Crane School of Music Hosts Maestro Kent Tritle for Closing Concert of the 2019 LoKo Arts Festival

SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music Marks LoKo Arts Festival with Concert Featuring Guest Conductor, Student Soloists

Potsdam, NY (04/19/2019) — SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music will welcome a distinguished visiting conductor and present a special concert to close the 2019 LoKo Arts Festival.

Maestro Kent Tritle is set to conduct the Crane Chorus and the Crane Symphony Orchestra in a performance of "Apparebit Repentina Dies" by Paul Hindemith and the "Mass in C-minor" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, on Saturday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m., in the Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall.

Four student soloists will also take the stage, including soprano Kayla Kovacs of Kill Buck, N.Y.; mezzo-soprano Emma Marhefka of Allentown, Penn.; tenor Benjamin Johnson of Hellertown, Penn., and bass Shavon Lloyd of Middletown, N.Y. Tritle personally selected the student soloists for the concert.

"We are very excited to welcome Kent Tritle to Potsdam, a distinguished New York-based conductor with vast experience in choral masterworks and other genres, as this year's Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor. We look forward to his engagement with Crane students in two very different choral works, one from the 18th and one from the 20th century. We're especially pleased that Maestro Tritle has chosen to perform the Mozart Mass with student soloists, offering them a very special performance opportunity and showcasing outstanding young vocalists," said Crane School of Music Dean Michael Sitton.

The concert will close out 10 days of activities taking place all across campus during the LoKo Arts Festival, including an array of masterclasses, presentations and performances at The Crane School of Music. All events are free, and the public is invited to attend. For a full schedule, visit http://www.potsdam.edu/loko.

Maestro Tritle will complete a residency on campus during the festival, as the 2019 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor. He will offer a public presentation and engaging conversation on music at noon on Wednesday, May 1, in the Ralph Wakefield Recital Hall. The presentation will be followed by an open conducting masterclass with Crane students, at 2 p.m. in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater.

Earlier in the day before the culminating concert on Saturday, May 4, Crane Audio Engineer Emeritus Gary Galo will offer a presentation about historic Crane Chorus performances of the major works to be performed that evening, including a 1952 concert directed by Robert Shaw featuring the Hindemith piece, and performances of the Mozart C-Minor Mass conducted by Thor Johnson and Brock McElheran. The presentation will be offered at 11 a.m. in the Wakefield Recital Hall.

Immediately prior to the performance, Dr. Jess Tyre will offer a pre-concert lecture about the history, ideas and music behind the Hindemith and Mozart works, including excerpts of both pieces. The presentation will be offered at 6:30 p.m., also in Wakefield Hall.

The concert is free, but tickets are required. To reserve free tickets, contact the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277. Tickets will also be available at the door prior to the performance.

The May 4 performance will stream live online at the concert time at 7:30 p.m., so that alumni, parents and friends who can't make it to Potsdam can experience the artistry from home. To view this and other upcoming livestreaming performances, visit http://www.potsdam.edu/academics/Crane/streaming.

About the guest artist:

Maestro Kent Tritle is one of America's leading choral conductors. Called "the brightest star in New York's choral music world" by The New York Times, he is director of cathedral music and organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City; music director of Musica Sacra, the longest continuously performing professional chorus in New York, and music director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the acclaimed 200-voice volunteer chorus.

In addition, Tritle is director of choral activities at the Manhattan School of Music, and is a member of the graduate faculty of The Juilliard School. Also an acclaimed organ virtuoso, Tritle is the organist of the New York Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra and a member of the organ faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.

Tritle's 2018-19 season is marked by the expansion of the Oratorio Society's Carnegie Hall season from three to four concerts, which will include "Kullervo," the rarely-performed symphonic poem by Sibelius, Szymanowski's "Stabat Mater" and Verdi's "Requiem." Kent's recent notable performances at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine include Verdi's "Requiem," Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand," and Britten's "War Requiem," performed by the Oratorio Society of New York and the Symphony and Symphonic Chorus of the Manhattan School of Music.

Tritle has created high-profile collaborations for his groups with other major players in the New York music scene, directing the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus for performances of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" with the New York Philharmonic led by Alan Gilbert.

As part of his work as Director of Choral Activities at the Manhattan School of Music, Tritle established the school's first doctoral program in choral conducting. As an organ recitalist, he performs regularly in Europe and across the United States; recital venues have included the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Zürich Tonhalle, L'Église St. Sulpice in Paris, Dresden's Hofkirche, King's College at Cambridge, Westminster Abbey and St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.

Tritle holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from The Juilliard School in organ performance and choral conducting. He has been featured on ABC World News Tonight, National Public Radio and Minnesota Public Radio, as well as in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

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, established by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay '67, brings distinguished conductors to The Crane School of Music for festival performances by the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra, and travel funds for the Crane Chorus to perform at major venues outside of Potsdam.

The LoKo Arts Festival is made possible by the generosity and artistic vision of Kathryn Kofoed Lougheed '54 and Donald Lougheed (Hon. '54).

North Country Public Radio is the media sponsor for the 2019 LoKo Arts Festival at SUNY Potsdam.

For a full schedule and listing of events, visit www.potsdam.edu/loko.

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. For more information, please visit http://www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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