Free Concert Hosted By Music Department

By Chrystal Houston     

Music lovers were provided with an evening of entertainment Tuesday night at the York High School auditorium. The free cultural event featured YC alumna Pam Miller (’01) and York High grad, Kyle Bradley.  Both Miller and Bradley performed solo vocal music they prepared for their final recital in a Masters Degree program at UNL.

“It’s important for all students to be exposed to serious music, but it’s especially important to music students to be exposed to literature they may not hear anywhere else, and also to see students that are farther down the road in graduate school,” said Dr. Gary Wilson, associate professor of Music at YC.

The concert was comprised primarily of “art song literature”, that is, serious solo voice and piano selections. Many of the pieces were in foreign languages. “It’s conceivable that they started working on this music in the fall of 2004,” said Wilson, as this performance was a cumulative of all of their graduate experience.

Wilson says he hoped to illustrate the high quality of musical education in York, both at the high school and college level, with this concert. “Pam is one of our alumni. She was well prepared here to go on to the graduate level and to succeed,” he said.

The concert in York was a good testing ground for Bradley and Miller, as their final performances at UNL will be next month. Recently, both vocalists participated in competitions for N.A.T.S. (the National Association for Teachers of Singing) and both placed in their division.