Wooster Symphony Orchestra to perform Nov. 12 and 13 featuring vocalist Sarah Best

The College of Wooster Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Gault Recital Hall in Scheide Music Center (525 E. University Street) on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. The performance will feature Sarah Best, vocalist and assistant professor of music at the College.

Ohio Light Opera favorite Best joins the Wooster Symphony Orchestra, directed by Jeff Lindberg, to perform songs by the great French composer Henri Duparc. Best, a professional opera and musical theatre performer, comes from a diverse background in performance with organizations throughout the United States including The American Symphony Orchestra, Ash Lawn Opera, Bard Music Festival, The Daraja Ensemble, Fripp Island Music Festival, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, The Light Opera of New York, The Los Angeles Operetta Foundation, The Luzerne Music Center, The Maryland Opera Studio, The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, The Ohio Light Opera, Opéra Louisiane, Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Opera, and The Virginia Consort. Best received her bachelor’s degree in music from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in music from University of Maryland’s Maryland Opera Studio, and a doctorate in musical arts from University of Michigan.

Known for her comedic timing and audience rapport, Best’s range of stage experience extends from the traditional opera canon and sacred music performance into contemporary concert works to include a vast repertoire of over 50 distinct roles encompassing both the American musical theatre and lyric theatre tradition. Recently performed operatic and theatrical roles include Irene Molloy (Hello, Dolly!), Le Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), Nellie Forbush (South Pacific), The Baker’s Wife (Into the Woods), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Hattie (Kiss Me, Kate), Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia), Iolanthe (Iolanthe), Madame de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites), and Gladys Hotchkiss (The Pajama Game).

Also included in the program on Saturday and Sunday is “1776: A Tribute to The Fallen,” an overture written by Wooster composer David Westfall, who passed away in May. Westfall taught music at the University of Akron and served as a choir director and church accompanist. After his retirement from teaching, he focused on composing, writing various operas, symphonies, and choral works. The program will conclude with Amy Beach’s famous Symphony No. 2, titled “Gaelic.”

In addition to the Wooster Symphony Orchestra, Lindberg teaches courses in jazz history and improvisation and directs the Wooster Jazz Ensemble. Lindberg is a co-founder and creative director of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Chicago’s oldest professional jazz orchestra in continuous operation. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is working towards a doctorate in conducting from the University of Iowa.

The concert is open to the public. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for College of Wooster faculty, staff, and students and available at the Scheide Music Center Office and at the door. For more information, call 330-263-2419 or email mpuster@wooster.edu.

Posted in News on November 3, 2022.