Baylor Mezzo-Soprano In Faculty Recital March 28

by Richard Veit

Mezzo-soprano Wanda Brister, lecturer in vocal studies, will present a faculty recital at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in Roxy Grove Hall. She will be assisted by pianist Richard Aslanian, lecturer in music and director of opera, and by harpsichordist Harry Elzinga, who serves as professor of musicology and director of graduate studies.
The recital will open with "The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation" from Henry Purcell's Harmonia Sacra, followed by Maurice Ravel's Two Hebraique Melodies. A group of Henri Duparc songs will follow--"L'Invitation au Voyage," "Extase," Phidylé," "Lamento" and "La Manoir de Rosemonde." Brister then will perform German composer Hans Pfitzner's Four Songs for Medium Voice.
Concluding the program will be a variety of English-language songs from the late 20th-century. These will include Ned Rorem's "Psalm 148" and "Alleluia," David Diamond's "David Mourns for Absalom," Ernst Bacon's "Ancient Carol" and Charles Ives's "In the Mornin'." Brister also will sing "Watchful's Song," one of seven pieces that Ralph Vaughan Williams composed on John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.
A native of Houma, La., Brister received a bachelor of music degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master of music degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. She has studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
Brister has sung in Carnegie Hall on numerous occasions, was a member of the New York Vocal Arts Ensemble and performed with the opera companies of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Saint Louis and New Orleans, among many others.
This concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Baylor School of Music at 710-3991.