By Staff
special to The Star
April 28, 2002
The Meridian Symphony Orchestra will perform Mendelssohn's Elijah on Saturday spotlighting the Meridian Community College Community Chorus and featuring Julian Patrick as the bass-baritone soloist on Saturday. Other soloists will include Eric Van Hoven (tenor), MCC alumnus; Nell Adams (contralto), Mississippi College faculty member; and Rebecca Koenigberg (soprano), Mississippi State University faculty member. A pre-concert lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the Casteel Gallery at the MCC L.O. Todd Library. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. in the Emma McCain Theatre at MCC.
Julian Patrick hails from Meridian and is a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He is a professor of voice and chair of the Voice Department at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is one of the most distinguished and versatile American artists and has performed worldwide with major opera companies, such as Metropolitan Opera, Theatre de Geneva, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and the Dallas Opera. Mr. Patrick is equally at home on the concert stage, having appeared with nearly all the major symphony orchestras in the United States and a number in Europe.
Eric Van Hoven, another Mississippi native, has made his debuts with New York City Opera in "Die Zauberflte," at Avery Fisher Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra and on Broadway in "Candide". He has also performed with Mobile Opera, Virginia Opera, Portland Opera and Chicago Chamber Opera among others. Roles in premieres include: "Reverend Everyman" with Florida State, "Under the Arbor" with Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, "Keepers of the Light" with Opera Roanoke.
Nell Adams has studied voice with Josephine D-Arpa, Gerald Claxton and Vivian Wood. Her solo appearances include Beethoven's Mass in C, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Vivaldi's Gloria, Handel's Messiah, and Mozart's Requiem. She has sung with the symphony orchestras of Jackson and Meridian. Adams has been a member of, as well as soloist with, both the Capitol Chamber Choir of Jackson and the Meridian Community Chorus.
Rebecca Koenigberg has been a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera auditions, the San Francisco Opera competition, the Eleanor Lieber Awards and the Young Patronesses of the Opera competition in Miami. She has performed lead roles with Milwaukee Skylight Opera, New England Lyric, Chicago Pocket Opera, Ohio Light Opera, and Opera Colorado.
Tickets are now on sale at the MSO office and will also be available at the door. For more information or to purchase season tickets, contact the MSO office at 693-2224.