Houston, Texas – UPDATE: September 15, 2015 – The Moores School of Music at the University of Houston proudly announces a guest recital with mezzo-soprano Henriette Reinhold and pianist Vita Gajevska (students from Hochschule für Musik, Leipzig – the school that Mendelssohn started in 1843, and that greats like Schumann, attended) on Friday, October 2, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. in the Dudley Recital Hall (Fine Arts Building) on the University of Houston campus. The official address of the building is 4188 Elgin Street, Houston , TX 77004. There will be a reception before the recital at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.
The recital theme is night and dreams including Schubert’s Nacht und Träume, Debussy’s Nuit d’étoiles, and Menotti’s Lullaby (The Consul). Most of the program consists of pieces by German composers. Not only that, but these students are specifically studying German song interpretation and how the pieces most likely would have been performed when they were written. So you will hear the repertoire our guests traditionally work on in their native language—a rare treat.
The repertoire spans arias and songs from baroque to late 20th century and includes composers such as Bach, Händel, Schubert, Brahms, Mozart, Mendelsohn, R. Strauss, and composers from other countries such as Debussy and Saint-Saëns. Some of the repertoire is even rarely heard. This concert is truly not to be missed!
This is the kick-off event for a new partnership with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HMT), Leipzig. At this event, they will be announcing our new student exchange, starting in 2016/2017. Every year, one student from the HMT will come over here to study in the fall, and in the spring a student from MSM will study at the HMT. During the first week in December, Melanie Sonnenberg, Jeffrey Sposato, and one student (TBD) will travel to Germany to kickoff the event there. Prof. Sonnenberg will give master classes, Dr. Sposato will be holding lectures, and the student will perform a full recital. The representatives from the school in Leipzig will be holding a series of concerts around Houston all weekend in honor of the 25th anniversary of the October 3 Unification of Germany. It will truly be a wonderful celebration, and with Leipzig as Houston’s sister city, many representatives of government (such as the mayor of Leipzig) will be coming into town and attending these concerts.
