The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will conclude its fall season with a series of December concerts, including the annual sing-along of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.
The Washington University Opera, under the direction of Jolly Stewart, will present a program titled “In Women’s Chambers” at 8 p.m. Dec. 8-9 in Umrath Hall Lounge. The program will include portions of three 20th-century operas: Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia (1946), Conrad Susa’s Black River (1975) and Mark Adamo’s Little Women (1998).
Also Dec. 9, the Kingsbury Ensemble — directed by Maryse Carlin, instructor in harpsichord — will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) with “Mozart in the Age of Enlightenment.” The concert begins at 8 p.m. in Holmes Lounge. Admission is $15; $10 for seniors, faculty and staff; and free for students.
The program of chamber music includes works by two of Mozart’s contemporaries: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), a fellow Austrian who served as a mentor to the younger composer, and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), who traveled to Vienna at age 17 to meet Mozart.
The program will open with Haydn’s popular Piano Trio in G Major (“Gypsy Rondo”) (1795), followed by Mozart’s Sonata in E minor, K. 304, for violin and fortepiano (1778), and his Piano Trio in B-flat Major, K. 502 (1786). Two works of Beethoven — his Variations on “Bei Männern” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute for cello and fortepiano and the Piano Trio in C minor, op. 1, no. 3 — conclude the concert.
Performers are Christina Mahler, principal cellist of Toronto’s esteemed Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; her colleague in the group, violinist Aisslinn Nosky; and fortepianist Seth Carlin, professor and head of keyboard performance in music.
The fortepiano is the intermediary keyboard instrument between the harpsichord, that saw its popularity wane during the Classical era of Haydn and Mozart, and the earliest versions of the modern piano, which were built during Beethoven’s lifetime.
The University’s annual sing-along of Handel’s oratorio Messiah will take place at 3 p.m. Dec. 10 in Graham Chapel. The performance, which lasts about an hour, will include the Christmas portion of Messiah, as well as the “Hallelujah Chorus.” John Stewart, director of vocal performance, conducts.
William Partridge Jr., campus organist, provides the instrumental accompaniment. Soloists are graduates and students in the Department of Music, including soprano Dana Hudson, mezzo-soprano Debra Hillabrand, tenor Adam Cromer and baritone Robert Reed.
Special sections within the audience will be arranged according to voice type (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone), though those who choose not to sing also are welcome to attend. Copies of the music will be available for those who do not bring their own scores.
Concluding the season are three concerts by student ensembles.
The 13-member Washington University Flute Choir, under the direction of Jan Smith, teacher of applied music, will perform at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 11 in Graham Chapel.
Six string quartets, under the coaching of Elizabeth Macdonald, director of strings, will perform along with a consort featuring various sizes of viols, a family of string instruments popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras that paralleled the developing violin family. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Dec. 12 in the Olin Women’s Building Lounge.
At 8 p.m. Dec. 14, a dozen students of guitar, under the direction of Alan Rosenkoetter, head of guitar performance, will present “Guitar Gala” in Graham Chapel. The program will include solo classical works, works for voice with two guitars and pieces for solo jazz guitar.
All concerts are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
For more information, call 935-4841 or e-mail staylor@wustl.edu.