Category Archives: voice

BGSU Opera Theatre presents “Dialogues of the Carmelites”

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BOWLING GREEN, O. – Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” will be presented at 8 p.m. March 27 and 3 p.m. March 29 in the Thomas B. and Kathleen M. Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts on the BGSU campus.

Poulenc’s powerful 1957 opera, about an order of Carmelite nuns who refuse to renounce their beliefs in the wake of the French Revolution, is presented in collaboration with BGSU’s Department of Theatre and Film. The opera is directed by Nicholas Wuehrmann and features the orchestra conducted by Dr. Emily Freeman Brown. In accordance with Poulenc’s wishes that the opera be performed in the language of its audience, BGSU’s production will be sung in the composer’s approved English translation by Joseph Machlis.

With social unrest rippling through Paris, a timid young woman leaves her aristocratic family to seek refuge at a convent in northern France. She strives to align with her fellow sisters, who soon discover they must either abandon their monastery or face certain execution. Their act of defiance in the face of fear becomes a gripping, emotional story of loyalty, redemption, and sacrifice.

“Poulenc’s soaring score is served beautifully by The BGSU Opera Theater, and the universal themes of war, persecution, fear, faith and love are given a unique treatment by our production which transcends time,” noted Nicholas Wuehrmann, visiting director for the opera. Wuehrmann is an actor/singer/director living in New York City. He performs in musical theater, film and television, Shakespeare, comedy and drama, opera and operetta, and with symphonies.

Tickets for “Dialogues of the Carmelites” are $15 for adults and $5 for students or children when purchased in advance. On the day of the performance, all tickets are $20. To purchase tickets, visit bgsu.edu/Arts or call the Arts Box Office at 419.372.8171.

Summer Music Institute at BGSU boosts young musicians’ skills

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Bowling Green State University’s critically acclaimed Summer Music Institute is open for registration. Presented by the College of Musical Arts, the institute features nine weeklong sessions, ranging from woodwinds to voice, brass and musical theater. Students will work with BGSU music faculty and guest artists who will challenge and inspire in a college setting. Register at BGSU.edu/SMI before April 30 for $40 off the registration fee.

Session one (June 14-19) includes Piano Camp, Double Reed Camp, Recording Camp, String Camp and Musical Theater. During Piano Camp, students receive private lessons, participate in master classes, play piano duos, attend recitals and perform. In Double Reed Camp, students get hands-on experience making reeds, performing in master classes and honing techniques on bassoon and oboe. Students signed up for Recording Camp, for ages 15-18, will experience a professional sound studio from both sides of the glass, performing and coordinating a recording. String students will receive coaching from the BGSU string faculty and special guests. Advanced string students are encouraged to apply for the Honors String Quartet. Members of the Honors String Quartet receive a full scholarship to cover housing, meals and the registration fee. Musical Theater Camp will focus on audition techniques.

Session two (June 21-26) comprises Brass Camp, with ensembles, private lessons, seminars and performances; Super Sax Camp, which explores both classical and improvised jazz music in private lessons, chamber rehearsals, improvisation clinics and concerts; Flute Camp, whose students will receive private lessons, seminars and master classes as well as breathing, sound, articulation and technique lessons; and Vocal Arts Camp, which educates campers in diction, vocal interpretation, audition techniques, stage deportment and other performance skills. Vocal students must be entering grade 10 or higher.

Students may commute to camp or stay on campus during the week. No audition is required. Recording students must be at least 15 years of age, though exceptions can be made.

Check-in times for each camp are the first day of camp on Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m. For more information and to register, visit BGSU.edu/smi or call 419-372-2506.

An enduring gift to BGSU

Ramona_Cormier

By Jordan Cravens

Service above self was the lifelong mantra of Dr. Ramona Cormier.

The former dean of Continuing Education and Summer Programs and associate provost at Bowling Green State University tirelessly put the University and Bowling Green community first and never sought praise or affirmation for her efforts.

Even after her death on Oct. 28 in Louisiana, the alternative energy crusader continued giving back to BGSU. Cormier made a $100,000 bequest to the University, which will benefit the Cormier Endowed Scholarship Fund. The scholarship fund was established for nontraditional students who have resumed classes after a break in their formal education.

Her final gift was symbolic of her lifetime of giving to BGSU and other organizations dear to her heart. Her philanthropy at BGSU extended to the Gish Film Theater, WBGU, Pro Musica, Library Enrichment, BGSU Opera, College of Musical Arts and many more.

Dr. Christopher Scholl, an associate professor in the College of Musical Arts and coordinator of voice/opera, said without generosity like Cormier’s the arts would cease to exist.

“Opera is the culmination of all art forms, music, theater, visual arts, dance and acting. It is very expensive to produce. Her generosity helped create productions that were visually and aesthetically pleasing,” Scholl said.

While always humble, Cormier leaves behind a legacy that has not gone unnoticed.

