The Brevard Music Center in partnership with Brevard College presents its First Mondays concert series on March 2, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. in Scott Concert Hall at the Porter Center for Performing Arts at Brevard College.
The program will feature Soprello, a musical collaboration between Brevard Music Center cello faculty member Alistair MacRae and soprano Allison Pohl. Soprello explores the connections between vibrating strings and the human voice and aims to engage audiences with music new and old, both specific to its instrumentation and inventively repurposed. MacRae and Pohl will perform works by Schumann, Purcell, Tavener and more.
Cellist Alistair MacRae has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral principal throughout the United States and in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. His playing is praised for its “rich sound and lyrical phrasing” (Palm Beach Daily News) and his performances have been featured in radio broadcasts across the United States. MacRae teaches cello at Princeton University and is on the faculty of the Brevard Music Center. He has given master classes and lecture-performances through the American String Teachers Association and at Marshall University, the University of Utah, Palm Beach Community College and Kings College. He holds degrees from Princeton University and the Manhattan School of Music.
Soprano Allison Pohl made her professional debut as Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro under the baton of Maestro Stephen Lord at Boston Lyric Opera. She has performed widely in the United States as well as in Italy and China, drawing positive reviews for her “sparkling voice” (OuterStage) and “exuberant” performances (Opera News). This season, Pohl debuts with Opera Providence as Yum-Yum in The Mikado and as a soloist with Canton Symphony Orchestra in the opening concert of their Masterworks Series. Pohl received her Master of Music degree from Boston University and her Bachelor of Music degree from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music.
March’s local charity partner is Friends for Life – a nonprofit organization that operates a cage-free, homelike sanctuary for senior and special-needs companion animals.