MEDIA CONTACT: Polly Burks
561-297-2595, pburks@fau.edu or
Stacia Smith
561-297-2971, ssmith@fau.edu
Enjoy the Best of Italian Music and Culture at FAU's 2005 Music Festival "Virtuosi and Vino,"
Presented by Bank of America
BOCA RATON, FL (February 15, 2005) - Enjoy the best of Italian music and culture as Florida Atlantic University's Department of Music presents its fifth annual music festival Friday, February 25 through Sunday, February 27 with the theme "Virtuosi and Vino: A Celebration of Italian Music and Culture." The festival, presented by Bank of America, will take place at FAU's Schmidt Performing Arts Center on the Boca Raton campus, 777 Glades Road.
"We are thrilled to be in our fifth year with the music festival," said Heather Coltman, music festival artistic director and chair of FAU's music department. "This year's festival promises to entertain audiences with well-known opera choruses as well as dazzling virtuoso pieces."
The weekend of Italian music and culture will commence with a free screening of the film version of "La Traviata," sponsored by FAU's Languages and Linguistics' Italian Studies Program. The film, in Italian with English subtitles, will be shown on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Building, Room 101. "La Traviata," an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, tells the story of the ill-fated love affair between two young lovers, Violetta and Alfredo. Alfredo's father will not allow his son to marry beneath his social standing by marrying Violetta in this classic love story set in the 1700s. This film version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, portrays the grandeur of Italian opera.
Saturday's festivities begin at 6 p.m. with a President's Reception to be held at the Performing Arts Center's Lakeside Visual Arts Patio. The reception will be catered by NexStore MarketPlace of Boca Raton. NexStore will present a selection of dishes celebrating various regions of Italy, as well as desserts prepared by the restaurant's executive pastry chef Stephen Leffew. Un Pó Pazzo will also provide an assortment of distinctive Italian wines.
Following the reception, there will be a concert at 7:30 at which guest soprano Cristina Fontanelli will perform with FAU's Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Bryce Seliger. The concert, which will take place in the University Theatre, will include selections from the operas "La Boheme," "Madame Butterfly," and others. Fontanelli has performed in major concert halls throughout the world and was recently chosen to open the ceremonies at the New York State Stars n' Stripes Presidential Inaugural Ball where she sang the "National Anthem" and "God Bless America."
Sunday's concert will start at 3 p.m. in the University Theatre and will include performances by FAU's brass ensemble and choral ensembles as well as piano duets and quartets. The brass ensemble, made up of 10 brass players, will play antiphonal music by Giovanni Gabrieli. Gabrieli wrote this work originally to be played in St. Mark's cathedral in Venice, which is designed in the shape of a cross. In his version of surround sound, Gabrieli wrote the work for separate ensembles to be located at different ends of the cross. FAU's ensembles will present the work as it was intended with ensembles playing in separate locations.
Following the brass ensembles, the choral groups, under the direction of Patricia P. Fleitas and Stacie Lee Rossow, will perform choruses from Italian operas by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Donizetti and Puccini. And finally, FAU faculty Heather Coltman, Irena Koffman and Krisztina Kover will present piano duet and quartet versions of Italian operas and arias, including pieces by Gioacchino Rossini and Vittorio Rieti.
Tickets for the Friday and Saturday festivities are $15 for one concert, $25 for two concerts, $45 for a concert and the reception, and $55 for two concerts and the reception. FAU students may receive concert tickets free at the door prior to the concert. FAU faculty, staff and alumni may purchase concert tickets for half price. To purchase concert tickets, call 561-297-2977 or email artstickets@fau.edu. For further information about the concerts, call 561-297-3820 or visit www.fau.edu/musicfestival.
Proceeds from the "Virtuosi & Vino" will benefit the music scholarship fund at FAU's School of the Arts in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. The festival is presented by the School of the Arts in partnership with Bank of America and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council. Additional support is provided by NexStore MarketPlace, Un Pó Pazzo, the FAU University Club and the FAU Foundation.
- FAU -
