“Chip remains one of the most influential individuals in all of our lives,” said Margaret Norwood. “In addition to sound vocal technique, he helped us to understand how to connect vocal production to the spirit of the song. He teaches and performs with joy and a sense of play that is infectious. The techniques he taught us, as well as his wisdom, have made all three of us better individuals and professionals.”

The revue will feature songs featured in newer, well-known and loved Broadway musicals, from Avenue Q and Spamalot to Kiss Me, Kate and Chicago. Other selections will feature composers such as Cole Porter, John Kander & Fred Ebb and Stephen Sondheim.

Bios of Performers

Margaret Norwood ’93 holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a BA in English Literature from �㽶��Ƶ, as well as an MFA in acting from Western Illinois University. While at HC, she performed Juliet in��Romeo & Juliet, the premiere show of the Scott Studio Theatre, as well as roles in��Godspell, Noises Off, Man of La Mancha, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs of the Black Forest��and numerous studio productions. She performed with Musical Theatre Ensemble, HC Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, Concert Band, Flute Choir, and Hastings Symphony Orchestra.

Following her education, Margaret worked as an actor in Washington, DC, and New York City. Favorite professional roles include Puck in��A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wallis Simpson in��The Duchess, AKA Wallis Simpson,��Emma in Pinter’s��Betrayal,��Lula in��Dutchman, Sister Sarah in��Guys and Dolls and Chava in the Straw Hat Player’s production of Fiddler on the Roof starring Chip Smith as Tevya.

In 2004, Margaret wrote, produced, and starred in the feature film�����Ի����Ի��Գ�����which was directed by Terry Gsell and shot in Hastings and Cozad, Nebraska. She has taught post-production, editing, and acting at Colorado Film School, and she recently co-authored��Sanity in Acting��with colleague Galina Boulgakova. Both��independence ���Ի���Sanity in Acting��are available for purchase after the show.

Margaret is currently working as a writer, literary and video editor, raising a son, directing the church school program and singing in the choir of St. Michael and All Angels’ Church in Denver. This past January, she played Victor/Victoria at Theatre Company of Lafayette.

Matthew Norwood’93 graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from �㽶��Ƶ and a Master of Music from UNL. While attending Hastings, he sang with and guest conducted the Concert Choir and Chamber Choir and sang with Musical Theatre Ensemble as well as being a guest vocalist with the Jazz Band. He also played in the Concert Band and the Jazz Band. Matthew was president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia for two years and won its Outstanding Sinfonian award in 1993. He also won the Outstanding Senior in Music, the Millard Cates Choral Award (which he shared with Terry Gsell) and was a Presser Scholar. He performed the role of Bob in Old Maid & the Thief; Peter, the father, in Hansel & Gretel; and was featured in Godspell and Man of La Mancha.

Matthew has been singing in or conducting choirs professionally for over 20 years. While in grad school, he sang with the 1st Presbyterian Church and then became Music Director at Northeast UCC.

While enlisted in the Navy, Matthew was stationed in Washington, DC, at the Pentagon. There, he blossomed as a chorister, singing with Church of the Ascension and St Agnes, and Master Chorale Chamber singers, and sang on a recording for each group. Hastings Music Department has these recordings in their library.

After Naval service, Margaret and Matthew moved to New York, where Matthew had a wide variety of choral solo experiences including singing with Church of the Resurrection, Downtown Vocals, American Vocal Ensemble, Choral Symphonic Society and conducting the choir for High Holy Days at Jewish Center of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. He also received a diploma from Institute of Audio Research and has worked as a sound designer for video production.

He is currently the Director of Music at St. Michael & All Angels’ in Denver, CO.

Terry Gsell is a 1994 graduate with Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. He also holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Florida and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association. While at �㽶��Ƶ, he was a state and regional N.A.T.S. winner, and Hastings Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition winner, an Musical Theatre Ensemble member and an active Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonian. A few of his �㽶��Ƶ theatre credits include Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Pastor Manders in Ghosts; Lord Capulet in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet; and directed Alpha Psi Omega’s Marlin the Magnificent.

