SRU vocalists prepare for Chad Williamson Scholarship competition
Oct. 18, 2019
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Fifteen Slippery Rock University student vocalists will take the Swope Music Hall stage at 6 p.m., Nov. 2 when they compete in the 27th annual Chad Williamson Memorial Vocal Scholarship competition.
Each student will present two selections, a classical piece and a piece of their choosing. Performers will be accompanied by Nicole Cochran, an SRU instructor of music and staff accompanist for the University's Music Department.
The scholarship, which provides tuition support to three SRU students, honors the late Chad Williamson. Williamson, a Slippery Rock Area High School graduate, planned to study music at SRU but was killed in a traffic accident prior to his freshman year.
Williamson's mother, Karen Legato, a 1991 SRU communication graduate and former SRU employee, and father, the late Fred Williamson, started the scholarship in 1992.
CHAD WILLIAMSON
Student performers and their selections are:
● Austin Cornelius, a senior music education major from Industry, will perform "Se Vuol Ballare" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" by Claude-Michel Shonberg.
● Nathan Demarest, a senior music therapy major from Greenville, will perform "Non Piu Andrai" by Mozart and "My Lagan Love" by Hamilton Harty.
● Sky Dickey, a sophomore music education major from Cheswick, will perform "Nacht Und Traume" by Franz Shubert and "Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Brest" by Arthur Sullivan.
● Emma Flaherty, a sophomore music therapy major from Churchville, New York, will perform "Ching-a-Ring Chaw" by Aaron Copland and "Ah Quel Diner" by Jacques Offenbach.
● Hannah Floyd, a senior dual major in music therapy and music performance from Sheffield Village, Ohio, will perform "Chacun a Son Gout" by Johann Strauss and "Spiagge Amate" by Christoph Willibald von Gluck.
● Darian Gold, a junior music therapy major from Butler, will perform "Wie Melodien" by Johannes Brahms and "Blue" by William Bolcom.
● Rachel Heck, a freshman music performance major from Cranesville, will perform "Vergebliches Standchen" by Brahms and "Deh Vieni, Non Tardar" by Mozart.
● Hunter Humphreys, a junior music therapy major from Pittsburgh, will perform "Deh, Vieni Alla Finestra" by Mozart and "When the Air Sings of Summer" by Gian Carlo Menotti.
● Noah Mariani, a junior music major from Portersville, will perform "Recitative - Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My People, Air - Ev'ry Valley Shall Be Exalted" by George Frideric Handel and "C'est l'extase - Ariettes oubliees"
by Claude Debussy.
● Emma Reiss, a sophomore music therapy major from Canal Winchester, Ohio, will perform "O Mis Babbino Caro" by Giacomo Puccini and "Le Secret" by Gabriel Faure.
● Jacqui Rush, a senior music therapy major from Quakertown, will perform "Enfant, Si j'etais roi" by Franz Liszt and "Volta la Terrea" by Giuseppe Verdi.
● Elizabeth Saver, a sophomore music major from Clarion, will perform "De Los Alamos Vengo, Madre" by Juan Vasquez and "Tiny's Song" by Benjamin Britten.
● Taylor Searle, a sophomore music major from Valencia, will perform "Zueignung" by Richard Strauss and "Daybreak in Alabama" by Ricky Ian Gordon.
● Gabrielle Spence, a sophomore music therapy major from Penn Hills, will perform "L'ho Perduta, Me Meschina" by Mozart and "Le Nozzle di Figaro K. 492" by Gabriel Faure.
● Ben Wolpert, a junior music education major from Tafton, will perform "XVI" from Dichterliebe by Robert Schumann and "Nei Cor Piu Non Mi Sento" by Giovanni Paisiello.
The competition will be judged by Liza Kelly, an assistant professor of music at Western Kentucky University, where she teaches voice and language diction.
The competition is free and open to the public.
MEDIA CONTACT: Lesa Bressanelli | 724.738.2091 | lnb1009@sru.edu