Recorded live at North Park University's Anderson Chapel, this performance of soprano accompanied by piano features the active moving notes typical of Bach, along with flowing melody lines, occasionally accented with a brilliant trumpet part.

4 MP3 Songs in this album (18:34) !
Related styles: Classical: Baroque, Spiritual: Inspirational, Mood: Intellectual

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Details:
This graduate recital took place on a cold, wintery, Chicago night, Friday, February 27, 2009. I was overwhelmed with the support of so many friends, colleagues and professors who came to listen. It's tough to get us Chicagoans out on a cold night, although we might come out to party on a Friday night - but come to a classical recital? Definitely a tough sell. I was warmed through and through to see so many people there (upwards of 100).
This Cantata was performed by me from memory. Often, in the classical world, solo singers memorize everything, except oratorio/cantatas. But for my degree program, it was required that the cantata be performed from memory, and I loved the challenge! Although far from perfect, I'm especially pleased with the final track.
In addition to having sung a lot at North Park University (especially from September 2007 through MMVP graduation for me in May, 2009!!), I have sung with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, Elgin Opera (including my operatic debut in February, 2010, singing "Air de bijoux" from Faust by Gounod) and Chamber Opera Chicago (where I played Caroline Bingley in the Chicago première of musical Pride and Prejudice by Amanda Jacobs and Lindsay Warren Baker, also in February, 2010).
The pianist you hear is Dr. Kit Bridges. He accompanies extensively (truly, a whole lotta people) in the Chicago area. He has performed in recital series at Orchestra Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Grant Park Music Festival, the University of Chicago, and in broadcasts heard on radio stations WGN, WFMT, NPR, and PBS. A finalist in the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Competition, Dr. Bridges had his Chicago solo debut at Orchestra Hall in 1993. He was one of my professors in the MMVP (Vocal Performance) program at North Park University. If you focus on listening to his fingers playing, you will definitely be bedazzled. Kit is the gentleman pictured with me on the art work that accompanies this recording.
The trumpeter in this recording is Dr. Joseph Lill. Joe was also one of my professors at NPU for the masters degree.
Joe is in his 20th year as a faculty member at NPU, where he conducts the Jazz Ensemble and Concert Band. An active performer in a variety of idioms including jazz, classical, and popular, he has been leading his own band, Six of One, since 1980. He has performed with such Chicago-area orchestras as the Ravinia Festival Orchestra and the Evanston Symphony, and with a variety of area big bands such as the Chicago Grandstand Big Band and those of Bill Porter and Bill O'Connell. He is frequently called on as a guest soloist, clinician, and adjudicator. Joe and I go way back: I played trumpet in his jazz band in my undergrad years (NPU, '92) and he played the trumpet part of Mussorgsky's Pictures at An Exhibition, Promenade, as I walked down the aisle of Anderson Chapel to marry my husband, Steve, in 1994.
So you can see that Anderson Chapel's walls hold many special memories for me.
I hope the sounds of this live recording will be part of some pleasing musical memories for you. Enjoy!