February 22, 2011

Harding hosts NATS convention and guest performers

Harding University will host a recital featuring two guest performers from University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance Friday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Administration Auditorium on campus.

The performance will cost $3 at the door and will feature soprano vocalist Rebecca Sherburn and pianist Patricia Higdon, both of whom are professors at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance.

They will perform works by Mozart, Haydn, Debussy, and Bernstein among others.

Sherburn has been honored with the Kaufmann Excellence in Teaching Award, was an apprentice at the Zurich Opera, and a scholarship student at the Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival. She has a diverse amount of international and domestic experience as an opera performer. As a concert artist, she has been featured by the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group and the New York New Music Group and is known for performing rarely heard contemporary works, some of which were written specifically for her voice.

Higdon began her career working as a coach and accompanist with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Each season she plays dozens of recitals with faculty, graduate students and performers from around the world. She is constantly in demand for her work teaching mastery classes and recording sessions. In 2004, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with flutist James Hall performing as the Hall/Higdon Duo.

The concert is part of the National Association of Teachers of Singing state convention hosted by Harding University this weekend. More than 30 voice teachers and almost 300 students from across the state will compete in classical and musical theater singing competitions, as well as attend the recital and a class taught by a master in their field of interest.

For more information, contact the music department at 501-279-4343.