Six student soloists will join the WSU Symphony Orchestra for the annual Concerto-Aria concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Miller Concert Hall. The program will also feature Charles Ives's “Variations on ‘America’ ” (orchestrated by William Schuman) and Aaron Copland's “Billy the Kid” Suite. Mark Laycock will conduct.
Tickets are $7 with discounts available through the College of Fine Arts Box Office at (316) 978-3233 or through www.wichita.edu/fineartsboxoffice.
Winning soloists, iconic music
Selected by competitive audition, the soloists include both upperclassmen and graduate students. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Dorpinghaus will sing “Ging heut’ Morgen übers Feld” from Mahler's “Songs of a Wayfarer.” KC Graham will perform the first movement of Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto. The first movement of Ney Rosauro's Second Marimba Concerto will be played by Justin Hall. Christopher Lovell will play the second movement of Bruch's “Scottish Fantasy.” Tracy Anne Travis will play the finale of Lowell Liebermann's Flute Concerto. “Avete torto!” from Puccini's opera “Gianni Schicchi” will be sung by tenor Brian Yeakley.
The orchestra will also perform the suite from Copland’s ballet “Billy the Kid.” Composed in 1938 for the American Ballet Caravan, the vivid work has helped define, for concert audiences, the sound of the American frontier.
The program will open with another iconic work, Variations on “America.” Ives composed the piece for organ over a lengthy period of time. The well-known orchestral version was devised by American composer Schuman.
About the student artists
Dorpinghaus, from Parkville, Mo., is pursuing a Master of Music in Voice Performance. She earned her bachelor’s in voice performance from Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. Her roles include Ottavia in “L’incoronazione di Poppea,” Nancy Waters in “Albert Herring,” Dorabella in “Così fan tutte,” the Second Lady in “Die Zauberflöte,” Mrs. Emma Jones in “Street Scene,” the Sandman in “Hansel and Gretel,” Zita in “Gianni Schicchi,” Lady Sangazure in “The Sorcerer” and La Badessa in “Suor Angelica.” She has performed with Opera in the Ozarks and the Civic Opera of Kansas City, and has placed at state and regional NATS competitions five times since 2003. She is in the voice studio of associate professor Deborah Baxter.
Graham was born and raised in Wichita. He started playing piano at age 7. A junior in the piano performance program, he studies with associate professor Andrew Trechak. In spring 2011, KC was the winner of the Stephen Imbler Piano Scholarship. Future plans include competitions, graduate school and teaching at the university level.
Hall, although not a native, calls New Orleans home. He graduated from Derby High School while lettering in band for three years. Upon graduation, he was recognized with the Patrick S. Gilmore Band Award. A member of the Wichita Youth Symphony, he received the Senseney Award. In 2011, he earned First Runner-Up and Honorable Mention in the Hays Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition with Rosauro’s Marimba Concerto No. 2. He was also part of the re-imagination of Mary Ellen Childs’s piece “Still Life.” He is a student of Gerald Scholl and performs in the WSU Percussion Ensemble. He plans to continue working with the Derby High School marching band and attend graduate school.
Lovell is a music education and violin performance double major in the final semester of his undergraduate degree. He is student teaching at Robinson Middle School and East High School, working with Laura Carpenter and Eric Crawford. His violin teachers have included Nancy Luttrell and Tiberius Klausner, and he has participated in the Naftzger Competition. He has also performed in several chamber ensembles at Wichita State, including the Letifico String Quartet, which received Third Prize in the 2010 Konrad Wolff-Ilse Bing Chamber Music Competition. In 2011 he performed as a soloist with the WSU Camerata, playing the first movement of Haydn’s Violin Concerto in C Major. For the past two years, he has enjoyed conducting the WSU College of Fine Arts Institute Youth Orchestra.
A native of Wichita, Travis started playing the flute at age 9 and performed with the Wichita Youth Symphony and Wichita Wind Ensemble in high school. She is a junior pursuing undergraduate degrees in English literature and flute performance. She studies flute under professor Frances Shelly. She hopes to attend graduate school and find an occupation that will allow her to combine her interests.
A senior vocal performance major, Yeakley is preparing the role of Count Liebenskof in the Rossini opera “Il Viaggio a Rheims.” He is also a Wichita Grand Opera Young Artist covering Ruiz in “Il Trovatore” and Ernesto in “Don Pasquale.” Past credits at WSU include “Albert Herring” in the title role, First Priest in “The Magic Flute” and Ottone in “L'Incoronazione di Poppea.” He has sung for venues beyond Wichita, including Opera in the Ozarks, Canta in Italia and Opera Kansas. He is applying for graduate school with the goal of a professional operatic career.
A busy symphony, conductor
The 2011-12 WSU Symphony Orchestra concert season (featuring faculty Mark Foley, bass; Andrea Banke, oboe; and Alla Aranovskaya, violin) will culminate May 3 with a performance of Beethoven’s groundbreaking Ninth Symphony. Recent symphony appearances include a 2011 concert at Carnegie Hall, participation in the 2008 International Festival of Youth Orchestras in Zaragoza, Spain, and multiple invited performances at the Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop.
Laycock is an associate professor of music at Wichita State, where he holds the Ann Walenta Faculty of Distinction Endowed Professorship. For his bio, go to www.wichita.edu/marklaycock.