45th Annual Concerto-Aria to Feature Ten Students with Orchestra Feb. 17

The 45th annual Concerto-Aria concert will be held in Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium Sunday evening, Feb. 17. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and will feature 10 students. The performance is free and members of the public are invited.

The first Concerto-Aria concert was organized in 1974 as a way for outstanding musical performers to have the opportunity to appear with a live orchestra and perform repertoire from the great catalogues of piano concertos and opera arias. Some years later, instrumental concertos and other works were added to the performances, including original compositions by student composers. 

Headlining this year’s event will be Katherine (Katie) Logan, sophomore music education major from Amarillo, Texas, singing “V’adoro pupille” from the opera “Giulio Cesare” by George Frederick Handel; Alex Benito, a sophomore instrumental music major from Durant, Oklahoma, playing the alto saxophone on “Just Friends” by Charlie Parker; Anne Aguayo, a junior music education major from Merida, Mexico, singing "Tornami a Vagheggiar" from the opera “Alcina” by Handel; and juniors Leo Chavez, a music education major from Mesquite, Texas, and Madison Trammell, a music major from Possum Kingdom, Texas, playing the “Konzertstuck No. 2, Op. 114” for two clarinets by Felix Mendelssohn. 

The orchestra will premiere a piece titled “Scenes in Purple” by senior music composition major Isaac Reel, from Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Jonathan Deichman, a senior instrumental music major from Shawnee, will perform the Vaughan-Williams “Concerto for Bass Tuba;” Jude Balthazar, a senior vocal performance major from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, will sing “Che gelida manina” from Puccini’s opera “La Boheme;” and McKenzie Reece will perform the recitative and aria “Ah, tardai troppo . . . O luce di quest anima” from Donizetti’s “Linda di Chamouni.” Olivia Jones, a senior music education major from Arlington, Texas, will conclude the program by singing the aria “Pace, pace mio Dio!” from “La Forza del Destino” by Guiseppe Verdi.