Luther alumnae to perform a voice recital on campus

Luther College alumnae Beth Ray Westlund, mezzo soprano, and Ann Elise Schoenecker, soprano, will present a voice recital at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, in the Noble Recital Hall in Luther’s Jenson-Noble Hall of Music.

The performance is open to the public with no charge for admission.

Joining Ray will be collaborative pianist Jessica Paul, Luther professor emerita. Schoenecker will collaborate with pianist Mary Ellen Haupert, Viterbo University professor of music.

Ray, a 1989 Luther graduate, is associate professor of music at Luther, and Schoenecker, a 1990 graduate of Luther, is associate professor of music at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The all-English program features songs and duets by living American composers, including “So Free am I” by Ben Moore, “The Years” by Lori Laitman, “From the Diary of Virginia Woolf” by Dominick Argento, a duet from John Corigliano’s opera “The Ghosts of Versailles,” and selections by Judith Cloud, Libby Larsen, and Gwyneth Walker.

In addition to the recital at Luther, there will be a performance in the Nola Starling Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 2, at Viterbo University.

Luther is home to one of the largest collegiate music programs in the nation, with six choirs, three orchestras, three bands, two jazz bands and more than 800 student musicians. Luther students participate in large ensembles, faculty-coached chamber groups, private lessons and master classes. Nearly 275 music majors study music theory, ear training, history, education, composition, jazz, church music and performance.