French and American songs Wednesday at Gobin

Monday, July 8, 2013
Pianist/composer Ezra Donner and soprano Clair DiVizio will present a concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Gobin UMC.

Soprano Claire DiVizio and pianist/composer Ezra Donner will present a concert of French and American songs and arias from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries Wednesday evening as the Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues its ninth season.

The free 7:30 p.m. concert in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church will feature music by Debussy, Poulenc, Chausson, Messiaen, Satie, Massenet, Copland, Barber and more.

DiVizio and Donner have been making music together since 2008, collaborating on concerts in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and throughout the Midwest, as well as working together on the creation of two operas. They met in 2007 while both were involved with University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

Soprano DiVizio's repertoire extends from Renaissance madrigals to contemporary opera and encompasses nearly everything in between. Recently, she appeared at the Kentucky Center as Blanche de la Force in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, in San Francisco as Giorgetta in Puccini's Il Tabarro and in Cambridge, Mass., in concert with the Boston New Music Initiative.

Twice named the winner of the Michigan District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she was recently selected as a semifinalist in the Florida Grand Opera National Voice Competition.

One of DiVizio's greatest musical passions is working with living composers. By the end of 2013, she will have created seven opera roles and premiered nearly 20 concert works for voice, including song literature, chamber music and choral solos.

DiVizio is also an active arts administrator. In 2011, she created Thompson Street Opera Company, which is dedicated to producing new operas by both emerging and established composers. Previously, she was a member of the executive board of the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society from 2007-11. She holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Louisville, where she was the only student in the department supported by a full merit scholarship and teaching fellowship. She is also a graduate of the University of Michigan, and holds both a Bachelor of Music with high honors in voice performance and a Bachelor of Arts with distinction in English literature.

Donner is an American composer, pianist and educator whose music has been performed throughout North America, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Donner is also a frequent performer of his own music, and his solo album, "Steel Sky," features original compositions for piano.

Currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree in composition at Indiana University, he is a student of Aaron Travers. He holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of Michigan, where his principal teachers were William Bolcom and Bright Sheng.

The Greencastle Summer Music Festival is designed to bring the community together with friends making music for friends. Free concerts, supported by donations, every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church.

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