurley, soprano, has performed in Europe and the United States in repertoire that ranges from opera and musical theatre to concert and recital literature. A prizewinner at the 2002 Meistersinger competition in Graz, Austria, she has sung 25 principal operatic roles and soloed with orchestras in Germany and Austria as well as throughout the U.S.
She is the founding Artistic Director of Phoenix Arizona’s annual AIDS Quilt Songbook concert series. Later this month, she will present her ninth annual AIDS Quilt Songbook benefit concert in Phoenix. The concert launches a week of World AIDS Day events and raises funds for Arizona HIV/AIDS service organizations. Dr. Hurley has commissioned several new songs, with texts by long-term HIV survivors, which have premiered on the Phoenix concerts. She has presented lecture recitals, masterclasses, and talks on the literature comprising the AIDS Quilt Songbook for Southern Regional NATS, the Mississippi Music Teachers Association, at universities, and most recently, this past August at the tenth International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT) in Vienna, Austria.
She has given presentations on the theories of Alfred Tomatis, founder of audio-psycho-phonology, at ICVT Stockholm (2017), NATS, and the Mississippi Music Teachers Association. She authored the chapter on Tomatis listening in the book So You Want to Sing with Awareness, published in 2020 by Rowman and Littlefield.
Dr. Hurley is currently Associate Professor of Voice at Mississippi University for Women where she teaches Voice, Opera Workshop, Voice Pedagogy, and Music Literature. Several of her current and former voice students have won top prizes at state, regional, and national NATS competitions. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University in 2012.
Piano Students’ Recital
PROGRAM
Frazier’s Waltz …….………………………………. Kelanie Frazier (b. 1996)
Valentin Bogdan, piano & Kelanie Frazier, piano
Sonata Op. 49, No 2 …….………………………………. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Gabrielle Foster, piano
Sonata Op. 2, No 1 Allegro …….………………………………. Ludwig van Beethoven
Raisa Virlan, piano
12 Etudes, Op.10: No. 9 in F minor …….………………………………. Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
John Lollar, piano
Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum …….………………………………. Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Shari Wilson, piano
Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47 …….………………………………. Frédéric Chopin
Harrison Shao, piano
Summer Dreams …….………………………………. Amy Beach (1867-1944)
The Brownies Op. 47, No. 1 | Robin Redbreast Op. 47, No. 2 | Twilight Op. 47, No. 3
Gabrielle Foster & Raisa Virlan, piano duet
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor: Badinerie …….………………………………. J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
John Lollar & Julia Mortyakova, piano duet
Fall Recital 2023
Senior Voice Recital – Shakia Butler, soprano
PROGRAM
El Majo Timido – Enrique Granados
Chi vuol la zingarella – Giovanni Paisíello
Panis Angelicus – César Franck
Deep River – Moses Hogan
It’s Me, O Lord – Betty King Jackson
The Trolley Song from Meet Me in St. Louis – Ralph Blane & Hugh Martin
Stay with Me from Into the Woods – Stephen Sondheim
Almost There from The Princess and the Frog – Randy Newman
It’s a Quiet Thing from Flora the Red Menace – John Kander & Fred Ebb
Believe in Yourself from The Wiz – Charlie Smalls
BIOGRAPHY
Shakia Butler is a senior studying Music Education at the W. She will be graduating this December after completion of her internship. Shakia is a very active singer and actor who was born and raised in Columbus, MS by her parents Ricky and Felecia Butler. She grew up here singing with her sisters, church choir, and praise team. Before coming to the W, she gained her A.S. degree before her high school diploma at Golden Triangle Early College Highschool.
She has been in many productions since she was 8 years old: The Nutcracker, Honor and Respect, Aladdin, Handsome and the Red Chief, and many more. She has served in many choirs in schools and in the community. Her achievements consist of winning “Most Outstanding Vocalist” in Atlanta’s Music in the Park Festival; placing top honors in NATS here at the W during her freshman year; and placing 2nd in NATS Regionals last spring. Above all else, she enjoys serving as Praise and Worship Leader at A.I.J.C Church in West Point, MS.
She looks forward to sharing the beauty, joy, and inspiration that music brings to those who listen. Her goal and passion is to speak life, teach truth, and love into others through the gift of music. May God’s Grace, Mercy, Favor and Blessings be with you from this day and forward. She thanks the W and appreciates everyone who came tonight to share her gift with you all!
Joe L. Alexander Tribute Concert
PROGRAM
All songs performed this evening were composed by Dr. Joe L. Alexander.
Two Bryant Songs: 1. Song (These Prairies Glow with Flowers), 2. November – Tiffani Jernigan, soprano (MUW) & Kelly Williams (MUW, class of 2022)
Soundscapes for guitar and soundfile – Alan Goldspiel, guitar (University of Montevallo)
Drowned – Susan Hurley, soprano (MUW) & William Reber (MUW)
Salonika Fantasy – Daniel Immel, piano (Kutztown University of Pennsylvania)
Red Mountain Overture – Video Performance by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Chamber Trio: Denise Gainey, clarinet; James Zingara, trumpet; Chris Steele, piano
Summer Sounds Beckon Me & Blue Jay, Sing a Tune – MUW Chamber Singers directed by William Reber, director (MUW) & accompanied by Valentin M Bogdan, pianist
In Loving Memory of
Composer, tubist, and theory pedagogist, Dr. Joe L. Alexander, joined the Mississippi University of Women’s music faculty in the Fall of 2016. His music has been performed throughout the United States, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, Rwanda, Scotland and South Korea. His compositions have been performed on recitals at conferences of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance; the International Trumpet Guild Conference; the Louisiana Composers’ Consortium; the National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA); the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors; the Society of Composers, Inc.; the College Music Society; the Southeastern Composers’ League, the International Tuba Euphonium Conference, and the NACUSA National Festival.
Dr. Alexander loved teaching and he was beloved by generations of his students. He will be missed.