Thompson Chamber Music Series Featuring Opera Performer Craig Hart

MEDIA CONTACT: Cyndi McMahon
Office of College Communications
978.867.4236

WENHAM, MA - The third installment of the 2005-2006 Thompson Chamber Music Series will feature Soloist Craig Hart accompanied by Susan Hart on piano. This special performance will take place on Friday, February 24, at 8 p.m. in the Phillips Recital Hall at Gordon College. The program will include works by Gershwin, Hines, Verdi, and Dvorak.

Admission is $21 for adults and $16 for seniors and children under 12. Tickets can be purchased on-line by visiting the Gordon College web site at www.gordon.edu or by calling the Gordon College ticket line at 978.867.3400.

For more than a decade Craig Hart has enjoyed singing on the operatic and concert stages of North America. His engagements have been with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera, L'Opera de Montreal, Palm Beach Opera, Cleveland Opera, Nashville Opera, Toledo Opera, Connecticut Opera, Shreveport Opera, Opera Idaho, Boston Bel Canto Opera and Opera at Florham. Hart's performances have consistently earned him the respect and accolades of discerning critics and many return engagements.

A graduate from the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music and a former student of Jerome Hines, Hart made his stage debut with the Metropolitan Opera's production of Prokofiev's War and Peace in the Spring of 2002. His West Coast debut soon followed as Raimondo in Santa Barbara Opera's production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Later that same year he sang the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni with New Jersey's Opera at Florham.

A pianist and opera vocal coach, Susan Hart has worked as repetiteur and assistant conductor for many opera companies across the United States, including Tulsa Opera, Connecticut Opera, Sarasota Opera, New York Grand Opera, Augusta Opera and the Lake George Opera. She has served as music director for productions of Faust, Lucia di Lammermoor and Die Zauberflöte with the Brandenburg Opera Company of New York City. In October 2002 Susan was the assistant conductor for Opera at Florham's production of Don Giovanni, and in July 2004 she joined the staff of the Masterworks Festival in Indiana, coaching and playing continuo for their production of Don Giovanni.

The Thompson Chamber Music Series is an ongoing program of recitals featuring intimate performances of nationally known soloists and chamber groups. The series has been underwritten in memory of Mr. Walter Thompson, who encouraged countless young people to strive for excellence in cultural and intellectual pursuits.

The Phillips Recital Hall, the backdrop for Hart's performance, is one of the most beautiful indoor spaces on campus. A model of optimal acoustic performance and architectural creativity, the Recital Hall continues to astound audiences and performers alike. The hall seats close to 200 people and features a retractable sound curtain for acoustic adjustment, an upper-level mezzanine, audio and video recording equipment, performance lighting, and a Walcher tracker-action organ installed in a second-story loft.

For information on this event or future music events at Gordon College, contact the Ticket Line at 978.867.3400 or visit www.gordon.edu/music.

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Gordon College is a Christian college of the liberal arts and sciences on Boston's North Shore. The college offers majors in 36 fields and has graduate programs in education and music education. Leading the way in Christian college merit, Gordon is nationally ranked for its excellence in academics and its role in character building. These achievements recognize Gordon as one of the nation's top Christian colleges. 

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