VOICE MASTERCLASS AND RECITAL AT VITERBO OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
LA CROSSE, Wis.— Guest artists Kendra Colton, soprano, and Laura Ward, pianist, will lead a voice masterclass and a recital featuring 19th and 20th century art music, in the Viterbo Fine Arts Center Recital Hall on Thursday, Oct. 14.
The masterclass will be held noon to 2 p.m. and admission is free. The recital will be at 7 p.m. with an admission charge of $5 payable at the door. Both events are open to the public.
Colton, who performs repertoire from Baroque opera and oratorio to contemporary music, trained in the United States and Europe. She appears regularly in solo recital, with symphony orchestras, and at major music festivals on both continents. Colton has developed a niche for herself in the oratorios and sacred works of Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms. Acclaimed not only for her performances of Handel and Mozart operas, she is also recognized for her skill as an interpreter of contemporary chamber music and has given several premiers. Colton is a graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Cincinnati College—Conservatory of Music with Master of Music degrees in singing and piano. She recently finished her solo debut CD, LeCharme and is currently awaiting the release of her second CD, Joseph Marx Lieder
Described by the Washington Post as having a "poetic touch" and by the Milwaukee Journal as "attentive to every nuance and detail," Ward is sought after by many artists—both vocal and instrumental. In addition to her accomplishments as a performer, she served as a vocal coach, accompanist and lecturer at the Washington Opera and edited art song collections for the Hal Leonard Corporation. She is currently a member of the faculty at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia as a coach/accompanist. She previously taught at the University of Maryland and served as a pianist for Steans Vocal Institute at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif. Ward, who holds a doctorate of musical arts in accompanying from the University of Michigan, has also recorded for National Public Radio.
For more information, please contact the Viterbo College Music Department at 796-3760.