Friday, September 13, 2019 | 7:00 pm
John White Chapel, Old Main
A team of singers and pianists perform a narrative created from Clara Schumann’s complete art songs on her birthday in this bicentennial year. Frequently upon the commemoration of a composer’s birth, conservatories and concert halls give special revivals of that composer’s music, affording performers and audiences a rare experience not only to commemorate an historical event, but also to participate in the creation of a new historical landmark. Because September 13 is the bicentennial of Clara Schumann (1819-1896), the preeminent 19th Century concert pianist, composer, and music editor, it is most auspicious to perform all of her art songs in one evening, arranged to form a passionate narrative, as her husband composer Robert Schumann did when he created his song cycle Dichterliebe. The songs will be performed in German, with English translations and a subtext that will point the audience through the narrative.
Dr. David Kenneth Smith is a Music professor at Geneva College who teaches Voice and conducts The Genevans. He is joined by Kathryn Copeland Donaldson, Sean Donaldson, Lara Cottrill McGill, Brian Doherty, and pianists Marie Libal-Smith and Nanette Kaplan Solomon.
A similar concert will be performed at Third Presbyterian Church, 5701 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, on Saturday, September 21 at 7 pm.