Three members of the WVU music faculty, including tenor Nicholas Perna, soprano Mandy Spivak and pianist Lucy Mauro, will present a fully staged, multimedia interpretation of Robert Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” at the Creative Arts Center, Wednesday, Oct. 6.

The event begins at 8:15 p.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (Room 200A) and is free and open to the public.

“Dichterliebe” (The Poet’s Love) was composed in 1840 is considered Schumann’s masterpiece. The texts for the 16 songs in the song cycle come from the “Lyrisches Intermezzo” of Heinrich Heine, composed in 1822-23.

This performance will also include students from Perna’s voice studio. The second half of the program will be Jake Heggie’s 2005 operatic scene for soprano and piano called “At the Statue of Venus,” performed by Spivak and Mauro.

Perna holds a bachelor of music degree in voice and a doctorate in vocal pedagogy and performance from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, as well as a master of music in voice from the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. He previously served on the faculty of New World School of the Arts and Miami Dade College. Since the summer of 2005 he has served as voice faculty and production director of the Cultural American Music Program in Marathon, Fla., where he also serves as artistic director.

Spivak received a bachelor of music degree from the University of Miami and a master of music from the University of Houston. She also holds a doctorate in vocal performance from the University of Miami. Her portrayal of Miss Lavish in the production of Robert Nelson’s opera “A Room with a View” has been made available on a commercially released DVD.

Mauro is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, from which she received bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. She frequently conducts master classes, workshops and other presentations, often with tenor Donald George. She has performed at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress and the Embassy of Poland in Washington, D.C., among other venues.

For more information, contact the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4359.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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