A bass-baritone currently at Florida State University will be the next featured performer in the Kansas Wesleyan University-University United Methodist Church Family Concert Series.
Aaron Grant, a native of Emporia, Kansas, is scheduled to perform at 2 p.m. Sunday (February 20, 2011) in University United Methodist Church. The performance is open to the public at no charge.
According to Leslie Mangrum, Assistant Professor of Music at KWU, the recital will be immediately followed by a master class in Miller Chapel on the second floor of KWU’s Pioneer Hall.
“This is an exciting opportunity for our community and KWU students to hear a young professional perform, and then also receive feedback on their own singing,” Mangrum said.
Grant earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2007 and his Master of Music degree from Florida State University in 2009. He is currently a doctoral candidate in vocal performance with an emphasis in vocal pedagogy at Florida State University, studying with David Okerlund. Additional training includes Italian language study through the Canta in Italia program in Florence, Italy, and German language study at the DID deutsch-institut, Berlin.
Most recently Grant participated in the Mary Ragland Young Artist Program at Nashville Opera where he performed in the mainstage production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” as Count Ceprano. Additional performance credits include Il dottor Dulcamara in “L’elisir d’amore,” Don Bartolo in “Il barbiere di Siviglia,” Schaunard in “La bohème,” Bottom in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Collatinus in “The Rape of Lucretia,” and Ko-Ko in “The Mikado,” Florida State Opera; Sam in “Trouble in Tahiti,” La Cosa Nostra Productions; Peter in “Hansel and Gretel” and Sir Tristram in “Martha,” Cimarron Opera; Baron Douphol in “La Traviata,” The Masterworks Festival and Oklahoma University Opera; and Papageno in “Die Zauberflöte,” Oklahoma University Opera.
As a voice teacher, Grant has held private studios in Tallahassee, Florida and Dothan, Alabama, and is currently a graduate assistant working in the Musical Theater department at Florida State University.