Vocal recitals flood Harris Concert Hall every semester and on Nov. 6 at 8 p.m., mezzo-soprano Dr. Pamela Gaston will star in another. Assisted by Dr. John David Peterson on piano and Jane Gerard-Schranze on viola, pieces by Brahms, Peterkin, Barber, Mahler and Peterson are scheduled.
Gaston is an associate professor of voice at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music where she serves as vocal division coordinator. As a professional singer, she performed extensively in German and Austrian opera houses and with the Des Moines Metro Opera, St. Louis Opera Theater, Opera Memphis, the Kansas City Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony and South Texas Symphony in the States.
She has twice been a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Council's auditions, as well as a national finalist in the National Opera Association Auditions. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
"The way I program my recitals is completely collaborative." Gaston said. "I sit down with John (Peterson) and we discuss what we would both like to perform and we come up with a list of works in a very short time. Jane (Gerard-Schranze) also wanted to do a piece with me, so we agreed upon the Brahms Op.91 songs."
Peterson is a professor of music and coordinator of the Sacred Music Division at The U of M. He holds a doctorate in Organ Performance from The University of Michigan and is active as a performer and accompanist on both organ and the piano.
"It's great to have an organist at the piano because they expect some of the same colors to come out of the piano as they do of an organ," Gaston said. "It adds a very rich texture to the pieces we perform."
One of the highlights of her program will be Gustav Mahler's "4 Songs of a Wayfarer," with Peterson at piano.
"I've performed them with orchestra, but this will be the first time with piano," Gaston said.
She has a special link to these songs: one of her teachers was taught by Paul Rose, Mahler's nephew, who performed these songs with Mahler in Vienna, Austria in the early 1900s. Gaston's teacher imparted Rose's notes on these songs to her that she incorporates into her performances today.
