November 13, 2012

Jeanine Wagner to present last faculty recital

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Jeanine Wagner, director of the School of Music at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, sings farewell at her last faculty recital for the University.

The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.  Joining soprano Wagner is Margaret Simmons, professor emerita, accompanying on piano.  Wagner and Simmons have a long history of performing together, having toured extensively in the United States and in Europe.

This performance features classical works by composers Tosti, Poulenc, Turina, and Mozart.  The second half of the performance focuses on musical theater and operetta, with works by Flaherty, Styne, Herbert, and others.

Wagner made her selections partly on past successes, but also on what she and Simmons admired and wanted to perform.  For example, they included a Mozart aria with which Wagner won Metropolitan Opera auditions, as well as National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions, Mu Phi Epsilon International Artists auditions, and the International Pavarotti Competition.

"I love performing in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall," Wagner said.  "It's an easy place to sing.  Considering the first recital I did there was my required Junior Recital for my bachelor of music in vocal performance umpteen years ago, I've pretty much grown up on that stage.  Margaret and I have literally toured around the world, and singing at SIU is truly coming home."

Wagner may be retiring from life as a professor, but she's not at all done with education.  She plans to earn a Master of Science degree in speech language pathology, and pursue the next phase of her career in voice rehabilitation.

"Actually, that's not far from what I have been doing in the voice studio for the past 30 years," she said.  "I hope to be working with professional voice users who are in some kind of vocal distress, helping them return to a healthy voice production that will serve them in their work."

This performance is admission-free and open to the public.