In the third of four installments for Longwood University's Chamber Music Series, the Viva La Voce Trio performed in Molnar Recital Hall in Wygal Hall Sat., Feb. 25. The event focused on more than instrumentation and vocalization, and also created a visual performance through the performers' expressions and interactions with each other along with the usage of costumes and props.
The Viva La Voce Trio featured Dr. Lisa Edwards-Burrs, James Smith-Parham and Dr. Kenneth Wood along with Roland Karnatz and Melanie Kohn Day.
The event featured music from composers that spanned from the seventeenth century to the twentieth, from England to Austria. The performers provided information on each composer and song, describing the story and history within each. Alongside the libretto offered to each attendee to provide translations to songs in other languages, the performance allowed each audience member to connect intellectually and easily to each work.
Karnatz said the music series features two concerts in the fall and two in the spring.
Karnatz added, "What we want to do is communicate something with the audience through music, and that's why we do it is to communicate through this art form, which if you can notice is much more than just sound. It's a visual form as well." Karnatz said what was being communicated that night was "a million different things. You look at every text of all those songs … You're running the gamut of emotion. That's what you're doing."
Freshman Sequoyah Tucker attended the event as a requirement for her Music Appreciation class. Tucker said, "I like the fact that it's words and not just instrumental. I like the fact that its got a story and not just words that don't make sense."
Tucker said the concert was a unique experience from any performance she had attended before. "Normally, with [vocal] concerts, it's just singing, but this one's telling a story," She said.
Karnatz said many people do not attend live performances, despite how special these concerts can be. She said more people should "be part of an audience in a live event and see human beings up there creating art."
Songs performed by the Viva La Voce Trio, along with Karnatz and Day, included Henry Purcell's "Sound the Trumpet" and "My Dearest, My Fairest;" Henry Lawes' "A Dialogue on a Kiss;" Franz Shubert's "Der Hirt aus dem Felsen;" Gioacchino Rossini's "La Serenata" and "La Regata;" Gabriel Fauré's "Puisqu'ici-bas toute âme," "Pleurs d'or" and "Tarentelle;" Gordon Jacob's "Of All the Birds That I Do Know," "Flow My Tears" and "Ho, Who Comes Here?" Giacomo Puccini's Act IV duet in "La Bohéme;" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Act I duet in "Don Giovanni;" Georges Bizet's Act I duet of "The Pearl Fishers;" and Johann Strauss II's Act III trio in "Die Fledermaus."
Described as "a soprano of crystalline purity," Edwards-Burrs "has received numerous awards including that of Artistic Ambassador for the U.S. to South America with pianist, Melanie Day. Additional international performances in Caux, Switzerland and at the Amalfi Music and Arts Festival as well as her performances featuring the works of African-American composers and other contemporary works have also received critical acclaim," as detailed by the program.
Edwards-Burrs is currently an associate professor of music at Virginia State University and serves as an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia.
Smith-Parham is currently the faculty of Operafestival di Roma, Rome, Italy, where he is a voice teacher, collaborative pianist, coach and stage director. He instructs on the voice faculties of Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond.Hemphill-Wells Sorantin Competition and was an invited participant in the Marian Anderson International Vocal Arts Competition."VCU Opera.VCU Opera, Instructor for History of the Art Song and Vocal Coach at Virginia Commonwealth University. Day has performed in Carnegie Recital Hall, the Athenaeum in Boston, The National Cathedral, The French Embassy and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.Shotakovich.
