Crane School of Music Hosts Maestro Duain Wolfe for Historic Concert to Open 2016 LoKo Festival

SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music Opens 2016 LoKo Festival with 'Tuxedo Tailgating' Before Concert on April 30

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Maestro Duain Wolfe is the director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and will serve as the 2016 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music.

POTSDAM, NY (04/18/2016)(readMedia)-- SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music will mark the College's bicentennial with a historic concert to open the 2016 Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts.

Maestro Duain Wolfe will conduct the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra in a concert befitting the College's 200th anniversary, featuring guest artists, epic works and a world premiere. The performance will be offered on Saturday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall.

Crane is proud to welcome Maestro Wolfe, who is the 2016 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor, for a campus residency leading up to the concert. Two vocalists will be featured soloists in the performance, including soprano Fei Ma '17 and guest artist Christopher Feigum, baritone.

"This concert features repertoire underscoring the special occasion: Gabriel Fauré's beautiful 'Requiem' has been performed numerous times in the long history of choral/orchestral performances at Crane, and was especially beloved by Crane's longtime dean Helen Hosmer and her friend and frequent visitor to Crane, Nadia Boulanger. Mademoiselle Boulanger, in fact, conducted the Crane Chorus in this work at Carnegie Hall in 1941. Composer Gary Fry's 'Awake, Celestial Airs!,' commissioned for this occasion, will open the concert with a festive and memorable première," said Crane School of Music Dean Dr. Michael Sitton.

The concert will open with the world premiere of "Awake, Celestial Airs!" by acclaimed composer Gary Fry, which SUNY Potsdam commissioned in honor of the College's bicentennial. The work is based on a poem written by American poet John Pierpont, "The Airs of Palestine," which was written in 1816 -- the same year that the College was founded.

The Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra will also perform Ralph Vaughan Williams' triumphal "Serenade to Music," featuring a number of featured student soloists. The program also contrasts two settings of Psalm 150, with celebrated compositions by Cesar Franck and Anton Bruckner.

The central work in the concert program is "Requiem" by Gabriel Fauré, a work that holds a distinct and beloved place in the history of The Crane School of Music. The great Nadia Boulanger conducted the piece three separate times as a guest conductor for the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra, after having studied composition with Fauré himself. The late Crane School of Music Dean Helen Hosmer loved the work so much that it was performed at her memorial service and the opening notes of the "Pie Jesu" movement are engraved on her tombstone.

"The concert opens with an anthem celebrating the bicentennial of SUNY Potsdam, a 2016 setting of a poem penned in 1816. Also on the program is a favorite of Helen Hosmer, Fauré's 'Requiem,' undoubtedly the most-performed choral/orchestral work in the history of our institution," said Dr. Jeffrey Francom, who directs the Crane Chorus. "In contrast, and perhaps symbolic of looking forward to the College's third century, the three remaining works on the program have never been performed previously by Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra. This will be a historic concert that celebrates and exemplifies the rich history and promising future of our SUNY Potsdam community!"

Leading up to the big concert, the LoKo Festival will host Tuxedo Tailgating in the parking lot adjacent to The Crane School of Music. Crane supporters are invited to don their concert finest and get pumped for the performance. The reception will begin at 5 p.m., in Lot 9, immediately next to Bishop Hall and the Performing Arts Center. Tuxedo Tailgating guests are invited to bring your own food to share, or enjoy offerings from the food and beverage tent sponsored by PACES Dining Services. Beer and wine will be available for purchase. Please note that per New York State law, no outside alcoholic beverages will be permitted at this event.

Also prior to the performance, Dr. Nelly Case will offer a presentation about Fauré's "Requiem," including an analysis of the work and its prominence in the history of The Crane School of Music. This free pre-concert lecture will be offered at 6:30 p.m. in the Ralph Wakefield Recital Hall. Seating will be reserved in Hosmer for those who attend this event.

All of the Crane School of Music concerts during the LoKo Festival will be streamed live online, so that alumni, parents and friends who can't make it to Potsdam can experience the artistry from home. To view the programs and watch the performance broadcasts, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.

The concert is free, but tickets are required, as there is limited space. To reserve free tickets, contact the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277.

All LoKo Festival events are free and open to the public. For a full schedule of all events, visit www.potsdam.edu/loko.

About the 2016 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor:

Now in his 21st season as director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Duain Wolfe has prepared over a hundred programs in Orchestra Hall and at the Ravinia Festival, as well as many works for commercial recordings. Wolfe also directs choral works at the Aspen Music Festival and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and he is founder-director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus, a position he maintains along with his Chicago Symphony Chorus post. A winner of two Grammy Awards in 2010 (Best Choral Performance, Best Classical Album) for the Chicago Symphony's recording of Verdi's "Requiem" with Riccardo Muti, in 2012, Wolfe received the Michael Korn Founders Award from Chorus America in recognition of his contributions to the professional choral arts. He also prepared the Chicago Symphony Chorus for the 1998 Grammy Award–winning recording of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" with Sir Georg Solti, and for the CSO's release of Verdi's "Otello," conducted by Riccardo Muti. Well-known for his work with children, in 1999, Wolfe retired from the Colorado Children's Chorale, an organization that he founded and conducted for 25 years. Also active as an opera conductor, he served as conductor of the Central City Opera Festival for 20 years. Wolfe's activities have earned him an honorary doctorate and numerous awards, including the Bonfils Stanton Award in the Arts and Humanities and the Colorado Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Just a week after the Potsdam performance, the Crane groups and guest artists will travel to New York City to present the same concert in Carnegie Hall. This concert will be offered on Sunday, May 8 at 8:30 p.m. in the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Tickets for the Carnegie Hall performance are $40 and can be obtained by visiting www.carnegiehall.org or contacting The Crane School of Music at (315) 267-2813.

The partnership of the Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor Fund, established by Dorothy Albrecht Gregory '61, and the Adeline Maltzan Crane Chorus Performance Tour Fund, established by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay '67, brings distinguished conductors to The Crane School of Music for festival performances by the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra, and travel funds for the Crane Chorus to perform at major venues outside of Potsdam.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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.

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