The College of Southern Maryland welcomes soprano Theresa Bickham and pianist Rachel Roulet performing at the Ward Virts Concert Series at 3 p.m., March 10 at the Prince Frederick Campus, Room 119. The performance is the fourth of six in the concert series, which is held at CSMs Prince Frederick Campus, 115 J.W. Williams Road, Prince Frederick.
Bickham made her European debut in 2007 singing scenes from La Traviata under the direction of Maestro Eduardo Mueller. Most recently she was seen as a studio artist with Opera New Jersey where she covered the role of Donna Anna. She has also performed the roles of The Bakers Wife in Into the Woods, Tess in Crazy for You, Nancy in Oliver, and Mrs. Macafee in Bye, Bye Birdie. Bickham has won competitions including The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Mid-Atlantic Regional Finalist 2009, Palm Beach Opera 2008 Advanced Division Semi-Finalist, Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year Finalist 2008, MD/DC National Association of Teachers of Singing, Henry Sanborn competition, Peggy Friedman-Gordon Competition, Moores Opera Center Concerto Competition and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston.
Roulet is a vocal coach and pianist for Towson Universitys Voice Division and Music for the Stage program. She received her degrees in piano performance and collaborative arts from the University of Michigan and the New England Conservatory. She has concertized with members of the Seattle Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera and most notably with Erin Wall, Jossie Perez, Richard Clement and Stephen Powell in art song recitals for the Bellingham Festival of Music. She spends her summers teaching and accompanying at the New England Music Camp in Sidney, Maine.
The Ward Virts performance on April 7 will feature soprano Marian Murphy Powell who also participates in the New England Music Camp in Sidney, Maine. The New England Music Camp is a residential camp for 11-18 year olds on scenic Lake Messalonskee in central Maine. Concluding the 2012-13 season on May 5 will be pianist Brian Ganz, who will return for an eighth consecutive season.
The Ward Virts Concert Series is sponsored by Edward and Patricia Mehosky, St. Clair and Mary Tweedie, Gerry Van De Velde and Rene Cunningham, and CSM. The centerpiece of the concert series is a world-class Boesendorfer Grand Piano, which was gifted to CSM by the Ward Virts Piano Project (WVPP) for the enjoyment the Southern Maryland community.
The WVPP was formed by friends and classmates of pianist Ward Virts, whose sudden death in 1993 inspired them to purchase this hand-made piano and dedicate the piano in Virts memory. Inspired by Virts life and spirit, his friends and classmates conceived the project in order to bring the love of life, beauty and music that Virts embodied to a new generation of Southern Maryland students, performers and appreciative audiences.
Admission is free and seating is open but limited. Contact 443-550-6011, rfleming@csmd.edu or www.csmd.edu/Arts.