“Ramona Cormier touched the University and community in many, many ways,” said Wally and Diane Pretzer, former colleagues and long-time friends. “She was always willing to step up.”

Cormier came to BGSU in 1965 and remained until her retirement in 1990. She began as a faculty member in the Philosophy Department, but worked her way up the University ranks before she retired as dean of Continuing Education and Summer Programs.

During her tenure, she held numerous posts and belonged to a host of professional organizations, garnering a multitude of awards along the way. One of her greatest contributions to the philosophy realm was her development of research tools as associate director of the Philosophy Documentation Center. She composed many publications and was well-known as a high-caliber scholar. She later served as president of the BGSU Retirees Association.

Suzanane Crawford, who succeeded Cormier following her retirement as dean of Continuing Education and Summer Programs, called Cormier a “forward-thinker” with high standards and a relentless pursuit to advance the department and University.

“We called her the ‘orphan dean’ because she took on projects other deans didn’t want. This benefited our program, but also the institution and our students,” Crawford said.

“She left behind a sense of community, of positivity and a sense of forward-thinking that sometimes gets lost,” Crawford said.

Forward-thinking seems an appropriate way to describe Cormier who was a staunch supporter of alternative energy in an era where such ideas were almost unthinkable.

Cormier served the community in several capacities, including her time as a member of the Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities. She was an integral player in promoting wind and hydroelectric energy, solar power panels at the BGSU Ice Arena, load management and Green Power. She served four years as board chair.

She was strong in her convictions and didn’t shy away from giving her opinion, but she was also known as a good listener.

Prior to coming to BGSU, Cormier earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (1943), a master’s in music from the University of Southern California (1948) and a doctorate in Philosophy from Tulane University (1960). She also held teaching positions at the University of Tennessee, Tulane and Newcomb College.

Outside of academia, Cormier served in the U.S. Navy shortly after graduating from college in 1943. She retired in 1946 as a first class ensign.

Cormier was also known for being a master gardener, world traveler, excellent cook, wine connoisseur and avid Shakespeare fan. She was a native speaker of Cajun French and immersed herself in French culture.

Cormier was born on Jan. 21, 1923 in Breaux Bridge, La. She died on Oct. 28, 2014, in Sulphur, La., where she had relocated to be closer to her family. She was 91

16th Annual Conrad Art Song Winners Announced

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The 16th Annual Conrad Art Song Competition at BGSU was held on Saturday, February 20, 2015 in the Bryan Recital Hall in the Moore Musical Arts Center.

First Place Winners in the Undergraduate Division were Autum Cochran-Jordan, soprano (Dayton, Ohio) and Qincheng Zeng, piano. (Hubel-Zianning, China). Second Place were Rebekah Wehrly, soprano (Findlay, Ohio) and Peng Zhang, piano. (Shenyang-Liaoning,China) Third Place winners were Daniel Baumgartner, baritone (Findlay, Ohio) and Amy Faber, piano. (Tiffin, Ohio)

First Place winners in the Graduate Division were Desiree Johnson, soprano (Strongsville, Ohio) and Alphonsus Kiu, piano. (Bayan Lepas Penang, Malaysia). Second Place were Jennifer Creswell, soprano (Temperance, Michigan) and Chia-Jung Lin, piano. (New Taipei City, Taiwan) Third Place winners were Elizabeth Hood, soprano (Chelsea, Michigan) and Alphonsus Kiu, piano. (Bayan Lepas Penang, Malaysia)

Winners in the competition from the studio of Myra Merritt included Autum Cochran-Jordan, Rebekah Wehrly, Desiree Johnson, Jennifer Cresswell and Elizabeth Hood.  Daniel Baumgartner is a student of Sean Cooper, Alphonsus Kiu is a student of Robert Satterlee, Amy Faber is a student of Tom Rosenkranz and piano students of Laura Melton who were winners were Peng Zhang, Chia-Jung Lin and Qincheng Zeng.

Judges for the competition included Robert Peavler, baritone, Associate Professor of Voice at Eastern Michigan University, Dr. Mary Beth Armes, voice and piano instructor at the Edinboro University Community Music School, and Laura Silverman, Coordinator of the Accompanying Department of the School of Music at the University of Akron.

A total of six prizes were awarded: two first prizes of $1,500 each, two second prizes of $1,000 each and two third prizes of $750 each. The Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Fund encourages BGSU students to approach the art song in a serious and intense manner and enhance their learning experience by awarding financial prizes for singers and collaborative pianists.

Local physician and patron of the arts Dr. Marjorie Conrad endowed the Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition. A native of Philadelphia, Conrad practiced medicine in Wilmington, Del., for nearly 20 years before moving to Bowling Green in 1966 to marry local physician Dr. Roger Peatee. She began her medical practice here the same year, becoming the community’s first woman on the boards of MidAm Bank and MidAm Inc., and, from 1987–89, served as the first woman chief of staff at Wood County Hospital. She retired from the active practice of medicine in 1991. Though she studied voice as a young woman, she began studying voice again in 1993.The College of Musical Arts mourns the loss of Dr. Marjorie Conrad who passed away on Wednesday, October 8, 2014.  She was 92.

