Sopranos Susan Savage Day and Rebekah Demaree will return to the UW–Platteville Center for the Arts Concert Hall stage with their pianist Sharon Jensen on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. for an afternoon of art songs.
The program will explore a wide range of relationships, including the connections women have with family, friends, mentors and partners.
Kassia’s recital, Relationships, will feature mother–daughter duets with guest vocalists, Arianna Day and Rachael Demaree, plus the world premiere of an art song commissioned by Bob Demaree for his wife Becky. The premiere piece marks the 30th wedding anniversary of the Demarees and was composed by UW–Oshkosh composer Eric Barnum.
The music for the recital is comprised of traditional art songs, and musical theatre and opera excerpts, and it concludes with Connie Furlan’s staging of Heggie’s song cycle, Facing Forward/Looking Back, which reveals the complexity of a mother/daughter relationship. Other duet composers that will be featured are Berlioz, Britten, Corigliano, Massenet, Monteverdi, and Mozart, along with solo works by Blumenkrantz, Grever, Respighi, and Strauss.
Arianna Day is a junior at Viterbo University in La Crosse, where she is pursuing a Vocal Performance major and Business Administration minor. She has performed the last two summers as a principal singer/dancer in Kids from Wisconsin. Last month at Viterbo, she performed the role of Madame Goldentrill in Mozart’s opera, The Impresario. In 2015, she sang Damon in Handel’s opera, Acis & Galatea. Last November, Arianna won third place in the classical division at the Wisconsin NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) competition which was held at UW-Eau Claire. In May, she was offered a scholarship for a Masters degree from Longy School of Music of Bard College at the Classical Singer competition which was held in Boston.
Rachael Demaree is a junior at Drake University in Des Moines pursuing two degrees, a Bachelor of Music Education (choral) and a Bachelor of Music (bassoon). She is the senior choral assistant for the Drake choirs and the soprano section leader at St. Mark Lutheran Church in West Des Moines. This past summer Rachael was the Symphony Academy Intern at the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of the Drake Choir and Chamber Choir, which toured to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland in May 2016. Rachael also plays bassoon in the Drake Symphony Orchestra and has experience as both a private instructor and an accompanist. Last fall, she was a semifinalist at the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Central Regional auditions in Chicago.
Tickets for the performance are $12 for adults and $5 for seniors, UWP students, and those younger than 18. To purchase tickets, call the CFA box office, 342-1298, or check online at tickets.uwplatt.edu.
