Crane School of Music Hosts Maestro Joseph Flummerfelt for Performance of Brahms' 'German Requiem'

SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music Welcomes Guest Artists for 2015 Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts

Related Media

Maestro Joseph Flummerfelt will visit SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, as the 2015 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor.

POTSDAM, NY (04/17/2015)(readMedia)-- SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music will welcome distinguished visiting artists for a performance of Johannes Brahms' masterpiece, "A German Requiem," during the 2015 Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts.

From April 24 to May 3, The Crane School of Music will offer free concerts, public masterclasses, rehearsals and presentations, as part of the fourth annual LoKo Festival.

Crane will also welcome Maestro Joseph Flummerfelt, the 2015 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor, for a campus residency. In addition, visiting soprano Nicole Cabell will lead a masterclass and baritone Craig Verm will offer an artist Q&A session.

"All of these guest artists will certainly bring this year's rich and wonderful LoKo Festival to a brilliant conclusion, as they perform with our outstanding student ensembles, prepared by faculty members Jeffrey Francom and Ching-Chun Lai. We hope the entire community will be moved by Brahms' profound and timeless musical expression of human grief, tempered by hope and compassion," said Crane School of Music Dean Dr. Michael Sitton.

All of the Crane School of Music concerts and recitals during the Lougheed Festival of the Arts will be streamed live online this year, 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.

"Brahms' beloved German Requiem has been one of the most frequently performed works in the long history of Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra festival performances, and we are delighted to feature it this year after a 13-year hiatus, as the concluding concert for the 2015 Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts. This work has featured prominently in our history not only by the number of times it has been performed -- this will be its ninth -- but also in being conducted by some of the iconic figures in Crane's history," Sitton said. "We are thrilled to welcome Joseph Flummerfelt as this year's Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor; Maestro Flummerfelt is certainly among the most distinguished contributors of his generation to American choral music. He will be joined by the exciting voices of guest soloists Nicole Cabell and Craig Verm."

The Crane Symphony Orchestra and Crane Chorus will come together under the baton of the 2015 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor, Maestro Joseph Flummerfelt, for the culminating concert on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall.

The concert will feature Johannes Brahms' masterpiece, "A German Requiem." The guest soloists include soprano Nicole Cabell and baritone Craig Verm.

Prior to the performance, Brahms biographer Jan Swafford will offer a pre-concert lecture about the requiem. The 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.

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 events are free, and the public is invited to attend. For a full schedule of events, visit www.potsdam.edu/loko.

The festival's musical highlights include:

  • Friday, April 24: The opening day of the festival will include a Crane Latin Ensemble concert at 7:30 p.m., in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater. Dance to the pulsing rhythms of Latin American classics and the new acid mambo sounds, alongside live interpretive painting on stage.
  • Monday, April 27: The Potsdam Brass Quintet will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. in Snell Theater.
  • Wednesday, April 29: Visiting conductor Joseph Flummerfelt will lead an open Q&A session at 3 p.m. in Snell.
  • Thursday, April 30: Flummerfelt will lead a conducting masterclass with Crane students conducting excerpts with the Hosmer Choir at 12:30 p.m. in Snell Theater. At 4 p.m., visiting baritone Craig Verm will offer a Q&A session in Wakefield Hall.
  • Friday, May 1: Visiting soprano Nicole Cabell will lead a public vocal masterclass with Crane students at 1 p.m. in Snell. At 3 p.m., visiting lecturer Jan Swafford will offer a lecture, "Listening to Your Subject," about eavesdropping on Ives, Brahms and Beethoven, in Wakefield Hall. There will be an open dress rehearsal with all performers of "A German Requiem" at 7:30 p.m. in Hosmer Hall.
  • Saturday, May 2: Swafford will offer a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. in Wakefield, followed by the culminating concert at 7:30 p.m. in Hosmer.

All of the Crane events listed above, except for the dress rehearsal and the Q&A session with Verm will stream live online, at www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.

About the visiting artists:

Musical America's 2004 Conductor of the Year, Joseph Flummerfelt has been acclaimed for his musical artistry shown in many of the world's concert halls for nearly 40 years. He is the founder and musical director of the New York Choral Artists, is an artistic director of Spoleto Festival USA, and for 33 years was conductor of the world-renowned Westminster Choir. A gifted orchestral conductor, Maestro Flummerfelt has conducted more than 50 performances with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy and in the U.S. He has also appeared as a guest conductor with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra and the San Antonio and Phoenix Symphonies. In 1988, he made his New York Philharmonic debut, with a performance of Haydn's "Creation," and in 2001 he conducted the world premiere of Stephen Paulus' "Voices of Light" with the philharmonic and the Westminster Choir.

Nicole Cabell is one of the most sought-after lyric sopranos of today. She was the 2005 winner of the BBC Singer of the World Competition. As a Decca recording artist, her solo debut album, "Soprano," was named Editor's Choice by Gramophone and has received critical acclaim and several prestigious awards: the 2007 Georg Solti Orphée d'Or from the French Académie du Disque Lyrique and an Echo Klassik Award in Germany. Her performance history is extensive and far-flung, having performed with a number of skilled orchestras, singers and maestros over the seasons.

Craig Verm is a baritone rapidly gaining recognition in the opera world. He has preformed in numerous roles showcasing his powerful and expressive voice, as well as his riveting dramatic portrayals. He received his Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, after graduating cum laude from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He was also a 2006 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and completed the young artist programs at the Santa Fe Opera and Cincinnati Opera.

Jan Swafford's music has been played by ensembles around the country and abroad. Over the years, his music has evolved steadily, but in all its forms, his work is forthrightly expressive, individual in voice, and steadily concerned with lucidity of texture and form. Also a well-known writer on music, Swafford is the author of biographies of Johannes Brahms, Charles Ives and Ludwig van Beethoven. His journalism and commentary appears regularly in Slate. He is a long-time program writer and preconcert lecturer for the Boston Symphony, and has also written notes and essays for the orchestras of Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto.

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.

###