This singer/actor/director/lighting designer has performed throughout North America, taught over 5,000 youths & adults, and has made New York City his home for the past 14 years. He has designed and acted in several of NYC’s Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway Theatres. He directed Photosynthesis twice, and 35 productions of Cinderella. He’s a frequent soloist at the renowned St. John’s Lutheran Church (former home of Tony and Tina’s Wedding), and is the Resident Technical Director at Infinite Variety Productions.��

His favorite roles on the professional stage include: Miss Saigon (John), The Glass Menagerie (Tom), Candide (Maximillian) with Ken Page & Patrick Quinn, Jekyll and Hyde (John), Romance/Romance (Alfred/Lenny), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), Master Class (Tony)

His great passion for lighting design has allowed him to design for some amazing Broadway talents. His favorite designs are Man of La Mancha, The Who’s Tommy, Our Town, Metamorphosis, Once on This Island, Shrek the Musical, �����Ի� Homeward at the Kennedy Center.

He’s particularly proud of collaborating with Margaret and Matthew Norwood on the full length feature film he directed, independence. ��(���Ի����Ի��Գ���ճ��ѴDZ�����.���dz�).��

Under the title The Living Roots of Music, Lauren Pelon’s program traces the story of music and performs music from around the world on archlute, guitar, lute-guitar, lyre, recorders, gemshorns, cornamuse, krummhorn, schreierpfeife, shawm, rackett, pennywhistles, concertina, ocarina, hurdy-gurdy, bowed psaltery, Kiowa courting flute, eagle bone flute, electric wind instrument and MIDI-pedalboard.

“I am fascinated by the interesting ways people of other cultures and different times have found to make music,” says Pelon.�� “I especially enjoy doing these programs because they differ from ordinary concert performances.�� They offer not only an opportunity to listen to music, but also a way to think about how music has affected the lives of people all over the world — from ancient times to our own modern day.”

Pelon’s current program melds her own original compositions with her arrangements of music from ancient Greece, medieval Europe, and contemporary Africa and Middle East.

”We are so pleased to bring this program to Hastings,” said Dr. Robin Koozer, Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department. “What a great opportunity for our community!”��

Pelon is a vocalist as well, and her original songs and ancient ballads have been especially appealing to audiences. A Michigan reviewer wrote, “Lauren Pelon is a showpiece by virtue of her beautiful, fervent voice and her extraordinary talents on an assortment of unusual, but authentic instruments.”

Pelon has performed throughout the U.S. and in China, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Australia, and New Zealand. She is noted for her versatile use of a diverse array of instruments, but Pelon has also won recognition for her lovely soprano voice, and for her compelling compositions and arrangements of music from many countries and cultures. Pelon has performed with symphony orchestras, The Philadelphia String Quartet, on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” and at the Russian Institute for the History of the Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. Pelon was the recipient of the 2001 “Artist of the Year” award from The Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council. More recently, she received a 2010 Artist Initiative Award and 2014 Arts Tour Minnesota Grant Award from the Minnesota State Arts Board.��

The criteria Wolf met were attaining a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale in all academic work and being a member of the local chapter of ODK.

In May 2015, Wolf received both a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance and Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts in English Education and English.��

Tickets go on sale to the public on Wednesday, March 25 at Fuhr Hall of Music (723 E. 9^th Ave.) or from The Lark by calling 402.984.4073. All tickets for non-students are $10.

For �㽶��Ƶ students, tickets are $5 and will be available starting Monday, March 23. The first 250 �㽶��Ƶ students to buy a ticket will get a free HC coffee mug.

Set in “Hometown, America,” “Coffee Shop . . . The Musical” follows Ryan and Melanie as they fall in love at first sight, build a relationship and wonder if they are as perfect together as they once thought.

Sandall, a native of Bellevue, Nebraska, currently lives in Overland Park, Kansas, and teaches vocal music at Ottawa Middle School.

