Amanda DeBoer and Amanda Majeski sing on the North Campus

This weekend, lovers of the art of classical vocal music will have the opportunity to enjoy the artistry of two talented young sopranos at UB. On Friday at 8pm, soprano Amanda Majeski performs in Baird Recital Hall, while on Sunday at 3pm soprano Amanda DeBoer performs in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, both on the UB Amherst Campus.

Soprano Amanda DeBoer

Soprano Amanda DeBoer has been having a busy couple of weeks. Last Tuesday, the young soprano tossed off, seemingly effortlessly, a pair of the most challenging modern works for unaccompanied voice at February’s edition of the increasingly popular Brown Bag noontime concerts, presented the first Tuesday of every month during the academic year. DeBoer’s mastery of the intricacies of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza III, composed in 1966 for his wife, Cathy Berberian, was an unexpected tour de force. On the other hand, perhaps not. DeBoer came to UB to study with Tony Arnold, one of the most critically acclaimed vocalists performing the music of modern, contemporary and emerging composers in the US. With her performance of the Berio piece, DeBoer clearly demonstrated that she is not afraid of a challenge. Arnold’s recording of the work, released, as part of the complete set of Sequenzas on the Naxos label a couple of years ago, is the most exciting recording since that of Berberian.

Last Sunday, DeBoer was the vocalist in Lukas Foss’ Time Cycle, perhaps the highlight of the concert, filled with outstanding performances of music by the late composer, at the new Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Jan Williams led the small ensemble of virtuoso musicians in an exciting, well-balanced performance of Time Cycle, shaped by DeBoer’s beautifully modulated singing of the four English and German texts, in a performance that brought the overflowed hall to its feet. This Sunday afternoon at 3pm, DeBoer will present her master of music degree recital in Slee Hall. The Omaha native has selected a program that leans towards the adventurous. Schumann’s Mignon Lieder, Poulenc’s Trois Poèmes de Louis Lalanne, and a pair of Stephen Foster songs will be mixed in with music by John Cage and Georges Aperghis, as well as three premieres: Dawn and Sunset and In This Place by Chris Williams and In Colors by Tom Stoll.

Admission to the recital is free.

The UB Department of Music and the Marilyn Horne Foundation are co-sponsoring a four-day residency by soprano Amanda Majeski this week, including the Slee/Visiting Artist Series recital that culminates the event Friday evening at 8pm at Baird Recital Hall. The aim of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, founded in 1993, is to encourage, support, and preserve the art of the vocal recital through the presentation of recitals and related educational programs in communities across the US. Revitalizing the art form of the vocal recital, increasingly absent from the live concert series of many American concert presenters, is the stated aim of the foundation, and the Music Department at UB, and Buffalo audiences, have been lucky enough to enjoy a ongoing relationship with the foundation.

Praised by the Washington Post for her “beautiful voice and affecting musicality,” and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “refined power, effortless dynamic control and warm tonal color,” Majeski is currently finishing her graduate studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. Accompanied by pianist Tamara Sanikidze, Majeski’s program includes Rachmaninov’s Opus 38, a selection of songs by Richard Strauss, the jewel song from Gounod’s Faust, and Haydn’s Scena de Berenice. A group of contemporary songs, by composer’s Ricky Ian Gordon and William Bolcom, including Bolcom’s irresistible Amor, round out the program.

Advanced tickets for the recital are priced at $12, with discounts for senior citizens ($9), UB faculty/staff/alumni ($9), and students ($5). At the door, tickets will be $20, with discounts for senior citizens ($15), UB faculty/staff/alumni ($15), and students ($8). Visit www.slee.buffalo.edu for more information.