Top art song duos crowned at BGSU’s Conrad competition

Art Song Winners

The Sentinel Tribune writes –

Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two to perform an art song.

The Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition at Bowling Green State University honors not just the singer out front, but the pianist who provides the instrumental support.

On Saturday College of Music crowned the 16th set of winning musical teams.

The winners in the undergraduate division were soprano Autum Cochran-Jordan and pianist Qincheng Zeng. In the graduate division the winners were soprano Desiree Johnson and pianist Alphonsus Kiu.

Both sopranos study with Myra Merritt, and both said the chance to study with Merritt was what brought them to BGSU.

Zeng studies with Laura Melton and Kiu, who plans to specialize in collaborating with vocalists in his doctoral program, studies with Robert Satterlee.

Both duos had an international flavor Johnson and Cochran-Jordan are both from Ohio and Zeng is from Chion and Kiu from Malaysia.

They were elected in the finals Saturday night. The first round was held earlier in the day with 17 undergraduates duos and nine graduate duos participating.

That field was winnowed to six undergraduate duos and five graduate duos.

Also honored in the undergraduate division were: second place, soprano Rebekah Wehrly and pianist Peng Zhang, and third place, baritone Daniel Baumgartner and pianist Amy Faber.

Other honorees in the graduate division were: soprano Jennifer Cresswell and pianist Chia-Jung Lin, and third place, soprano Elizabeth Hood and pianist Kiu.

The winning duos share the cash prizes: $1,500 for first, $1,000 for second, and $750 for third.

The singers must perform songs from a variety of periods including one by a living composer and at least one each in  English, French, German and Italian.

This was the first competition since the death of its founder last October at the age of 92.

Conrad was remembered with a reserved seat and floral arrangement in the center front row of the Bryan Recital Hall.

Christopher School, the voice faculty member who coordinates the competition, said Conrad would always attend the event.

Until last few years she would come to both the first and final rounds.

The winners of the competition will perform March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Manor House in the Wildwood Preserve Metropark in Toledo.

48th Annual BGSU Competition in Music Performance Winners Announced

The 48th Annual BGSU Competitions in Music Performance were held the week of December 8, with finalists competing on Saturday, December 13, 2014 in Kobacker Hall on BGSU’s campus.

Coordinator of the competition, Dr. Nermis said “The judges were impressed with the high quality of performance. It was difficult for them to choose only two winners in each category since it was so clear there were more competitors that deserved to be commended. “

Undergraduate Division Winners included Quincheng Zeng, piano (Wuhan, China) student of Laura Melton, and Chi Him Chik, saxophone, (Hong Kong) student of John Sampen. Honorable Mention was awarded to Elizabeth Ritter, flute, (Ann Arbor, MI) student of Conor Nelson.

Chik Chi Him
Chik Chi Him
Qincheng Zeng
Qincheng Zeng

Qincheng

Elizabeth Catharine Ritter
Elizabeth Catharine Ritter

Graduate Division Winners included Chappy Gibb (not pictured), flute (Stillwater, MN), student of Conor Nelson, and Christopher Murphy, saxophone, student of John Sampen. Honorable Mention was awarded to Gunther own Hirthe, clarinet (Green Bay, WI), student of Kevin Schempf.

Christopher Lawrence Murphy
Christopher Lawrence Murphy
Gunnar Hirthe
Gunnar Hirthe

Composition Division winner was Thomas Beverly (San Antonio, TX)  and the Virginia Marks Collaborative Piano Award was given to Stephanie Titus, piano (Indianola, IA), student of Tom Rosenkranz.

Stephanie Titus
Stephanie Titus
Thomas Beverly
Thomas Beverly

 

Other graduate finalists included: Jacqueline Berndt, flute; Andrew Kier, clarinet; Danny Milan, piano; and Eun Hae Oh, flute. Undergraduate finalists included Tom Darlington, trumpet; Linda Jenkins, flute; Julia Kuhlman, saxophone; AJ Skojac, clarinet; and Malcolm Thompson, piano.

Judges for the preliminary round included James Westhoff, bassoon, Damon Coleman, cello, David Denniston, horn, Phillip Clark, piano and Carol Dusdieker, soprano. Final round judges included Ellen Breakfield, clarinet, Daniel Thomas, cello, Jonathan Ovalle, percussion, Amy Cheng, piano, Robert Peavler, baritone, and Mathew Fuerst, composer.

Winners will perform at the annual Concerto Concert with the Bowling Green Philharmonia on Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. in Kobacker Hall. For tickets,

visit bgsu.edu/arts.