�㽶��Ƶ Department of Music Presents

Coffee Shop. . .The Musical

CAST AND CREW LIST

Directed by Chip Smith, Professor of Music

CAST

Ryan – Joseph Prickett of Hastings, Nebraska
Melanie – Karli Cabrera of Pawnee City, Nebraska
Darryl – Aaron Spracklin of Elmwood, Nebraska
Rachel – Erin Petry of Plattsmouth, Nebraska
John – Matt Seivert of Denver, Colorado
Courtney – Carissa Bruner of Leavenworth, Kansas
Victoria – Sarah Nelson of Colorado Springs, Colorado
David – Colt Hoselton of Juniata, Nebraska
Betty – Tawnny King of Grand Island, Nebraska
Charlie – Johnathan Heredia of Grand Island, Nebraska

Piano by Cynthia Murphy, Assistant Professor of Music

This event is made possible with funding from the �㽶��Ƶ Artist Lecture Series Main Committee.

Bio for Dr. Hsu

Since his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a teenager, Brian Hsu has gone on to establish himself as pianist of great energy and unusual communicative ability.�� Critics have described his performances in superlatives, noting his “breadth of expression and technical ability.”�� He has won awards in numerous competitions, both in the US and Asia, including Wideman Competition, Corpus Christi International Young Artists’ Competition, Isabel Scionti International, Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer, National Piano Competition in Taiwan, as well as and concerto competitions both at the University of Michigan and Juilliard.

An experienced performer, Mr. Hsu has performed throughout the world in such countries as Spain, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, and South Africa. US performances include Boston, New York, West Palm Beach, Plano, Ann Arbor, New Haven, as well as many others. He has appeared numerous times as concerto soloist with such ensembles as Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, and University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared on WQXR radio station in New York several times. He has performed in various festivals including Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy where he was invited to perform in a special Liszt 200th anniversary concert; Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan; Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain; Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina; McAlester Institute of Music in Oklahoma; Banff Festival of the Arts in Canada; PianoFest in The Hamptons in Long Island, New York.

In 2011, Mr. Hsu participated in the world premiere of Paul Schoenfeld’s Piano quintet with members of the Pro Arte quartet and recorded for Albany Records, released in the spring of 2014.�� In addition to his competition successes, Mr. Hsu was the recipient of the Richard R. Levine Memorial Scholarship, Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship, China Trust Scholarship, and Jerome L. Greene Fellowship while at Juilliard.�� He received the Englander Fellowship and Yale Music Alumni Fund Scholarship while studying at Yale University. He also has been fully supported by a Rackham Graduate Fellowship during his doctoral studies at the University of Michigan. Mr. Hsu served as a staff accompanist at Yale University and University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, staff accompanist and chamber music coach at Eastern Music Festival, piano faculty at the McAlester Institute in Oklahoma, piano faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, he has served as schedule coordinator, staff pianist, faculty, and assistant to the director at Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy. He was also an adjunct professor at Siena Heights University and taught at the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts.

Mr. Hsu’s primary piano professors include Wha-Kyung Byun, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Jerome Lowenthal, Peter Frankl and Logan Skelton. Additional studies have been with Da-Ming Zhu, John Kuo, Paul Schenly, Marc Durand, Dominique Weber, Arthur Greene, Robert Shannon, Ksenia Nosikova, Steven Spooner, John Perry, and Aldo Ciccolini. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, Artist Diploma from Yale University, and Doctoral of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. He is currently the assistant professor and keyboard department coordinator at Loyola University New Orleans.

A soprano recognized for portraying Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata and Madama Butterfly in Puccini’s opera of the same name, Dr. Kanyova has performed with opera companies and symphonies across the United States and Canada, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the New York City Opera and the Boston Symphony. Additionally, she serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Kansas where she earned her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.

Before her concert at �㽶��Ƶ, she will convene a masterclass for HC students, assisting them as they seek to improve their repertoires. The masterclass, which is also free and open to the public, is scheduled for 3 p.m. on October 21 in Perkins Auditorium.

