Monday, Sep 15, 2014
Baritone Sean McCarther, accompanied by Carlos Cuestas, performs songs from the 16th & 17th centuries Sunday, September 21
Westminster Choir College faculty member Sean McCarther, baritone, accompanied by Carlos Cuestas, Baroque guitar and lute, will perform songs from the 16th and 17th centuries on Sunday, September 21 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J. Admission is free.
The program will feature compositions for voice accompanied by Baroque guitar, lute and theorbo, highlighting the works of Henry Purcell, Guilio Caccini, Ercole Bottrigari, Thomas Campion and Gabriel Bataille, as well as various composers from the Airs de Cour.
Sean McCarther serves as assistant professor at Westminster Choir College and teaches studio voice and undergraduate voice science. He has performed leading roles in opera, musical theatre and staged plays with The Lee Norvelle Theater and Drama Center, the Bloomington Early Music Festival and the Bloomington Playwrights Project. He has appeared in several premieres including Gabriella Ortiz’s Unicamente la Verdad! and Don Freund’s Romeo and Juliet. As a member of the semi-professional chorus Vox Reflexa he performed in Quito, Ecuador, as part of the Festival International de Musica Sacra in 2011. In April of 2013, Dr. McCarther sang the baritone solos in the American premiere of Paul Mealor’s Crucifixus with theWestminster Williamson Voices in Princeton, N.J. and New York City. He has presented scholarly research at the Indiana Music Teachers Association, the Beall Poetry Festival, the New Voice Educators Symposium and the Alleluia Conference.
Classical guitarist and early plucked instrumentalist Carlos Cuestas is an active performer throughout the United States. His versatility has allowed him to perform throughout the country as a soloist, chamber and orchestral player on different plucked instruments. As a continuo player, Mr. Cuestas has participated in numerous projects that include opera and oratorio productions in New York City, New Jersey, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco. With Sue Talley, Mr. Cuestas has assisted and co-directed Nyack College's Collegium Musicum. In December 2014 the Cline/Cuestas flute and guitar duo will release their debut album, and future engagements include Mr. Cuestas performing with chamber ensembles in Washington D.C. and Boston, and as a soloist with the Summit Symphony Orchestra in the 2015-2016 season.