Music Department

Presented by members of the music department faculty: Gail Archer, organ, Paul Bellino, trombone, Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano, Robert Osborne, bass-baritone, Thomas Sauer, piano, and Richard Wilson, piano.

The exceptional young string quartet performs Wolf’s Italian Serenade and Janáček’s Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters.” Faculty member Todd Crow then joins the ensemble for Schumann’s exuberant Piano Quintet.

The duo presents music for two pianos by Schumann, Stravinsky, Infante, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Britten, marking the 40^th anniversary of their first two-piano program at Vassar. 

Professor of Organ at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, Robert Bates has been hailed by The American Organist as having “a beautifully refined technique, a profound understanding of rhythm and its subtleties, and a thorough sense of style.” He will present works by J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, and Brahms on the Paul Fritts organ in Skinner Hall.

Eduardo Navega, conductor.

View the program here.

Works by Bartók, Debussy, Chopin and others.

Faculty members James Osborn, trumpet, Peter Tomlinson, piano, and Louis Pappas, bass, present an evening of jazz collaborations including original works by Mr. Tomlinson.

“Handel’s London.” George Frederic Handel had an extraordinary international career, in an age when most of the great composers spent their lives close to the place of their birth. When he visited London for the first time in 1711 and permanently settled there one year later, he was welcomed as the most acclaimed composer of his day. He found a city hungry for his operas and when he left his native Germany for Italy, he quickly assimilated the styles and culture (notably the music of Henry Purcell) of his new home. The program contains Purcell’s Suite from The Fairy Queen and selected airs, Handel’s Agrippina and some chamber music from his time in London, and a quartet by Georg Philip Telemann, a life-long friend and correspondent of Handel.

Christine Howlett, conductor. “A Little Night Music.” Music for Allhallowtide featuring works by Mendelssohn, Verdi, Britten, Libby Larsen, and others.

View webcast here.

View program here.

Christine Howlett, conductor, Drew Minter, stage director. Purcell’s beloved Dido and Aeneas is presented in a semi-staged version with orchestra.

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View program here.

James Osborn, conductor

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Works for solo organ by Buxtehude, J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, and Reger. Members of the Vassar Camerata join for Handel's Concerto for Organ No. 13, "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale." The concert will begin in Skinner Hall and, after a brief intermission, will conclude in the Chapel.

An all-Russian program on the Vassar College Chapel’s Gress-Miles organ.

Chapel

Assisted by Richard Mogavero, piano. Works by J.S. Bach, Brahms, Gounod, Mozart, Rossini and others.

Eduardo Navega, conductor. 

View webcast here.

View program here.

“The Power of Love: Fireworks from Handel & Vivaldi.” Jeannette Sorrell, conductor, and Amanda Forsythe, soprano. Vassar alumna Ms. Forsythe ’98 collaborates with the esteemed early music ensemble.

A Dickinson-Kayden Event

James Osborn, director.

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View program here.

Drew Minter, conductor. "Caroling, Caroling Near and Far: A Program of Seasonal Carols from Different Lands."

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Christine Howlett and Drew Minter, conductors. Vassar College Choir, Madrigal Singers, and Women’s Chorus, and Cappella Festiva Chamber and Treble Choir. This annual Christmas service includes readings, choral anthems, and congregational carols that culminates in a candle lighting ceremony.

Chapel

View webcast here.

Patrick Walker ’16 and Sarah Johnson ’16, directors.

"Te Deum." A program of Christmas music featuring works by Handel, Haydn, Sweelinck, and Vulpius.

Jaylin Remensperger ’17 and Joseph Sopchak ’16, directors.