Augusta, Ga.- Enjoy an evening at the opera as the Augusta State University Department of Music presents The Complete Songs of Henri Duparc on Thursday, Jan. 19. The program will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the university’s Maxwell Theatre.
The French Composer Henri Duparc wrote numerous songs for voice and piano. However, he suffered from the mental illness neurasthenia, which may have been to blame for his destroying most of his works after believing them to be unworthy of his artistic skill. In honor of his legacy, the music department will present the entire remaining body of his vocal writings.
This event will feature performances by ASU music professor Linda Banister, mezzo soprano; Kira King, soprano; W. Isaac Holmes, baritone; and Phillip Pickens, tenor. The singers will be accompanied by ASU music professor Rosalyn Floyd.
A native of North Dakota, Linda Banister teaches studio voice and is director of the Augusta State University Opera Workshop. Banister has performed in numerous recitals throughout the central and southeastern United States, central Italy, and in Hong Kong. She has conducted choral and vocal workshops and has served as a vocal adjudicator in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Missouri, Florida, and Georgia. She is the former president of the Georgia chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Kira King has performed with the Augusta Opera, Middle Tennessee State University Opera, and the Augusta State University Opera. King received her musical training and degrees from Middle Tennessee State University as well as Augusta State University where she studied under Linda Banister. She currently serves as an adjunct professor in the Middle Tennessee State University Department of Music.
Phillip Pickens, a member of the tenor section of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, has performed in several operas, musical theater, and commercials. The South Carolina native starred as Tony Whitcomb in the comedy Shear Madness, one of the longest running non-musicals in America.
W. Isaac Holmes has performed as a soloist, dancer, instrumentalist, and chorister in the United States and in South Korea, Germany, France, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Belgium. The singer/actor received an Outstanding Actor award for his role as The Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Holmes is an assistant professor of music at Paine College where he is director of the College’s Concert Choir.
Best known as a collaborative artist, pianist Rosalyn W. Floyd has accompanied the world-renowned soprano Martino Arroyo, noted baritones Oral Moses and Timothy Jones, and sopranos Linda Banister and Levone Tobin Scott. She has also worked with the Augusta Choral Society. Floyd has performed throughout the United States, the Bahamas, and the People’s Republic of China. In 2005, she was named the recipient of the Greater Augusta Arts Council Artist of the Year. She can be heard as the accompanist on the Albany Records recording Oral Moses Sings Songs of America (TROY 1101).
General admission for this program is $5 and free with a valid JagCard. For more information, contact the ASU Department of Music at 706-737-1453.
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