Baylor University Music Professors to Perform at Joint Faculty Recital

September 9, 2011

September 9, 2011
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Soprano Deborah Williamson, Ph.D., associate professor of voice at Baylor University, and pianist Jeffrey Peterson, Ph.D., assistant professor of voice and vocal coach at Baylor, will present a recital at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 12, in Roxy Grove Hall.
Peterson will accompany Williamson throughout the concert as she sings selections from composers Claude Debussy, Sergei Prokofiev, Giacomo Puccini, Richard Strauss and Roger Quilter.
The performance will begin with three Strauss love songs: "Rote Rosen," "Die erwatche Rose" and "Begegnung." The Debussy selection, Ariettes Oubilées, is a cycle of six songs that are poetry settings inspired by French poet Paul Verlaine.
Peterson and Williamson will also perform Prokofiev's Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova and an aria from Act III of Puccini's opera La Bohème. The program will close with four songs by Quilter: "Autumn Evening," "The Spring is at the Door," "A Last Year's Rose" and "Love's Philosophy."
Faculty recitals are organized for professors to continue performing in their field of expertise, and Williamson hopes students will take advantage of the learning opportunity.
"This practice benefits both the professor and her students as the professor continues to learn and hone her skills and then to immediately share those lessons with her students," Williamson said. "Additionally, watching a performance and listening to music is a tremendously important aspect of the learning process for students of music. I think it is important for students to see their teachers humble themselves and take emotional risks on stage. It is another reminder of our shared humanity and spirituality."
Peterson and Williamson's recital at Roxy Grove Hall, 624 Speight Ave., is free of charge and open to the public.
For more information, call the Baylor University school of Music at (254) 710-3991.
by Carmen Galvan, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805