Lindenhurst College Student to Sing at Lincoln Center

A Lindenhurst woman and current student at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music will perform as part of the college's chorus at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center on May 1.

Melissa Becker is an alto in the Crane Chorus, which, along with the Crane Symphony Orchestra, will travel to New York City to perform composer Giuseppe Verdi's Messa de Requiem.

According to Wikipedia, it's a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass (Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra, and it's typically not performed in the liturgy, but in a concert of approximately 85 to 90 minutes.

Becker, a junior, will be one of more than 200 students participating in the performance, which will mark the 125th anniversary of the Crane School of Music.

Leading up to the concert the students will have an intensive, week-long musical immersion experience culminating in a packed performance at the Potsdam campus, before they depart for Manhattan.

The students will also perform the Requiem at SUNY Potsdam's Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall on April 28 ahead of their Lincoln Center debut.

The students will be under the baton of Ann Howard Jones, according to a press release about the event.

She's the 2012 Dorothy Albrecht Gregory Visiting Conductor, and will be conducting rehearsals and masterclasses as well as participating in lectures and arts events for the community as part of the inaugural Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts, April 21 to April 28.

The guest soloists are Kelly Kaduce and Charles Temkey, and Crane School of Music alumni Margaret Lattimore 1991 and Dimitri Pittas 1999.

The young musicians will also be joined on stage will be SUNY Potsdam President Dr. John F. Schwaller, a baritone who, according to the press release, considers himself honored to sing alongside the talented members of the audition-only group.

The Lincoln Center performance is made possible by the Adeline Maltzan Crane Chorus Performance Tour Fund, funded by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay, a 1967 alum, with additional support from the bequest of Brock and Janie McElheran.

For ticket information log onto the Lincoln center website or call CenterCharge at 212-721-6500. For more information about the concert, click here.