Crane Concert Celebrates Legacy & Music of Boulanger Sisters, Nadia & Lili

Soprano Deborah Massell and Pianist Michael Sitton Perform with other Crane Artists in Tribute

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Soprano Deborah Massell, an assistant professor of voice at Crane, will perform at the concert honoring the Boulanger sisters on March 28.

POTSDAM, NY (03/17/2011)(readMedia)-- A special concert at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music will celebrate the music of two French sisters who had a great impact on the music world in the 20th century. Soprano Deborah Massell, an assistant professor of voice, will perform along with the Dean of The Crane School, pianist Michael Sitton.

"Nadia and Lili Boulanger: A Legacy of Music-Making," will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 28, in Sara M. Snell Music Theater on the SUNY Potsdam campus.

The program is centered around the music of the Boulanger sisters, Nadia and Lili, and some of the many composition students Nadia taught throughout her life in Paris and in the celebrated summer program she founded at Fontainebleau, which welcomed numerous American musicians. Massell and Sitton, along with Crane Emeritus Professor Art Frackenpohl, participated in the Fontainebleau program.

The composers whose works will be performed include Leonard Bernstein, Ned Rorem, Gian Carlo Menotti, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Mary Howe, Art Frackenpohl, Michael Sitton, and, of course, music by the two sisters themselves.

In addition to Massell and Sitton, performers will include Crane faculty members Lorraine Yaros Sullivan, mezzo-soprano; Lonel Woods, tenor; John Lindsey, violin; Shelly Tramposh, viola; Matthias Wexler, cello, and Carol Lowe, bassoon. Crane choral ensembles led by conductor Jeffrey Francom and student conductors Alex Perry and Jon Wibben will also sing at the concert.

This concert is free, and the public is invited to attend.

For more information about the many events on the calendar at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution, and is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011.

-www.potsdam.edu/crane-