FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2008

Contact: K.E. Schwab  

724.738.2199

 karl.schwab@sru.edu

SRU music majors vie for Chad Williamson Memorial Scholarship     

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Fourteen Slippery Rock University vocal students will be in the spotlight
Nov. 2 all vying for the Chad Williamson Memorial Scholarship as part of the 16th annual competition. The 7:30 p.m. competition will be in Swope Music Hall.

The vocal scholarship honors the late Slippery Rock High School graduate who, prior to a fatal traffic accident before the start of his freshman year, had planned to attend SRU.

 Each competitor will offer a classical selection and a popular selection as part of the competition. Jennifer Jones Mosher, a soprano from Canfield, Ohio, and a faculty member of the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University, will judge the competition.

Mosher earned her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music and her Master's of Music degree in opera performance at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She followed her studies with apprenticeships with opera companies in Miami and San Francisco, and language study at L'Università per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy.

She has toured as Violetta and Mimi in “La Boheme” with the San Francisco Opera Center's Western Opera Theater, and has performed numerous other roles, including Fiordiligi in “Cosi Fan Tutte,” Marianne in “Der Rosenkavalier,” Pamina in “The Magic Flute,” Micaela in “Carmen,” Konstanze in “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” Rosalinda in “Die Fledermaus,” Leonora in “Il Trovatore,” Donna Anna in “Don Govanni,” the title role of “Suor Angelica” and a host of other U.S. opera companies.

            Concert performances include soprano solos in the Mozart “Requiem,” Handel's “Messiah,” Beethoven's ninth symphony. Her operetta appearances include groups such groups as the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, the Northern Kentucky Symphony, the United States Naval Academy combined choruses and Annapolis Symphony. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with Mid-America productions in Boccherini's "Villancicos." She has also sung numerous concert opera performances with Pennsylvania's Valley Lyric Opera. 

            Mosher taught voice at Ashland University and, in 2004, was chosen by the National Association of Teachers of Singing as one of 12 summer interns. 

The Williamson vocal competition is one of the most popular events in SRU’s music department. The concert provides SRU music majors the opportunity to demonstrate their vocal talent and allows the local community to both see and hear the performing arts talent of University voice students.

Created by Williamson’s family, including his mother Karen Legato, an SRU graduate and former employee, the competition helps SRU’s music department attract talented vocal performers.       

Competitors and their hometowns are: Brian Mueller and Katy Capestrani, both of Butler; Eric Kochanowski, Sarver; John Burgh, Sewickley; Kirsten Wilson, Philadelphia; Nicholas Kochanov, North Huntingdon; Nyomin Buhler, Slippery Rock; Ryan Griffin, Alexander McDaniel and Angela Fenk, all of Pittsburgh; Trevor Greenfield, Grove City; Zachary Wood, Greensboro; Andrea Follmar, Caraopolis; and Christiana Howell, Erie. 

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.