Contact: Robbie S. Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Singer, composer, conductor, and pianist Dawn Lenore Sonntag will lead a master class Friday [March 4] for Mississippi State and Starkville High School students during her visit as a community artist-in-residence.
Sponsored by the university's music department and the Starkville Area Arts Council, the assistant professor and choral director at Hiram (Ohio) College is sharing her knowledge and experiences as a professional artist, performer and educator.
While campus and school classes she visits are not public events, Sonntag will give a public recital at 3 p.m. Sunday [the 6th] at Starkville's First Presbyterian Church on University Drive. The performance is free to all, but persons attending are asked to bring a donation for the local Habitat for Humanity program.
Music selections for the recital will include her original works, as well as those by composers J. S. Bach, Gabriel Faure and G. F. Handel.
Sonntag holds a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Minnesota, master's degrees from Ohio State University and Antioch University in Germany, and a bachelor from the University of Texas at El Paso.
She has performed opera, oratorio and art song repertoires throughout the United States and Europe. For additional biographical information, visit www.hiram.edu/music/sonntag.html.
Karen Murphy, an MSU music department instructor, will provide piano and organ accompaniment during the Sunday program.
"It is exciting to have such a talented artist and educator with us in Starkville and on the MSU campus," Murphy said. "She is not only an excellent choral director and singer, but also a sought after commissioned composer and is held in high regard within the music profession."
For more information, contact Murphy at 662-325-6641 or kmurphy@colled.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.