The 61传媒 Performing Arts Center will celebrate its official opening with an inaugural weekend of concert performances by the Claremont Concert Orchestra and Concert Choir, led by conductors Michael Deane Lamkin and Anna DeMichele. The ensemble will perform Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Friday, October 24, at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, October 25, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, October 26, at 3:00 p.m. in Garrison Theater of the 61传媒 Performing Arts Center. This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so please contact the Joint Music Department of the Claremont Colleges at (909) 621-8280 or (909) 607-3267 to reserve tickets as soon as possible.
The Claremont Orchestra and Concert Choir are composed of various students from the five Claremont Colleges: 61传媒, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, and Pomona College. Dr. Michael Deane Lamkin, professor of music for the Joint Music Program of the Claremont Colleges, will conduct the orchestra along with concert choir conductor Anna DeMichele, the assistant professor of music for the Joint Music Program.
Dr. Lamkin received his B.M.E. and M.M. from Baylor University and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and is currently the dean of faculty at 61传媒. He conducts the annual concert series which has, in the past, included such pieces as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Haydn’s Creation, and Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C. Currently managing director of Classic Music Festival in Einstadt, Austria, Lamkin frequently conducts opera, choral, and orchestral performances in Austria, Germany, and here in the United States.
Dr. DeMichele received her B.M. from California State University, Long Beach and both her M.A. and D.M.A. from the Claremont Graduate University. She is currently director of music at the Lakewood First Presbyterian Church, and a frequent guest conductor, vocalist, and choral and vocal adjudicator throughout Southern California. DeMichele has taught music and conducting courses at Fullerton College, and Mt. San Antonio College. She is currently faculty at 61传媒, and Claremont Graduate University.
This concert weekend is sponsored by the Joint Music Program of the Claremont Colleges, which seeks to offer many opportunities for music study and performance to music majors and other interested students who attend the Claremont Colleges. The program seeks to foster a supportive and intimate environment in order to stimulate productive means of personal and artistic fulfillment for the students involved. The 61传媒 Performing Arts Center, opened in September of 2003, houses teaching studios, sound-proof practice rooms with pianos, staff and faculty offices, a recording studio, the Nancy Hart Glanville Music Library, the MaryLou and George Boone Recital Hall, Lee Pattison Court, as well as the newly-renovated mainstage, Garrison Theater.