Paré and pianist Clodfelter to put cap on Gobin Music Festival

Monday, August 15, 2011

The 2011 Greencastle Summer Music Festival at Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church concludes Wednesday evening with yet another "mash-up" concert combining musical genres.

For the festival's grand finale, soprano Barbara Paré and pianist John Clodfelter, both DePauw School of Music faculty members, will perform a combination of classical songs and Broadway tunes, including music from "Showboat," "White Christmas" and "State Fair."

After the concert, a celebratory reception will be held with food from Chief's restaurant, the festival's business sponsor.

"I think of this week's program as a big music party," says Eric Edberg, the DePauw music professor who founded the festival seven years ago and still organizes it. "We'll have great music with a wonderful combination of classical and popular songs, and great food as well. I'm very grateful to Chief's for their support and the food this Wednesday."

The 7:30 p.m. concert is free and open to the public. The festival's costs have been underwritten by individual donors, Chief's and the Paul and Joanne Kissinger Foundation.

"We have named the program 'Moonlight, Life and Romance,'" Barbara Paré says, "While rehearsing, John and I realized that there are many references to the moon. It is a very romantic program. Life is represented in all of the sets, but especially in the Schumann."

The Schumann work is Frauenliebe und Leben. or "A Woman's Love and Life," a set of songs which the singer depicts her love for a man, from first meeting through courtship, marriage and eventually his passing.

"It's one of my favorite song cycles in all of classical music," says Edberg. "So I'm thrilled they have decided to include it."

Songs from Czech composer Antonin Dvořák and French master Francis Poulenc are also on the program, which will end with a number of show tunes from Kern and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin and Jason Robert Brown.

Soprano Paré has extensive solo and operatic experience, having performed with a variety of nationally-known opera companies, including the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Cincinnati Opera Summer Festival, the Ensemble Company of Cincinnati Opera, the Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Iowa.

Her operatic experience has included roles in staged productions of "Carmen," "The Barber of Seville" and "The Bartered Bride" She has also performed as a soloist with the Cincinnati Ballet, and presented recitals at numerous colleges and universities.

Before joining the DePauw faculty, Paré taught at Northern Kentucky University, Florida State University, Western State College and Simpson College.

Clodfelter began music study in piano performance. While a student at DePauw, Clodfelter discovered his love for collaborative piano, which was further nurtured in his studies at Indiana University.

Since 1996, Clodfelter has worked at DePauw University as a staff accompanist and vocal coach. In the summer of 2005, he received a grant to study in Vienna, Austria, where he studied with Walter Moore and Carolyne Hague.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: