Lazich to Perform

Professor Emeritus of Music (voice) and former Director of Choirs, Milutin Lazich, bass, will return to campus on Friday, April 9, 2010 to present a recital of art songs and arias. Joining him will be his son, Dimitrie Lazich, baritone, and current music faculty member Dr. Paula Amrod, piano.

After retiring from Clarion University in 2003 Mr. Lazich moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he continues to sing opera and concert repertoire and at the same time conducts several choral organizations. He is the Music Director and founder of the Masterworks Concert Choral in Murrysville/Monroeville area.

Mr. Lazich started his international career singing in Lucca and Barga Italy, as well as in Belgrade, Serbia. He has performed Ramfis in Aida, King Philip in Don Carlo, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, and the title role in Don Giovanni, among many others. His most recent operatic credits include: Alfieri in Bolcolm’s Veiw from the Bridge, Donner in The Rheingold, King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors and Bartolo in Marriage of Figaro. As a musical theater performer, he has sung the leading roles in South Pacific, The Man of La Mancha, King and I, Mikado and Fiddler on the Roof.

He has performed extensively with symphony orchestras and choruses in many important choral works such as, The Messiah, Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and many others. He also was invited to teach several times as a guest lecturer at the University of Malta on the island of Malta.

Dimitrie Lazich, bass-baritone, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. He has performed leading roles in Carmen, Die Zauberflote, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Rake’s Progress, La Boheme, Die Fledermaus, among many others both here and abroad.

Mr. Lazich also has performed leading roles with the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh as Maximilion in Candide, Louis in their production of Bolcolm’s A View from the Bridge, and Marco in their production of Gianni Schicchi. With the Opera Company of Philadelphia, he has performed Marullo in Rigoletto, Wagner in Faust and Lakai in Ariadne auf Naxos. He has also sung as the Erste Soldat with Cleveland Opera in Salome, and La Traviata with De Nederlandse Reisopera.

Mr. Lazich made his professional European debut with the Staatsoper Stuttgart singing in their production of Dr. Faustus. He also has performed as part of The Music Academy of the West where he performed Beaupertuis in Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Sid in Albert Herring as well as Don Alvaro in Il Viaggio a Reims where he worked closely with Ms. Marilyn Horne and the late Randal Behr.

Dimitrie Lazich made his UK debut with Dorset Opera singing Zurga in their production of Les pêcheurs de perles and most recently Escamillo in Carmen with the Longborough Festival Opera. He will return to Europe to perform the role of Falke in Die Fledermaus in a touring production in The Netherlands and Belgium.

No stranger to the concert stage, he has performed solos in Faure’s Requiem, Durefle’s Requiem, Carmina Burana and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with different groups in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. In Boston, he was the featured soloist with Worcester Symphony and Choir in both the Messiah as well as St. Matthew’s Passion. He will be performing The Creation and Durelfle’s Requiem in Pittsburgh later this spring.

The April 9, 2010 performance will take place in the Marwick-Boyd Auditorium on the main campus of Clarion University at 7:30 p.m. The performance will include works of Handel, Rosa, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Bellini, and Mozart, among others. The performance is FREE and open to the public.

For more information contact the Department of Music at 814-393-2287.

PMEA 2009

There’s nothing like spring. Everything “feels” clean and fresh. The grass is greening, bird songs erupt in the morning and last into the evening, and the beauty of the flowering trees is unmatched. You can always count on the constancy of spring to end winter’s long stay and brighten your spirits.

Each year spring also brings the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) annual in-service conference. I don’t know how many years Clarion has had a booth at the PMEA conference, probably more than most can recall. Many of our alumni who teach in PA and attend the conference make a point to stop by the Clarion booth and say “hi.” It’s always great to see so many of our friends from the past, and I enjoy hearing what they have been doing since leaving Clarion.

While Clarion has always had an exhibitor’s booth, relatively new is the increased presence of Clarion’s music faculty at the conference as invited presenters and clinicians at the conference. This year 3 music faculty were invited to present.

Dr. Stephen Johnson, Assoc. Professor of Music, was invited to give a poster presentation of his ongoing research into sight-reading. His project, titled “A Descriptive Study of Rural Sixth Grade Instrumental Students’ Thought Processes while Engaged in Sight-Reading,” also will be presented in a research forum at the conference. Dr. Henry Alviani, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choirs, will offer a session on his vocal manual Voiceworks, published by Alfred Publishing. And, at the end of the week, I will be presenting a session on internet applications for music educators, focusing on getting novice users started on using the web to help manage, enhance, and assess their music programs.

Many other great sessions take place during the conference, not to mention the many, many fine performances presented. So, if you ever have the opportunity to attend the PMEA conference, I think you’ll agree that it is a great experience. You have to promise, though, between sessions and concerts to stop by our Clarion booth to chat for a minute. To make it worth your time, I’ll even give you one of our “world famous” Department of Music pens!

BTW – I’m video blogging about my PMEA experience at the booth just for fun at http://clarionmusicalumni.ning.com/video

Student Senior Recitals

It’s always great to hear our students perform their Senior Recitals. They work so diligently for months and months, learning a great deal about their performance areas (and themselves!) in the process.

This weekend, on Sunday, October 26, we have two senior recitals being presented.

The first recital is soprano Michelle Hall at 3:30 p.m. Michelle is from Allegany, NY and plans to pursue a graduate degree in Vocal Performance with a concentration in Operatic Performance. The second is William Nelson, piano at 6:00 p.m. Bill is from Rural Valley, PA and hopes to begin his teaching career right after graduation.

Both events are in the Marwick-Boyd Auditorium and a free and open to the public.