Crane School of Music to Present Historic Concert in Carnegie Hall

SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music Celebrates College Bicentennial with Carnegie Hall Concert Featuring Maestro Duain Wolfe Conducting Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra

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The Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra will perform in Carnegie Hall on May 8. Seen here, Michael Sitton conducts the groups and the crowd at the annual Crane Candlelight Concert.

POTSDAM, NY (05/02/2016)(readMedia)-- The Crane School of Music at The State University of New York at Potsdam is set to celebrate the institution's bicentennial with a historic concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City. This is the third time in SUNY Potsdam history that a Crane group has performed in the storied venue.

Maestro Duain Wolfe will conduct the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra in a celebratory concert befitting the College's 200th anniversary, featuring guest artists, epic works and a world premiere. 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. Alumni and friends of SUNY Potsdam may receive a discount of $15 off admission by using the promo code: CSM23707.

"The May 8 Carnegie Hall performance by the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra is an auspicious one, marking both SUNY Potsdam's bicentennial year and a return to Carnegie Hall for these Crane ensembles. The profile of this concert will showcase on one of the world's most auspicious stages the high standard of excellence constantly maintained by our dedicated faculty, excellent students and loyal alumni," said Crane School of Music Dean Dr. Michael Sitton. "It also marks the second major performance in New York underwritten by the Adeline Maltzan Crane Chorus Performance Tour Fund, established by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay '67; the first was Crane's 2012 performance at Lincoln Center. This event will bring to the historic Carnegie Hall venue a performance prepared by Crane's artist faculty, delivered by outstanding Crane students, and generously supported by major alumni contributions from Dorothy Gregory and Gary Jaquay."

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, during SUNY Potsdam's Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts. Two vocalists will be featured soloists in the performance, including soprano Fei Ma '17 and guest artist Christopher Feigum, baritone.

"Crane students are excited for this opportunity to perform in such a prestigious venue. They are eager to celebrate this legacy and milestone in SUNY Potsdam's history by sharing their talent and passion for music. This year's performance will certainly be one of the most memorable moments in their collegiate life," said Dr. Ching-Chun Lai, director of the Crane Symphony Orchestra.

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 our 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!"

The 2016 Crane School of Music performance at Carnegie Hall will represent another milestone in long tradition of musical excellence at the College. This is the third time that a Crane group has performed at Carnegie. In 1941, Nadia Boulanger conducted the Crane Chorus in a joint performance with the New York Philharmonic -- a performance that also included the Fauré "Requiem." The Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra returned to Carnegie in 1952, at the invitation of Robert Shaw, to participate in his Choral Masterworks series. To learn more about the history of SUNY Potsdam and its Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/200.

About the artists:

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.

Christopher Feigum has been praised for his dynamic stage presence and elegant musicianship with America's leading opera companies and orchestras. His recent work includes performances as First Officer in John Adam's controversial work, "The Death of Klinghoffer," at the Metropolitan Opera and as Brander with the Cleveland Orchestra in "La Damnation de Faust" with Maestro Charles Dutoit. Additionally, Feigum made his debut with the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City, to reprise the role of First Shepard in Daphne with Maestro Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra. A graduate of DePaul University in Chicago, Feigum is the recipient of a Grammy Award, as well as the Richard F. Gold Career Grant, Bel Canto Artist's Grant, Santa Fe Opera Artist's Grant and the Chicago Symphony Chorus Distinguished Service Award. He is also an alumnus of both the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists and the Houston Grand Opera Studio.

Fei Ma '17, soprano, is a first-year master's student in voice performance at The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where she studies with Dr. Lorraine Yaros Sullivan. At Crane, Ma sang in a masterclass with Dimitri Pittas '99, and has performed with the Crane Opera Ensemble. She is the recipient of a number of awards, including third prize in the city audition (Hong Kong, China) for the Vincenzo Bellini Music Competition and the silver medal in the Peacock Prize of China Vocal Competition. She has performed in Vienna's Golden Hall in an international youth art festival and at the National Centre for the Performing Arts of China. She holds an undergraduate degree in music education and master's degree in vocal performance and teaching, both from Shandong Normal University in China. This summer, Ma will be a Young Artist at the CoOPERAtive program at Westminster in Princeton, N.J.

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.

About The Crane School of Music:

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

About SUNY Potsdam:

Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges -- and the oldest institution within SUNY. As the College marks its bicentennial in 2016, SUNY Potsdam will celebrate a 200-year legacy of pioneering programs and educational excellence. The College currently enrolls approximately 4,200 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its challenging liberal arts and sciences core, distinction in teacher training and leadership in the arts. Empowered by a culture of creativity, the campus community is nearing the completion of Take the Lead: The Campaign for Potsdam, which has already raised $33 million for scholarships and programs. To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu.

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