Tenor Michael Kolb is a senior at Newburgh Free Academy.
Tenor Michael Kolb, from Newburgh Free Academy, will be one of two featured soloists for the SUNY Orange Community Orchestra’s upcoming concert at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Paramount Theatre in Middletown.
As winners of the College’s 10th Annual Concerto/Aria Contest, Kolb and cellist Eric Bjorkman, of Monroe-Woodbury High School, earned the opportunity to perform solos. Bjorkman’s will perform the first movement of Joseph Haydn’s “Concerto in C Major, Hob. VIIb” while Kolb will sing “Comfort Ye My People” and “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted” from the first scene of George F. Handel’s “Messiah.”
Kolb, a senior at Newburgh Free Academy, has studied voice with Ron DeFesi for the past three years. He performs frequently with the Hudson Opera Theater and sang the role of Mercury in Jacques Offenbach’s “Orpheus” and as Guccio in Giacomo Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi
This spring Kolb will perform in a fully staged production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aïda.” He also plays piano and guitar, and composes. He plans to continue studying voice and will attend college in the fall.
Erik Bjorkman is a cellist from Monroe-Woodbury High School.
Bjorkman, a senior at Monroe-Woodbury H.S., has studied cello for more than eight years. This past year, he has studied privately with Eileen Moon of the New York Philharmonic. Bjorkman performs in a variety of MWHS music ensembles and has been a member of the SUNY Orange Community Orchestra since 2006. As a member of the Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra, he participated in concert tours in Beijing, China and most recently Prague, Czech Republic. In college, he plans to pursue a music education degree with a minor in history.
The evening’s program will also include the orchestra’s performances of Hector Berlioz’ “Le Carnaval Romain,” Suite No. 1 from Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”; and Alexander Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances.” The orchestra is under the direction of Dr. Hilarie Clark Moore. Admission is $5, with active duty military personnel and SUNY Orange students with valid identification admitted for free.
For additional information on the concert or the orchestra, contact the SUNY Orange Arts and Communication Department at (845) 341-4787. In case of inclement weather, the College has established 3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 26 as the snow date for the concert. The Paramount Theatre is universally accessible.
SUNY Orange students, as well as Orange County high school students, are eligible for the annual concerto/aria contest, designed to provide a featured musical performance opportunity for outstanding young instrumentalists and vocalists from within Orange County. Details regarding the College’s 11th annual contest will be released this coming fall. Contact the SUNY Orange Arts and Communication Department or any of the Orange County high school chorus, band or orchestra directors for more information.
For information on all cultural and artistic events at SUNY Orange, visit “The Arts at SUNY Orange” Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/theartsatsunyorange.
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