SMU Music Department to showcase original faculty compositions March 15

WINONA, Minn. — Original compositions by Saint Mary’s University faculty composers Dr. Patrick O’Shea and A. Eric Heukeshoven will be featured at a recital Saturday, March 15, at Saint Mary’s. The biennial “Composers Recital,” which will begin at 6:30 p.m., will include world premieres of two works, music with poetry, and a wide variety of contemporary compositions.

New music by Dr. Patrick O’Shea, director of choral music, includes the premiere of Vezzosi augelli, written in 2012. SMU alumni Brigid Ryan ’06 and Lindsy O’Shea ’05 will be featured on this vocal duet. O’Shea’s Sonata Piccola for violin and piano will feature the talent of assistant professor of music Dr. David Leung on violin with Jan Matson on piano. Originally composed as a single movement work, O’Shea has written an opening movement for the sonata to be premiered at this event. Poltergeist, the newest work to be performed, will feature Dr. Janet Heukeshoven, also of the SMU Music Department, on flute and percussionist Jeremy Johnston, a 2009 alumnus.

Assistant professor of music A. Eric Heukeshoven will present both choral and instrumental works. Just Believe, a work commissioned for the La Crosse Chamber Chorale’s Words to Music series, will be performed by members of the chorale, joined by students from SMU’s Chamber Singers. Heukeshoven’s wife, Janet, and flautist Amanda Moburg will be featured in selections from the composer’s 24 Duets for Two Flutes. Ted Haaland, founder of Great River Shakespeare Festival’s Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest, will introduce the duets with an original poem he composed for each of the selections.

The event — free and open to the public — will be held in Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the SMU Performance Center.

For more information, contact A. Eric Heukeshoven at (507) 457-7292 or eheukesh@smumn.edu.