Office of Public Affairs

(315) 312-2265


April 14, 2004


CONTACT: Mary Avrakotos, 312-4581 or artswego@oswego.edu


AWARD-WINNING VOCALISTS ANONYMOUS 4 TO PERFORM

    OSWEGO -- When the award-winning vocalists Anonymous 4 participate in the upcoming multimedia production "Voices of Light" at SUNY Oswego, it will be as part of the acclaimed group's farewell tour. The female quartet will provide the "voice" of Joan of Arc at 8 p.m. shows May 6 and 7 in Tyler Hall's Waterman Theatre on campus.

    Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Jacqueline Horner and Johanna Maria Rose are known for lending their virtuosic vocal skills to historical compositions -- whether reflecting medieval music or old-time American folk songs -- created through rigorous research. They have appeared on a range of broadcast programs including "A Prairie Home Companion," "CBS Sunday Morning" and A&E's "Breakfast With the Arts."

    Their February release "American Angels," compared by some observers to the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, topped the classical charts for Billboard and Amazon.com. Gregory M. Lamb of the Christian Science Monitor described A4's final recording as "a sweet parting gift" that "traces in song the spiritual path from hope to glory with soul-stirring purity." Anatasia Tsioulcas of Billboard magazine added that "the group's purity, sweetness and joy are transfixing. . . . For sheer radiance . . . no one else comes close to these angels."

    When composer Richard Einhorn first approached the quartet to participate in his vision for "Voices of Light," which combines live music with a screening of Carl Dreyer's 1928 silent-film masterpiece "The Passion of Joan of Arc," Anonymous 4 happily signed on.

    "The decision to do 'Voices of Light' was unanimous," Rose told Allan Kozinn of the New York Times. "Richard invited us to the studio and played us the film music, and there was no question about it."

    They also recently teamed up with Einhorn to develop a collaborative performance piece, "A Carnival of Miracles," which debuted to a sold-out audience in New York City and was simulcast on WNYC Public Radio.

    For the SUNY Oswego presentation, Anonymous 4 will work with accompaniment from Oswego's College Choir, Festival Chorus, Chamber Singers and College-Community Orchestra. Julie Pretzat, professor and chair of music at SUNY Oswego, will serve as musical director.

    Entergy Nuclear Northeast provided funding support to bring the production to Oswego. Media support is provided by WCNY Classic FM and Clear Channel Radio through its affiliate station, 570-WSYR.

    Tickets cost $22, $18 for seniors and students, $7 for SUNY Oswego students. A special family package, which includes two adult and two child passes, is available for $72.

    For information, details about group rates or reservations, call the Tyler Hall box office at 312-2141 or visit the college's performing arts Web site at www.oswego.edu/arts.

- END -

Anonymous 4

FOUR-PART HARMONY -- The vocal group Anonymous 4 will be part of the multimedia production "Voices of Light," which will unfold in SUNY Oswego's Waterman Theatre at 8 p.m. May 6 and 7. The production will feature Carl Dreyer's 1928 silent film classic "The Passion of Joan of Arc" complemented by Anonymous 4 performing as the "voice" of Joan of Arc, accompanied by Oswego's College Choir, Festival Chorus, Chamber Singers and College-Community Orchestra. For information, call the Tyler Hall box office at 312-2141.


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