OCU’s Bass School of Music Faculty Artists Salute Titans of Opera with Nov. 5 Concert

staff report


 

The voice faculty of the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University is celebrating the birthdays of three titans of opera with a Distinguished Artists Concert Nov. 5. This year marks the bicentennial of the births of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, and the centennial of the birth of Benjamin Britten.


 

The 8 p.m. Tuesday concert in Petree Recital Hall, NW 25th and Blackwelder will featuring Bass School faculty vocalists Regina Grimaldi, soprano; Catherine McDaniel, mezzo-soprano; William Nield Christensen and Jeffrey Picon, tenors; and pianist/host Jan McDaniel. Tickets ($10) are available from 405.208.5227 or www.okcu.edu/music.


 

The evening program presents operatic excerpts and vocal rarities including seldom-performed French songs by Wagner. The central work, A Birthday Hansel, was commissioned from Britten by Queen Elizabeth II in honor of her mother’s 75th birthday. In recognition of the Queen Mother’s Scottish ancestry, Britten chose seven poems by Robert Burns, sung in the Scots dialect and performed without a break.


 

For more information on upcoming events at the Bass School of Music, visit www.okcu.edu/music or www.facebook.com/bassschoolofmusic.