Old Bridge, NJ – July 30, 2018 – The Old Bridge Public Library will present a concert of classical eastern European music entitled, “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” on Saturday, August 11th at 2:30pm.
The concert will be the fourth and final installment of the Library’s Collegium Musicum Concert Series. The performance of eastern European art songs will include music by renowned composers Shostakovich, Dvorak, Ullmann, Gluck and others. There will be an emphasis on Jewish Heritage music, with many songs performed in Yiddish. It will feature soprano Eileen Cooper and tenor Benjamin T. Berman, accompanied by pianist Paul Conrad.
Eileen Cooper earned both her MA in Music and BA in Vocal Performance (Summa Cum Laude) at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. While pursuing her degrees, she served as a part-time lecturer for the Music History and Vocal Departments and was the recipient of the Olga Marsano Burian Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music. She is on the Boards of the New York Singing Teacher’s Association (NYSTA) and Light Opera of New Jersey and is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She performs internationally.
Benjamin T. Berman is the music director of First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, the conductor of the Highland Park Community Chorus and artistic director of the new Hub City Opera and Dance Company. He received his MM in Vocal Performance in 2012 from Mason Gross School of the Arts. While at Rutgers, he coached with Barbara González-Palmer, and sang in six opera productions under the direction of Pamela Gilmore. He also studied organ with Mark Trautman, and is a harpsichordist for the Period Instrument Ensemble, La Fiocco. Berman is active as a recitalist, voice teacher, harpsichordist, and organist in Central New Jersey.
Paul Conrad received a BA in Music from Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he currently teaches. He was twice selected as the Accompanying Apprentice at the Berkshire Choral Festival, and played for the 2014 Cecchetti Council of America International Summer School. In 2010 he performed at Weill Recital Hall as part of a 200-year Franz Liszt Anniversary Recital.
He is the recipient of several honorable collegiate awards, including the NJ State Governor’s Scholarship, Stephanie Morris Marryott Scholarship, Edna S. Mason Scholarship, Arthur G. Humphrey Award, and the Presser Foundation Award.
Attendees are requested to bring a non-perishable, unexpired donation for the Old Bridge Food Pantry to this free event.
The Old Bridge Public Library has consistently been voted one of the three Best Public Libraries in Middlesex County by the readers of the Home News Tribune. The Library is open seven-days-a-week and is located at 1 Old Bridge Plaza at the corner of Rt. 516 and Cottrell Road in the Municipal Center. More information about this and other Library programs is available at www.oldbridgelibrary.org or by calling 732-721-5600 x5033. The satellite Laurence Harbor branch is located at 277 Shoreland Circle; phone: 732-566-2227.
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