Recital, February 22nd, 2008

Soprano Courtenay Schowalter presents a diverse recital of arias and art-songs on Friday, February 22 at 8:00 p.m. in 301 Philosophy Hall at Columbia University. Ms. Schowalter is joined by pianist Leesa Dahl on a program of rarely performed works including Mozart’s concert aria Vado, ma dove?; Donizetti’s Il Barciaolo, Eterno amor e fè, A Mezzanote; R. Strauss’s Einerlei, Wiegenlied, In der Campagna; Poulenc’s song cycle A courte paille; Valerie Saalbach’s song cycle Catarina to Camoens (poetry by E. Barrett Browning); as well as a special performance of Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with guitarist Oliver Inteeworn. Complete program and ticket information is listed below.

Soprano Courtenay Schowalter has performed with Opera Boston, Brooklyn Repertory Opera, the Hillyer Festival Orchestra, and has given numerous recitals in Boston and Rome. Highlights from recent seasons include performing with the Hilllyer Festival Orchestra at Boston’s Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, a recital at the French Ambassador’s home in Washington D.C., and the role of Marzelline this past winter in a production of Fidelio with Brooklyn Repertory Opera. Ms. Schowalter received a Bachelors of Music at the University of Michigan and a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at New England Conservatory, both with high honor. Her vocal teachers include Gregory Lamar, Patricia Craig and Freda Herseth. She is currently coaching with Christopher Fecteau.

Pianist Leesa Dahl has performed and coached at Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, and Yale University. Ms. Dahl has worked with Gotham Chamber Opera, One World Symphony, and Opera on Tap. In past summers, she has been a vocal coach and accompanist for the Aspen Opera Theater Center, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and BASOTI. In 2001 and 2004 she was an Apprentice Coach in the Merola Opera Program in San Fransicso. Recently, Ms. Dahl was on the music staff at Glimmerglass Opera and she has also joined the music staff of the Mark Morris Dance Group, where she is currently preparing the company's production of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. In September, Leesa will become assistant conductor and chorus master at Fort Worth Opera.