Berry College will host a wide variety of musical performances this month. All performances are free and open to the public.
"Tres Vidas" Core Ensemble
As part of the Berry College Concert Series, the Core Ensemble will present the musical theatre performance “Tres Vidas” at 7 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 14) in the Bell Recital Hall.
The performance is based on the lives of historic Latin American women. It centers around Frida Kahlo, Rufina Amaya and Alfonso Storni. Kahlo was a famous surrealist painter from Mexico, Amaya was a Salvadorian activist and Storni was a celebrated Argentinian poet.
It will feature a singing actress and a trio of cello, piano and percussion players. The songs come from Mexico, El Salvador and Argentina. Actress Jenyvette Vega has appeared in many television shows including “Law & Order: Special Victims Units” and “Zona Y”. Vega is currently a member of the Repertorio Español Theatre Company.
The Core Ensemble musician trio is Julia Henderson on cello, Byron Burford-Phearse on piano and Michael Parola on percussion. Parola is the founder of the Aequalis Trio and the Core Ensemble. With these ensembles he features the unique instrumental trio of the cello, piano and percussion. His work has been broadcast internationally and his ensembles have performed in England, Russia, Ukraine, the U.S. and Australia. Henderson earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College and is a cellist for the New Haven Symphony. The pianist, Buford-Phearse, holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the Royal Academy of Music and the Mannes College of Music. His work has been featured on CD recordings as well as live radio programs.
Contemporary Piano Music by American Composers: Faculty Artist Series
Kris Carlisle, an internationally acclaimed pianist and professor of music at Berry, will perform at 7 p.m. on Sept. 21, as part of the Faculty Artist Series. The performance will be in the Bell Recital Hall and will feature contemporary piano music.
Carlisle has released three albums that explore contemporary composers’ use of traditional genres. His first two albums “The American Evolution: Piano Sonatas” and “The American Evolution: Piano Preludes” have both received acknowledgement from The American Prize Competition including a Special Judge's Citation for "Championing Piano Music by American Composers".
His most recent album “The Silence Between” was released in 2020 and received the Silver Medal from the Global Music Awards. It has received international radio airplay in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
“Chant d’Auvergne” Performance
Berry College will welcome visiting faculty to perform a lecture recital on French folk songs at 7 p.m. Sept. 28.
This performance will be at the Bell Recital Hall at the Ford Complex.
“The Universal Experience of Folk Song: A Look at Canteloube's Chant d'Auvergne” features a collection of French folk songs arranged by Joseph Canteloube, a French composer and pianist. The arrangement features a sopranist and a pianist.
Shellie Beeman, the vocalist, is a former professional opera singer who has performed with the Elgin Opera Company, Chamber Opera of Chicago, Overshadowed Theatrical Productions, and many others. She is now associate professor of voice at Jacksonville State University.
Wendy Freeland, the pianist, is an award-winning musician who has performed throughout the Southeast and in Sweden, Italy, Korea and Serbia. As a professor of music at Jacksonville State University, she has earned the annual "Faculty Research Award" several times in recognition of her performances and presentations.
For more information about Berry's music department, please visit https://www.berry.edu/academics/fs/departments/music
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Written by Public Relations Student Assistants Elizabeth Chandler and Caroline Cleland
Office of Public Relations
