BQ
Brianna Quaranto
  • Music Education
  • Batavia, NY

Crane School of Music Student Brianna Quaranto Performs at Lincoln Center

2012 Mar 7

More than 200 students from The Crane School of Music at The State University of New York at Potsdam will make their collective Lincoln Center debut on May 1 in a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's monumental Messa da Requiem under the baton of Ann Howard Jones.

In celebration of the 125th anniversary of SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, the entire Crane Chorus and members of the Crane Symphony Orchestra will travel to New York City for the Avery Fisher Hall concert.

The Crane Chorus roster includes junior Brianna Quaranto. Quaranto, who sings soprano, is from Batavia, NY.

Leading up to the concert, the students will have an intensive weeklong musical immersion experience culminating in a packed performance at the Potsdam, N.Y., campus, before they depart for New York City.

The guest soloists are Kelly Kaduce and Charles Temkey, and Crane School of Music alumni Margaret Lattimore '91 and Dimitri Pittas '99.

Also joining the musicians on stage will be SUNY Potsdam President Dr. John F. Schwaller, a baritone who considers himself honored to sing alongside the talented members of the audition-only group.

As part of the inaugural Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts, Ann Howard Jones, the 2012 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor, will spend the week of April 21 to April 28 at SUNY Potsdam, conducting rehearsals and masterclasses and participating in lectures and arts events for the community. The Requiem will be performed at SUNY Potsdam's Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall on April 28.

The Lincoln Center performance is made possible by the Adeline Maltzan Crane Chorus Performance Tour Fund, funded by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay '67, with additional support from the bequest of Brock and Janie McElheran.

About the Crane School of Music:

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution, and is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011-12.

The Crane School of Music has a tradition of immersing students into a most memorable experience of rehearsing and performing under the directorship of some of the world's most prestigious choral and orchestral conductors, including: Robert Shaw, Nadia Boulanger, Brock McElheran, Stanley Chapple, Aaron Copland, Sarah Caldwell, Gunther Schuller, Lucas Foss, Virgil Thompson, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Vincent Persichetti. In the spring of 2011, renowned conductor Helmuth Rilling came to Potsdam, New York, to direct the Spring Festival Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor, marking the beginning of Crane's 125th anniversary year.

Crane's legacy combines innovation in music teaching with a linked commitment to excellence in musical performance from every student. This New York City performance at Avery Fisher Hall is an exciting return to the tradition of Crane students experiencing the thrill of performing with world-renowned conductors in the world's most prestigious concert halls.

About the concert:

The partnership of the Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor Fund, established by Dorothy Albrecht Gregory '61, and the Adeline Maltzan Crane Chorus Performance Tour Fund, brings distinguished conductors to The Crane School of Music for festival performances by the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra, and funds travel for major performances to venues outside of Potsdam.

Tickets to the May 1 event are $35 for general admission, $30 for senior citizens and $15 for students, and can be purchased through Lincoln Center by visiting www.lincolncenter.org/show_events_list.asp, or by calling CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500.

To find out more about the ongoing Crane 125th anniversary celebrations, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/125years.

For more information about The Crane School of Music at The State University of New York at Potsdam, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.