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Saturday, March 1
7:30 p.m., Great Hall – Gallagher-Bluedorn
Strauss: Metamorphosen
Brahms: A German Requiem, Op. 45
Rosemary Gast
Soprano Rosemary Gast has distinguished herself as a recitalist
and soloist in both symphonic and operatic productions throughout the
Midwest. She has performed with, among others, the Missouri Symphony,
the Bel Canto Society of Milwaukee, Western Plaines Opera, Fargo Civic
Opera, Fargo Symphony, Opera Maine, Opera Lenewee, The Quad Cities Mozart
Festival and Quad Cities Opera.Gast was a district winner of the Metropolitan
Opera Auditions, twice winner of the Bel Canto Regional Artists Competition,
two-time recipient of the Fredrich Schorr Performance Prize in Voice
and has been a regional finalist at the National Association of Teachers
of Singing Artist Auditions. She received her Bachelor of Music degree
from Simpson College. She is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the
University of Iowa, where she earned her Master of Arts degree in vocal
performance and pedagogy. Gast has taught music at Augustana College,
Concordia College, Drake University, Luther College and is currently
teaching voice at Wartburg College. She also maintains a private studio
at her hometown of Steamboat Rock.
John Hines
Bass-baritone John Hines has performed with opera companies,
oratorio societies, and symphony orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe,
including Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Cleveland, Asheville Lyric Opera,
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz,
Austria. His imposing presence, both vocally and physically, make him
a natural suitor for the dramatic baritone roles in the operas of Richard
Wagner but Hines’ work encompasses operatic and concert literature
of diverse styles. Hines has also performed solo cantatas by J.S. Bach
as well as orchestrated performances of Vaughan Williams’ Five
Mystical Songs, Gerald Finzi’s In terra pax, and Ruth Watson Henderson’s
From Darkness to Light. Oratorio engagements include acclaimed performances
of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Beethoven’s Symphony
No. 9,
J.S. Bach’s Mass in B-Minor, Mozart’s Coronation
Mass, Haydn’s
Creation, Handel’s Messiah and Dettingen’s Te Deum, the title
role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the Stabat Mater settings of Rossini
and Dvorak, as well as the requiem masses of Mozart, Brahms, Fauré and
Verdi. Most recent operatic engagements include Turandot, Tosca, Le
nozze di Figaro and in Die Meistersinger. Hines is an Assistant Professor of
Voice at the University of Northern Iowa.
Metropolitan Chorale
The Metropolitan Chorale boasts members from thirteen different
communities, reflecting the diversity of the Cedar Valley with singers
from all walks of life including doctors, farmers, engineers, factory
workers and educators. The group annually performs two concerts of major
choral works with orchestra and soloists in various Waterloo and Cedar
Falls venues. The Chorale has had twelve conductors in its 50 years
of existence. Its current conductor is Dr. Paul Torkelson, Professor
of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Wartburg College in Waverly.
Wartburg
Choir
The internationally-acclaimed Wartburg Choir has received
critical acclaim for its versatility, performing some of the most challenging
pieces ever written for choral ensembles and frequently premiering original
works by composers around the globe. Choir members are selected by audition
and represent nearly all academic disciplines on the Waverly campus. The
ensemble tours every year and every third year tours abroad for five weeks.
Dr. Paul Torkelson has directed the choir since 1984. He has conducted
the choir at two solo concerts at New York City’s famed Carnegie
Hall, two concerts at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, a concert in
Orchestral Hall in Minneapolis and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
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