Dr. Kanyova’s performance on campus is made possible with funding from the College’s Artist Lecture Series.

Biography for Dr. Maria Kanyova from music.ku.edu:

Critics have hailed soprano Maria Kanyova as an extraordinary singing actress. Her extensive performing career has encompassed a wide variety of roles. Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata remains one of Kanyova’s signature roles, which she has performed with Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Portland Opera, Utah Opera and Intermountain Opera Company. “Madama Butterfly” remains another mainstay in Kanyova’s list of leading roles. The Denver Post raved, “Making her striking Central City debut in the demanding role, Soprano Maria Kanyova hardly could be more convincing with her appropriate youthful appearance…More important, she possesses a pure forceful voice with a pleasing soft edge and she knows how to use it.” Kanyova has performed leading roles across the United States, Canada and Europe including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Utah Opera, Tulsa Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, New Orleans Opera, Colorado Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Portland Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Santa Fe Opera, St. Louis Opera Theatre, Opera Pacific, Des Moines Metro Opera, Madison Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and the Wexford Opera Festival.

A strong supporter of new music, Kanyova has created many new roles, as well as reprising major contemporary opera. Her most recent world premiere was performed with the San Francisco Opera in the role of “Miriam” in Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Other recent engagements include the role of “Gretel” in the famed Richard Jones production of Hänsel und Gretel with Lyric Opera of Chicago, the title role in Madama Butterfly with New Orleans Opera, and the role of “Pat Nixon” with the San Francisco Opera in Nixon in China, a role which Kanyova has performed numerous times, and has recorded on CD under the Naxos Label with Marin Alsop conducting. Robert Trussell of the Kansas City Star wrote of her debut performance with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Pat Nixon, “Soprano Maria Kanyova’s heartfelt portrait of Pat as a woman of simple origins uncomfortable on the world stage is extraordinary.�� Her voice could stop time.”

Kanyova has also been a soloist with various symphonies throughout her busy operatic career, including appearances with the Boston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival, The Ravinia Music Festival, Music of the Baroque, Minnesota Symphony, and the North Carolina Symphony. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) and the University of Kansas (KU). She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in voice from KU.

The University of Nebraska-Omaha graduate’s Celtic Cabaret is much more than an Irish music concert.�� Her work and performance brings Ireland across the sea to envelop the audience and transport them back in time.�� Enjoy haunting ballads and stirring anthems; feel the beat of guitar and bodhran drum.�� Listen and follow along as Ms. Anderson takes her audience on a musical tour of Ireland.

Ms. Anderson’s performance is part of the Lied Center’s Arts Across Nebraska, made possible with the support of the Nebraska Arts Council, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Friends of Lied, Richard P. Kimmel and Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation, and Julie Jacobson in honor of the 12/13 Friends of Lied Executive Committee. Artist transportation is a provided by Sid Dillon.

About Jill Anderson

Jill Anderson is a professional actress, musician and coach.�� In her 24-year performing career, she has lived and worked all across the nation—from Chicago, New York and LA to Virginia, Wisconsin and Nebraska. ��She has worked for Milwaukee Rep Theatre, Barter Theatre in Virginia, the New York Festival of Song, Opera Omaha, Orlando Philharmonic, The Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, The Blue Barn Theatre and many other organizations.�� Ms. Anderson has especially enjoyed performing as Viola in “Twelfth Night,” Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd,” Charlotte Bronte in “Bronte,” Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors” and Millie in “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”

She currently resides in Omaha, Neb., where she performs frequently in concerts, cabarets, and theater.�� She is also active in Omaha as a teacher, choreographer, voice and drama coach, and director along with leading therapeutic music activities and workshops.�� Ms. Anderson is also a recording artist with four CDs of Irish folk music to her name.

Audio samples, picture galleries and more information on Ms. Anderson are available at .

