ISSUED: 14 October 2016
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s 2016-2017 Music Salon Series, sponsored by Jefferson Security Bank, continues on Thursday, October 27, at 8 p.m. in the Frank Center’s W. H. Shipley Recital Hall with “I Hear America Singing: A Recital of American Poetry.” The concert will feature baritones Dr. Robert Tudor, associate professor of music and chair of the Department of Music, and Dr. Bobb Robinson, adjunct music faculty, accompanied by pianist Dr. Yu-Hsuan Liao, assistant professor of music.
The evening will explore American poetry set to music and will include, among others, the works of poets Walt Whitman and Christy MacKaye Barnes, the music of composers Phillip Dalmas and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and contemporary composers James Jenkins and Shepherd graduate Walker Williams.
Tudor’s career has included work as a professional singer, educator, and nonprofit executive. As a singer, he has been praised by the Washington Post for his “powerful singing voice” and “notable acting skills.” He has performed opera, musical theater, cabaret, and concert works throughout the United States. Tudor is a regular guest artist with the Montana Early Music Festival, and artist and instructor at the annual Helena Choral Festival in Montana. In 2009, he joined soprano Rosa Lamoreaux, pianist Betty Bullock, and bassist David Jernigan for the first in a series of national concert engagements featuring classics from Broadway.
Robinson has performed as a soloist with many nationally renowned ensembles, including the Washington Bach Consort, Denver Bach Society, Montana Early Music Festival, Musikanten, National Gallery of Art Vocal Ensemble, and on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” He has been a featured performer on recordings with the Choirs of Washington National Cathedral, as well as on the recent Clear Note Records release of Brahms vocal chamber music, “Liebestreu.” Robinson has been praised by the Washington Post for his “charismatic stage presence” and “rich, flowing singing,” and by the Miami Herald for his “impressively effortless singing.” Robinson has performed at some of the nation’s most prominent venues, including the Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral, National Gallery of Art, and the White House.
Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, Liao is a piano soloist, collaborative artist, and music educator. Liao worked with the American Repertory Ensemble in Texas, performing piano solo, chamber, and accompanying vocal music in the company’s performance series. Her solo performance with A.R.E. (“Valses Poéticos,” Passion at Play) was nominated for best instrumentalist in the Austin Critics Table Award for season of 2008-2009. She gave a piano lecture-recital based on her published book titled “Manuel de Falla’s Cuatro Piezas Españoles: Combinations and Transformations of the Spanish Folk Modes” and a solo piano performance in a composers’ new composition concert at College Music Society conference.
For more information about the Shepherd Salon Series or other Department of Music events, call 304-876-5555 or visit www.shepherd.edu/music.
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