Friday, April 07, 2006

Wilmington, NC - The University of North Carolina Wilmington Department of Music presents An Evening of German Song at 8 p.m. Monday, April 24 in Kenan Auditorium. Lyric soprano Sara Graham Westermark, a frequent solo performer on the Wilmington scene, joins UNCW associate professor of music Barry David Salwen, piano, for an intimate recital of German masterpieces.

The evening opens with a trio of vocal classics by Franz Schubert, including Lachen und Weinen (Laughter and Tears), Auf dem Wasser zu singen (To Sing on the Water), and Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) from Goethe's masterwork "Faust." Accompanied by Salwen, Westermark also performs classic songs by Johannes Brahms and Alban Berg, ending with a saucy number by the Irish born, but German trained Victor Herbert.

Having studied at the Vienna Academy of Music in Austria and taught at the Music Conservatory in Freiburg Germany, Salwen has a close kinship with the German/Austrian composers featured in the evening's program.

Salwen performs solo selections throughout the evening, including the lyrical first movement of Schubert's Sonata in E-flat, two late Brahms works, the first movement from Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11 by Arnold Schoenberg, and the delectable Pizzicato Polka by Johann Strauss Sr. as arranged by Otto Schulhof.

Tickets for this Artist Recital Series are $5 general admission and free for UNCW students with a valid ID.

For more information, please contact the UNCW Kenan Auditorium Box Office at 910.962.3500 or the UNCW Department of Music at 910.962.7416.

BARRY DAVID SALWEN
Dr. Barry Salwen is an international concert pianist, giving performances and master classes in the U.S., Europe, Israel, and Asia. He gave two weeks of master classes at the Shanghai Conservatory in China, among many other places. More recently, as the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Scholars Grant, he gave a semester's seminar at the Music Conservatory in Freiburg, Germany. His annual master classes at UNCW have been attended by students from all over eastern North Carolina.

Among Salwen's 9 CDs is the first recording of the complete solo piano music of the American master Roger Sessions; he is the first artist to record all of these works. In fall 2005 this recording was reissued on Albany Records. In 2006, his recording of Sessions' piano concerto will appear on Albany as well.

SARA GRAHAM WESTERMARK
Sara Graham Westermark, lyric soprano, performs and teaches in the Wilmington area. She received both a bachelor's degree in voice performance ('96) and a master's degree in voice performance ('98) from the University of Missouri. While attending the University of Missouri, she performed as the female lead in the opera productions for four years. She also received academic honors (cum Laude & Superior Graduate Achievement Award) and won several voice competitions (NATS '96 & '98). She has been a soloist with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, the UNCW Concert Choir, the Southeastern Oratorio Society, the Wilmington Oratorio Society, and with many local church choirs. In addition to performing, she teaches at Cape Fear Community College and maintains an active private voice studio.

Media Contact:
Courtney Reilly, UNCW Department of Music, (p) 910.962.7416 / (e) reillyce@uncw.edu

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