News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 4/1/05   Click on image for publication quality photo  SOUTHEASTERN’S ALISSA ROWE PRESENTS FACULTY RECITAL APRIL 6         HAMMOND – Soprano Alissa Mercurio Rowe, director of choral activities at Southeastern Louisiana University, will present a recital April 6 at the Pottle Music Building Auditorium.         The free 7:30 p.m. recital is part of the Department of Music and Dramatic Arts annual spring concert series, “Encore!” Rowe will be accompanied by pianist and Southeastern instructor Henry Jones and will perform works by Marc Blitzstein, Alban Berg, Claude Debussy and Samuel Barber.         Rowe is in her fourth year at Southeastern where she conducts the Southeastern Concert Choir, Northshore Chorale, University Chorus and Women’s Chorale. She holds masters degrees in conducting and vocal performance from the University of Michigan, where she served as the music director and conductor of the Arts Chorale and as the assistant conductor of the Chamber Choir, University Choir, and Women's Glee Club.         Last November, Rowe and the Concert Choir premiered a commissioned work, “Canzoni d’amore” by Theodore Morrison, at Hammond’s First United Methodist Church. She also guest conducted the American premiere of Richard Prior's “Hymn for Nations United” with the Southeastern Wind Symphony.         During the summer, Rowe serves on the All-State voice faculty at Interlochen Arts Academy. She sang two performances of Barber’s Knoxville “Summer of 1915” at the 2004 Medomak Conductor’s Retreat in Washington, Maine. In December 2003, she made her debut as soprano soloist with the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. She also recently performed with Portland Oregon’s Third Angle Music Ensemble where she sang the roles of the Evil One, Fiegele, and the Goat in David Schiff’s “Gimpel the Fool.” The recording was released on Arabesque Records in the fall 2004.          As a soprano soloist, Rowe has also performed in more than five operas and sung supporting roles in “La Cenerentola,” “The Consul,” and “La Perichole.”         After graduating from Yale University in 1978, Jones spent ten years in New York City as a free-lance vocal coach and accompanist. During that decade, his credits included choral performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and vocal recitals at Lincoln Center. He also was musical director of a gymnastic exhibition at Madison Square Garden, and Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including “Evita,” “Jerome Robbins' Broadway,” and “The Fantasticks.”          Jones received his doctoral degree in piano in 1994 from Louisiana State University and taught at Minot State University in North Dakota and Missouri Southern State College in Joplin before joining Southeastern’s faculty.  He was a winner of the LSU Symphony Concerto Competition, and was nominated several times for best musical director by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets.         For additional information about the recital, contact the Department of Music and Dramatic Arts, 985-549-2184.