Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar Celebrates Fifth Season from May 23 to May 29

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Alan Smith works with a Fellow during the 2015 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar. This year’s seminar will be held from May 23 to May 29 at The Crane School of Music.

• Stephanie Blythe works with a vocalist during last year’s Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music.

POTSDAM, NY (05/13/2016)(readMedia)-- The internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, a 1993 graduate of SUNY Potsdam, will return to her alma mater from May 23 to May 29 for the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, now in its fifth season.

The Crane School of Music is proud to host the 2016 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, which will be held from Wednesday, May 23 to Friday, May 29. The seminar will welcome nine Fellows this year, as well as guest composer Tom Cipullo.

The Fall Island Vocal Arts seminar was founded by Artistic Director Stephanie Blythe '92 (Metropolitan Opera star and SUNY Potsdam alumna) and Executive Director Carleen Graham (SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music) as a venue for emerging singers and pianists to cultivate their artistry through contemporary American art song.

Nine emerging artists, including six singers and three pianists between the ages of 23 and 35, were selected from a competitive international audition for a fellowship to work with Blythe and Music Director Alan Smith. Smith is a noted pianist, vocal coach and composer, who is a member of the faculty at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center.

Alumni of the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar's Emerging Artist Fellowship Program have gone on to win distinguished competitions and participate in some of the top-tier young artist programs in the country.

'An Evening with Tom Cipullo'

This year's seminar includes a special guest, the noted composer Tom Cipullo, and the festival will open with an evening celebrating his work. Smith will engage Cipullo in a lively discussion about his life and work on stage in the event, which will also feature performances by Blythe, Smith and the 2016 Fellows.

"An Evening with Tom Cipullo" will be offered on Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater on the SUNY Potsdam campus. The event will also be livestreamed online, at www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming. Tickets for this event are $18 for general admission and $15 with a SUNY Potsdam ID. To purchase tickets, contact the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277 or visit www.cpspotsdam.org. All proceeds will benefit the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar.

Additional public events

Three open masterclasses featuring Blythe and Smith working with the Fall Island Fellows will be free and open to the public. The open masterclasses will all be offered at 10:30 a.m., on Thursday, May 26, Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28, in Snell Theater.

A lecture-recital, titled "The Worlds of Charles Ives: The ideas Behind the Songs," will be presented on Friday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m., in the Ralph Wakefield Recital Hall. The program will be led by Dr. Gary Busch, professor of piano and music history at The Crane School of Music, with music performed by participants in the Program for Auditors. The auditors represent collegiate-level voice and collaborative piano faculty and masters/ doctoral candidates from around the country who will observe the seminar and participate in the week's events.

The culminating recital for the 2016 seminar will feature the Fellows performing the music of living American composers. This concert will be held on Sunday, May 29 at 2 p.m. in Snell Theater.

All of these events are free, educational and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The 2016 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar Fellows are:

• Fleur Barron, a mezzo-soprano from St. Ives, Cornwall, United Kingdom
• Wee Kiat Chia, a countertenor from Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• Keith Colclough, a bass from Claremont, Calif.
• Lucy Fitz Gibbon, a soprano from from Davis, Calif.
• Bridget Hough, a pianist from Santa Barbara, Calif.
• Mario Antonio Marra, a pianist from New Haven, Conn.
• Amy Petrongelli, a soprano from Harrison, Mich.
• Annie Rosen, a mezzo-soprano from New Haven, Conn.
• Blair Salter, a pianist from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

The Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar also offers a Program for Auditors, targeting collegiate-level voice and collaborative piano teachers and master's or doctoral-level students of vocal pedagogy or collaborative piano. Participants in the 2016 program include Judith May from the University of San Francisco, Dr. Kathleen Roland-Silverstein from the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University and Dr. Colleen Skull from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

A complete list of all public performances that will take place at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music for the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar can be found at www.fallisland.org.

About the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar:

Now in its fifth season, The Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar fosters autonomous artistry in emerging artist-level performers through the study and interpretation of art song by living American composers. The seminar is comprised of three programs: the Emerging Artist Fellowship Program for emerging singers and collaborative pianists (ages 23-35), the Program for Auditors for collegiate-level voice teachers and collaborative pianists and master's or doctoral-level students of vocal pedagogy, and the Student Internship Program for Crane School of Music undergraduate students to assist with the daily functioning of the seminar. Led by Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe as Artistic Director, Music Director Alan Smith and Executive Director Carleen Graham, the seminar invites six singers and three pianists to Potsdam, N.Y., for a week of intimate and intensive study. To learn more about the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.fallisland.org.

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, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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