SRU music department hosts virtual Chad Williamson Scholarship competition

Nov. 5, 2020

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Twenty-two Slippery Rock University student vocalists will take the virtual stage at 5 p.m., Nov. 7 when they compete in the Department of Music's 28th annual Chad Williamson Memorial Vocal Scholarship competition. This year's competition will take place via Zoom with passcode 189355.

Each student will present two selections, a classical piece and a piece of their choosing. Performers will be accompanied by either Nicole Cochran, an SRU instructor of music and staff accompanist for the Music Department; or James Lesniak, an associate coach and pianist for the Pittsburgh Opera who regularly works with the department.

Participating students prerecorded their performances and submitted them for the judges to review. The Nov. 7 event will therefore serve as a performance "watch party" with the winner being announced at the conclusion of the presentations.

   CHAD WILLIAMSON

The student performances will be critiqued by three judges:

• Norman Spivey, professor of voice and voice pedagogy at Pennsylvania State University.
• Allen Perriello, head of music at Minnesota Opera and director of the Young Artists Program at The Glimmerglass Festival.
• Quinn Patrick Ankrum, assistant professor of voice at the University of Cincinnati.

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 University employee, and father, the late Fred Williamson, started the scholarship in 1992.

Student performers and their selections are:

• Leah Buczek, a sophomore music education major from New Castle, will perform "O del mio dolce ardor" by Christoph Willibald Gluck and "The Bird" by John Duke.
• Joshua Crooks, a sophomore music performance major from Pittsburgh, will perform "Pupille nere" by Giovanni Buononcini and "Quia fecit mihi magna" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
• Hannah D'Egidio, a sophomore music education major from Industry, will perform "Do Not Go My Love" by Richard Hageman and "In dem Schatten meiner Locken" by Hugo Wolf.
• Nathan Demarest, a senior music therapy major from Greenville, will perform "Honor and Arms" by G.F. Handel and "Automne" by Gabriel Fauré.
• Katherine Frontz, a freshman music performance major from Pittsburgh, will perform "Berlin im Licht" by Kurt Weill and "Una donna a quindici anni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• Darian Gold, a senior music therapy major from Butler, will perform "L'allegro marinaro" by Vincenzo Bellini and "Spring Sorrow" by John Ireland.
• Rachel Heck, a junior music performance major from Cranesville, will perform "Sweeter than roses" by Henry Purcell and "Nixe Binsefuss" by Hugo Wolf.
• Evelyn Hodson, a freshman music education major from Columbia, Missouri, will perform "Vilja-Lied" by Franz Lehar and "Vittoria, mio core!" by Giacomo Carissimi.
• Shaun Klein, a sophomore music education major from East Brady, will perform "Marechiare" by Paolo Tosti and "Automne" by Gabriel Fauré.
• Lindsay Malloy, a sophomore music therapy major from Beaver, will perform "Amor preparami" by Alessandro Scarlatti and "If Music be the Food of Love" by Henry Purcell.
• Noah Mariani, a senior music major from Portersville, will perform "Una furtiva lagrima" by Gaetano Donizetti and "This is my box" by Gian Carlo Menotti.
• Julia Pokora, a sophomore music therapy major from Pittsburgh, will perform "V'adoro pupille" by George Frideric Handel and "Will there really be a morning?" by Ricky Ian Gordon.
• Emma Reiss, a senior music therapy major from Canal Winchester, Ohio, will perform "Un marito donne care" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and "Quia respexit humilitatem" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
• Elizabeth Rock, a sophomore dual major in music therapy and music education from Sewickley, will perform "Paysage Sentimental" by Claude Debussy and "How could I ever know?" by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman.
• Elizabeth Saver, a junior music major from Clarion, will perform "Guitare" by Georges Bizet and "Silver Aria" by Douglas Moore.
• Allegra Schnitzel, a senior music therapy major from Roslyn, will perform "Les Berceaux" by Gabriel Fauré and "An die Musik" by Franz Schubert.
• Metea Sinclair, a senior music therapy major from Harrisburg, will perform "Del cabello más sutil" by Fernando Obradors and "Wie Melodien zieht es mir" by Johannes Brahms.
• Gabrielle Spence, a junior music therapy major from Penn Hills, will perform "Widmung" by Robert Schumann and "Vedrai, carino" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• Claire Toth, a freshman music education major from Pulaski, will perform "I attempt from Love's sickness" by Henry Purcell and "La farfalletta" by Vincenzo Bellini.
• Jordan Weeter, a senior music education major from Knox, will perform "Heavenly Grass" by Paul Bowles and "Ma rendi pur contento" by Vincenzo Bellini.
• Savannah Wesolowski, a junior music performance major from Pittsburgh, will perform "Per pietà, bell'idol mio" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and "Oh! quand je dors" by Franz Liszt.
• Cassandra Wigley, a sophomore music therapy major from Youngstown, Ohio, will perform "Ah, mio cor" by George Frideric Handel and "Music, When Soft Voices Die" by Ernest Gold.

The virtual competition is free and open to the public.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lesa Bressanelli | 724.738.2091 | lnb1009@sru.edu