Issued by: Beth Stafford
414-229-4800
bstaff@uwm.edu
Date: Feb. 11, 2002
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Issued by: Beth Stafford Date: Feb. 11, 2002 |
MILWAUKEE
- The Yolanda Marculescu Vocal Arts Series in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Department of Music features soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams on the last concert
of its 2001/02 season on Sunday, March 10 at 3 p.m. in the Helen Bader Concert
Hall of the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Williams joins series director Jeffry Peterson, piano, in the first performance
of a Yolanda Marculescu Vocal Arts concert in the Peck School of the Arts' newest
venue.
The program includes songs by Swedish composer Türe Rangstrom, Gypsy songs by Dvorak, songs by Rachmaninoff including "Spring Waters," "Banalités" by Poulenc, and American popular songs and spirituals. The concert is part of the Milwaukee 2002 International Festival of the Arts, highlighting the heritage, culture and art of Scandinavia.
Williams made her debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in March 2000 as the soprano soloist in Ralph Vaughn Williams' Sea Symphony. She was the 2000 winner of the Milwaukee Music Teachers' Award in addition to being a semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Williams sang the role of Donna Elvira in the Skylight Opera Theatre's presentation of Don Giovanni in September 2001. Williams will make her debut with the Florentine Opera in the spring 2002 production of Der Rosenkavelier.
A review in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says, "She has a poised and powerful stage presence, even when she simply props an elbow on the piano lid and sings. But the most astonishing thing about Williams is her musical sensitivity and maturity...Rich and easy resonance, not brassy volume, is the hallmark of her singing...She lavishes love and insight on the music...Williams' singing was about the music, not about the sound of her own voice."
Peterson, associate professor of piano at UWM, directs the Yolanda Marculescu Vocal Arts Series. Peterson initiated the series (as the UWM Vocal Arts Recital Series) in 1985.
Tickets are available by phone, mail or in person through the UWM Peck School of the Arts Box Office, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd., (414) 229 4308. Prices are $12/general public and
$6/ students. The box office is open for phone and walk-up business between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and one hour prior to performances. Parking on Sundays is free in the UWM Union Parking Garage, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
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