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The Hamilton College and Community Oratorio Society, directed by G. Roberts Kolb, will perform Antonín Dvorák's Requiem on Tuesday, May 7, at 8 p.m. at Wellin Hall in the Schambach Center . The featured soloists are Lauralyn Kolb soprano; Martha Sutter, mezzo-soprano; Todd Greer, tenor; and Timothy LeFebvre, baritone.

Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) is considered to be one of the most well known Czech composers of the Romantic period. His musical career began as an organist. Dvorak took his formal training at the Organ College in Prague, and found a job as an organist in a small church. Johannes Brahms introduced Dvorak to a famous publisher, and helped him qualify for an Austrian state fellowship for artists. Dvorak's Slavonic Dances launched his international reputation. Operas and symphonies followed and he earned enough from his musical compositions to resign his organist job. In 1892, he was invited to become the director National Conservatory of Music in New York. In 1894, Dvorak returned home and for the last 10 years of his life he continued to compose.

Soprano Lauralyn Kolb has given more than 75 performances of major works with a variety of organizations, including the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Syracuse Symphony. Her recitals of songs by women composers have been of particular interest, and she has recorded Lieder by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel with pianist Arlene Shrut, for Centaur Records, and Songs by Clara Schumann, Poldowski, and Amy Beach, with pianist Don McMahon, for Albany Records.  An expert on the songs of American art song composer John Duke, Ms. Kolb has recorded a recently released CD of Duke's songs for New World Records. She teaches voice at both Hamilton College and Colgate University.

A frequent performer in the area, Martha Sutter has been soloist with the Syracuse Symphony, Syracuse Baroque Society, the Society for New Music, the Syracuse Camerata, as well as the choruses at Hamilton, Colgate, Cornell, and Syracuse University.  Ms Sutter's opera experience includes roles with the Artpark, Oswego, and Syracuse Opera companies.  A past chorus master for Syracuse Opera, Sutter is a member of the faculty at the Syracuse University School of Music.

Tenor Todd Geer recently completed an Adler Fellowship with San Francisco Opera, where he performed as a resident artist for two seasons.   After his professional debut with Syracuse Opera as Ferrando in Cosí  fan tutte, the young tenor became a resident artist of Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, N.Y.  A frequent concert and oratorio singer, Geer made his European debut in 1996 singing Carmina Burana in the Arena de Nimes, Annecy, and Aix en ProvenceA native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Mr. Geer holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Binghamton University.  He was a recipient of the Richard F. Gold career grant from the Shoshana Foundation and was a prizewinner in the 1999 MacAllister Competition.

Baritone Timothy LeFebvre is a frequent performer with Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, NY, having sung leading roles in numerous productions. He has appeared in opera engagements with several regional companies including Indianapolis Opera, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Central Florida Lyric Opera, Ithaca Opera, and Saratoga Opera. LeFebvre is a recent winner of the Liederkranz Vocal Competition, where he sang in the winner's concert at Alice Tully Hall in New York City.  An adjunct lecturer in voice at Binghamton University, he has received the Richard F. Gold Career Grant, an opera fellowship at Binghamton University, and was a semi-finalist in the Baltimore Opera Vocal Competition.  He is a featured singer on a recently released CD of Beethoven folk songs, The Pulse of an Irishman.

Dvorák's Requiem by the Hamilton College and Community Oratorio Society will be performed on Tuesday, May 7 at 8 p.m. at Wellin Hall. Tickets for the concert are $6.00 for the general public, $4.00 for senior citizens and students, and free for Hamilton College students. For ticket reservations or more information, call the Box Office at 859-4331.

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