Bienen School of Music Students to Perform at Kennedy Center May 20

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Five students from Northwestern University's Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music will perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. at 5 p.m. (C.D.T.) Wednesday, May 20, as part of the Conservatory Project for developing and presenting young talent.

The concert will be streamed live via the Internet. To view the webcast live visit the Kennedy Center Web site's Millennium Stage page, which has links to its streaming video broadcasts. The Web page can be accessed through the shortcut http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/schedule.html.

The Conservatory Project is an initiative of the Kennedy Center's "Performing Arts for Everyone" Millennium Stage. It is a semi-annual event occurring in February and May, designed to present the best young musical artists in classical jazz, musical theater, opera and more from the nation's leading undergraduate and graduate conservatories, colleges and universities. The Conservatory Project provides free daily performances at 5 p.m. CDT.

Twice a year, the nation's leading music schools are invited to send students to the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre to introduce top new talent to the public. Project participants have the opportunity to be critiqued by world-renowned musicians.

The following Bienen School of Music students will perform at the Kennedy Center May 20:

Pianist Geraldine Ong, a graduate student who studies with Associate Professor Alan Chow, will perform Maurice Ravel's "Scarbo" from "Gaspard de la nuit."

Cellist Charlaine Prescott, a senior who studies with Professor Hans Jensen, will perform Niccolo Paganini's Variations on a Theme by Rossini and Mark Summer's "Julie-O."

Guitarist Molly Manarchy, a freshman who studies with Northwestern's National High School Music Institute faculty member Mark Maxwell, will perform William Walton's Bagatelle No. 1 and Roland Dyens' "Fuoco."

Tenor Grant Knox, a doctoral student who studies with Assistant Professor Sunny Joy Langton, will perform Igor Stravinsky's "Here I Stand" from "The Rake's Progress," and Paolo Tosti's "L'ultima canzone" and "A vucchella."

Baritone Keven Keyes, a doctoral student who studies voice with Associate Professor Karen Brunssen, will perform Ambroise Thomas' "O vin, dissipe la tristesse" from "Hamlet" and Franz Schubert's "Der Wanderer," Op. 4, No. 1.

Knox and Keyes also will sing Georges Bizet's duet "Au fond du temple saint" from "Les Pecheurs de perles."

Pianist Kay Kim, an active collaborative pianist in the Chicago area and a faculty member of Northwestern's National High School Music Institute, will accompany Prescott, Knox and Keyes.

For more information and links to video of Bienen School of Music students' 2005 to 2008 Conservatory Project performances, visit http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=NWUNIVMUSI.