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Allegheny Trio Joined by Jennifer Hope Wills for SU Concert

Allegheny Trio Joined by Jennifer Hope Wills for SU Concert

By SU Public Relations

SALISBURY, MD---The Allegheny Trio presents its annual Salisbury University fall concert “A Mirage” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 20, in the Great Hall of Holloway Hall. 

The trio is joined by soprano Jennifer Hope Wills, who made her mark on Broadway, starring as Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera and co-starring with Brooke Shields in Wonderful Town. She also has portrayed Belle in the Broadway production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

The program features chamber music from the classical and music theatre repertoire. Hope Wills performs four songs with the trio including A Mirage and My Funny Valentine.

A student showcase, featuring Aubrie Crehan, alto; Gabriella Cox on piano; and Benjamin Rodman on cello, performs Cian Ducrot’s I’ll Be Waiting.

Comprised of cellist Jeffrey Schoyen, violinist Sachiho Murasugi and pianist Ernest Barretta, the trio is named for the Allegheny River, which flows through the Pittsburgh area where the musicians originally played together.

Conductor and music director of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and the Salisbury Youth Orchestra, Schoyen teaches cello and bass at SU. He has given concerts throughout the United States, Germany, Mexico, Spain and Ecuador, and received a Frank Huntington Beebe Grant to study in London with William Pleeth. He is also a Tanglewood Gustav Golden Award recipient. Schoyen honed his cello skills at the New England Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Mellon University, before earning his D.M.A. at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Murasugi has performed extensively as a professional orchestral and chamber musician. She has been concertmaster of the Filarmonica del Bajio in Mexico, and a member of the West Virginia Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic and Springfield Symphony. She received the National Endowment for the Arts Rural Residency Grant in chamber music and has performed in such venues as the Kennedy Center, Museo del Prado, and the Music Center at Strathmore. She is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music and holds a D.M.A. from Ohio State University. Currently she is currently concertmaster for the SSO.

A successful soloist and chamber musician, Barretta has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada. A member of the piano faculty at Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, he has appeared at the Seoul Music Festival and Academy in South Korea. A collaborative artist, he has played with such internationally recognized musicians as baritone Christopher Robertson and trumpeter Terry Everson. He studied at Oberlin Conservatory and earned a D.M.A. from Peabody Conservatory.

Sponsored by the Music, Theater and Dance Department, admission is free and the public is invited, but tickets are required. For tickets, visit the online box office.

Those planning to park on campus must register in advance for a free parking pass.

For more information call 410-543-6228.

Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at www.salisbury.edu.