Indiana State University Newsroom

The Indiana State University Symphony Orchestra will present a concert Tuesday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Tilson Auditorium. Sarah Stone, a mezzo-soprano and alumna of the School of Music at Indiana State, will be the featured soloist.

Stone, who teaches at Central Michigan University, is known for the warmth and flexibility of her tone and has been featured in a variety of roles from teenage boys to world-wise gypsies. She has performed with companies such as the Bay View Music Festival, Kentucky Opera, Louisville Ballet, Tanglewood Music Center, and Dorian Opera Theatre.

An active proponent of contemporary classical music she has worked closely with composers Dan Powers, Marcos Balter and P.Q. Phan, premiering the lead role in his opera "The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh" in 2009. She will return to the Bay View Music Festival this summer as director of the opera scenes program.

The concert will begin with the monumental and revolutionary "Symphony #3" by Beethoven. The work is subtitled "Eroica", or "Heroic", and was originally to be dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, but when he declared himself emperor, Beethoven became enraged, and changed the dedication. The second movement, a funeral march, was played at Felix Mendelssohn's funeral and to commemorate Franklin Delano Roosevelt's death. The Munich Philharmonic played it at a memorial service after the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Stone will sing four of Gustav Mahler's "Rückert Songs," which were written in 1901-02, and which use extremely subtle orchestration to depict the meaning of the poet's texts. The last song, "I have lost track of the world", is Mahler's greatest song, of which he once said: "It is truly me."

Admission to the event is free and attendance by campus and community members is encouraged. For more information, contact the School of Music at 812-237-2771.

Contact: William Davis, associate professor of music, School of Music, Indiana State University, 812-237-2742, or William.Davis@indstate.edu

Writer: Ebonie Lamb, arts marketing intern, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, elamb1@sycamores.indstate.edu