Bass-Baritone Colin Johnson Featured at Next Sunday Recital

The Sunday Recital Series at Mary Baldwin University will continue on November 10 with bass-baritone Colin Johnson and pianist Lise Keiter. The concert is at 3 p.m. in Francis Auditorium.

They will perform Gerald Finzi’s Earth and Air and Rain, a beautiful song cycle set to poems of Thomas Hardy, along with popular selections from opera and musical theatre (including music from Don Giovanni, Faust, Sweeney Todd, and others).

Johnson has been heard in many opera houses and theatres across the country, as well as in Germany and Italy. His voice has been described as “ebullient” in roles such as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Dr. Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Méphistophélès in Faust, Caspar in Der Freischütz, and Sam in Trouble in Tahiti. 

He has performed with such opera companies as Opera Lancaster, Opera Naples, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Colorado, Connecticut Opera, and Sarasota Opera. His other concert works include Baritone Soloist in Brahms’ Requiem, Elijah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Bass Soloist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, and Verdi’s Requiem.  He is on the faculty at Mary Baldwin University and holds degrees from the University of Iowa and Shenandoah University.

Keiter has performed throughout the U.S. and in Europe, and she is active as a solo recitalist, collaborative artist, and soloist with orchestra. She recently appeared as a concerto soloist with the Waynesboro Symphony, and her latest solo and chamber music performance engagements have taken her to New York City, North Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin, Idaho, West Virginia, Illinois, South Carolina, and throughout Virginia, including recent performances with the Heifetz Institute and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.  She is on the faculty at Mary Baldwin University, where she also serves as Music Department Chair.  She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and from Indiana University.

Single tickets for November 10 may be purchased at the door and are $5 for the general public and $4 for students and seniors (free for MBU students). Season tickets are also available. Purchase tickets online or call 540-887-7294.