Long an audience favorite, The �㽶��Ƶ Choir’s February tour presents an eclectic program of America’s favorite songs of faith, laughter and love.

The critically acclaimed �㽶��Ƶ Choir, recognized as a pioneer American collegiate choral ensemble, launches its 2014 regional tour through western Nebraska and Colorado February 13-16, and will perform nine concerts under the direction of Conductor Dr. Fritz Mountford.

Concerts will take place in the Nebraska communities of Cozad, Gothenberg, North Platte and Ogallala, and in the Colorado communities of Yuma,��Denver,��Sterling and Colorado Springs.

See the full schedule below.

Touring the heartland of America is a long-standing tradition for The �㽶��Ƶ Choir. This year’s program features a rich tapestry of choral music, both a cappella and accompanied by instrumental ensembles drawn from the choir’s student membership.

Founded in 1882 at �㽶��Ƶ in Hastings, Nebraska, The �㽶��Ƶ Choir is widely recognized as a creative force behind the establishment of collegiate choral singing in America, and for setting a high standard for choral artistry, vocal excellence and eclectic programming. Once a member of the choir himself, Mountford has led the ensemble since returning to �㽶��Ƶ in 2000 from a career as a performer, conductor and internationally recognized showman and educator.

“Of course we continue to explore more than five centuries of sacred masterworks,” Mountford said, “but remaining true to the vision of our pioneer founders, we believe that singing is for everyone, so we sing anything we find to be beautiful, moving or just plain fun. Our sense of adventure constantly peeks out from behind the formal veneer of our highly disciplined student ensemble to engage and move listeners of all ages.”

Follow the tour on Facebook!

Tour Dates and Locations

Thursday, February 13

8:30 a.m.
Cozad Senior High School
1710 Meridian Ave., Cozad, Neb.
308.784.2745

11:30 a.m.
Gothenburg Senior High School
1322 Avenue I, Gothenburg, Neb.
308.537.3651

2:30 p.m.
North Platte Senior High School
1220 West 2nd St., North Platte, Neb.
308.535.7105

7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church
1901 West Leota St., North Platte, Neb.
308.532.1083

Friday, February 14

9:30 a.m.
Ogallala Senior High School
602 East G St., Ogallala, Neb.
308.284.4029

2:30 p.m.
Yuma Senior High School
1000 S Albany St., Yuma, Colo.
970.848.5488

7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Sterling
130 S. 4th St., Sterling, Colo.
970.522.2708

Saturday, February 15

7:30 p.m.
Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
1980 Dahlia St., Denver, Colo.
303.355.1651

Sunday, February 16

3:00 p.m.
Emmanuel Mission Baptist Church
3615 Vickers Dr., Colorado Springs, Colo.
719.635.4865

Highlights for the 2014 Tour Include

• Selections from the repertoire of “World Music” — Ariel Ramirez’s groundbreaking Misa Criola, sung in Spanish, features vocal soloists and an ensemble of indiginous Latin American instruments; and representing Africa, Stanley Glasser’s Mambabo!, from a set entitled “Lalela Zulu.
• Works by contemporary American composers Eric Whitacre and Craig Hella Johnson. “We performed Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque and Johnson’s Gitanjali Chants as part of our long-running ‘Festival of Lessons and Carols’ this past Christmas, and they were so well received both by the congregation and by our international webcast audience that we wanted to include them on tour,” Mountford said. “Australian composer Sarah Hopkins’s Past Life Melodies gives us a chance to experiment with the soundscape of non-traditional ‘Hoomei’ overtone singing.”
• Our signature selection of American popular songs, ranging from Jerome Kern’s All the Things You Are to Billy Joel’s And So It Goes, and of American folksongs including a close-harmony setting of Shenandoah and a raucous rendition of Sweet Betsy from Pike showcase the talents of music professor Ruth Moore, who is the coordinator of �㽶��Ƶ’s innovative major in collaborative piano. In addition we’ll feature an exciting a cappella setting of Rossini’s William Tell Overture arranged by former choir member Julie Eschliman.