German for Singers Presents The Finale Concert

The Middlebury College Language Schools’ German for Singers program

will present The Finale Concert on Sunday, August 10, at 8:00

p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Middlebury College Center for

the Arts. The Finale Concert, an evening of solo and ensemble

works featuring the individual and collective achievements of

each singer in the German for Singers program, will include songs

from Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, duets by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel,

operas and arias by Mozart, and a portion of Brahms’ Liebesleider

Walzer.

The singers are participants in the German for Singers program,

a special course of study designed by the German School, one of

the eight summer session schools offered by the Middlebury College

Language Schools. German for Singers integrates the study of the

German language, literature, and culture with music history, vocal

pedagogy, and performance. The program provides individualized

career preparation for young singers with professional ambitions.

Lectures and master classes, private coaching, and individual

tutoring complement formal classroom instruction. In a carefully

structured, total-immersion environment, students gain the skills

and confidence required to become singing artists with German

language proficiency and insight into the vocal repertoire of

German-speaking cultures.

During this summer’s seven-week program, lectures and master classes

were offered by Professor Emerita Louise McClelland Urban of the

University of Maryland, who holds a Culture Medallion from the

International Hugo Wolf Society in Austria; Maestro Joseph Colaneri

of the National Touring Company in New York; and Professor of

Music Dr. James McDonald of Indiana University. German for Singers

is directed by Dr. Brenda Smith, coordinator of Musical Activities

at the German School at Middlebury, and director of Vocal Studies

at Manatee Community College, Florida.

The Finale Concert is the German for Singers’ third performance

this year. Earlier in the summer, the group performed a chamber

music concert on the Middlebury campus, and again at the Trapp

Family Lodge in Stowe. Maria von Trapp attended the Stowe performance,

and was enthusiastic about the concert. While personally giving

the singers a tour of the Trapp Family grounds after the show,

Mrs. Von Trapp told the group “This is real music.”

The Finale Concert is free and open to the public. For more information,

call 802-443-5510.