Five Northwestern University students studying at the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music will perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the nation’s capital Monday, March 8, as part of the center’s Conservatory Project. The concert will be streamed live at 5 p.m. (CST) via the Internet.

The project is an initiative of the Kennedy Center designed to present the best young artists in classical, opera and other music arts from the country’s leading conservatories and institutions of higher education.

Twice a year, the nation’s leading music schools are invited to send students to the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre to introduce top new talent to the public. Project participants have the opportunity to be critiqued by world-renowned artists, such as conductor Leonard Slatkin and tenor Placido Domingo.

Northwestern students performing March 8 are:

  • Trombonist Paul Jenkins, a senior who studies with Michael Mulcahy and Peter Ellefson, will perform Hindemith’s Sonata for Trombone and Piano.
  • Mezzo-soprano and graduate student Margaret Mascal studies with Karen Brunssen. She will sing “Stride la Vampa” from Verdi’s opera Il Trovatore; “Zueignung,” a lied (romantic art song for solo voice with piano accompaniment) by Richard Strauss; and “George,” a song by William Bolcom.
  • Pianist Olga Ridgway is a doctoral student who studies with Alan Chow. She will perform Schumann’s Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor.
  • Saxophonist Sean Patayanikorn, a doctoral student who studies with Frederick Hemke, will perform Francois Rosse’s “Sonates en Arcs.”
  • Violinist Henry Wang, a senior who studies with Almita Vamos, will perform Henryk Wieniawski’s Theme Original Varie Op. 15.

Nolan Pearson, the Bienen School staff accompanist, will accompany the students.

The Conservatory Project is part of the Kennedy Center’s “Performing Arts for Everyone” initiative, which provides free daily performances at 5 p.m. (CST)

  • Michael Mulcahy
  • Karen Brunssen