Two Distinguished Crane School of Music Alumni to Perform Oct. 18

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Harpist Ruth Bennett will present a joint alumni recital with percussionist and fellow Crane graduate Mario Gaetano on Oct. 18 at SUNY Potsdam.

POTSDAM, NY (10/07/2011)(readMedia)-- Two distinguished graduates of The Crane School of Music will return to SUNY Potsdam for an upcoming joint concert performance in celebration of the School's 125th anniversary.

Percussionist Mario Gaetano and harpist Ruth Bennett will perform back-to-back alumni recitals at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater.

The Mario Gaetano alumni percussion recital program consists of five pieces. The program features two original compositions by Gaetano himself, including "Unaccompanied Snare Drum Solos, Nos. 2 and 3" and "Prelude for Marimba."

Gaetano will also perform "For Marimba and Tape" by Martin Wesley-Smith and "Cortege" for solo timpani by Steve Grimo. He will close the program with "Tranquility," a piece for solo vibraphone by Murray Houllif, another fellow prominent percussion graduate from The Crane School of Music. The program will last approximately 30 minutes.

"I wrote 'Prelude for Marimba' when I was a student at Crane as a sophomore. It is the only piece from my Crane days that I still play occasionally," Gaetano said.

Closing out the concert is Ruth Bennett's alumni harp recital program, which also consists of five pieces. Pieces include "Suite for Harp Op. 83" by Benjamin Britten, "Sonata in G-Major" by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, "Concert-Study No. 7" by Wilhelm Posse, "Torre Bermeja" by Isaac Albéniz and "Danses" by Claude Debussy. The program will last approximately 40 minutes.

Mario Gaetano is a 1977 magna cum laude graduate of SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. He studied percussion with Professor James Petercsak, and earned the Bachelor of Music degree in music education, along with the performer's certificate. He subsequently earned a master's degree from East Carolina University, and a doctorate from the University of Memphis. Dr. Gaetano is currently professor of music and university scholar at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C., a position he has held since 1979. Since that time, he has distinguished himself nationally as a leader in percussive arts education, performance, composition, research and service.

Ruth Bennett has received performance degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, the Eastman School of Music and SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. Teachers past and present include Deborah Hoffman (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Barbara Allen (American Ballet Theatre), Kathleen Bride and Jessica Suchy-Pilalis, of Crane.

Both concerts are free, and the public is invited to attend.

For more information about the many special performances on the calendar of event celebrating the 125th anniversary of SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/125years.

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-