TOP-NOTCH SOUTHEAST MUSICIANS TO PERFORM

Once a year, Southeast Missouri State University students go head-to-head in the university's Concerto and Aria Competition. Of the 20 or so who compete, most of them music students, four or five are chosen to perform with the University Orchestra.

"It's quite an honor, and a recognition of the students," says Sara Edgerton, the University Orchestra conductor.

It is also a thrill for students are accustomed to performing with only piano accompaniment. "To suddenly be accompanied by an orchestra of 50 to 60 people is a wonderful feeling," Edgerton said.

This year's victors will perform with the University Orchestra at 8 Tuesday night in the annual Concerto and Aria Concert, one of the highlights of the university's musical season.

The concert will be presented at Academic Auditorium.

The five soloists, all winners of statewide and regional competitions, are Heather Bollinger, mezzo-soprano; Peggy Chen, piano; Tom Lowery, baritone; and sopranos Cary Nall and Donna Smith.

Bollinger, a senior, has sung the National Anthem for the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium and placed first in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Collegiate Auditions held last fall.

Lowery is a recipient of the Bee S. Limbaugh Music scholarship and placed first in Missouri's National Association of Teachers of Singing 1994 College Men's Upper Division Auditions.

Chen, a freshman majoring in piano performance, has been studying piano for about 10 years. She is a recipient of the 1994 Margaret Woods Scholarship.

In November, Nall was a winner in the New York Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions held in St. Louis. A senior, she also is a Limbaugh scholarship recipient.

Smith was an alternate choice in the Met auditions. Both will return to St. Louis for the regional competition Saturday.

Last fall, Smith won a first-place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Audition at Northeast Missouri State University. She is a junior.

To have two students advance in the Metropolitan auditions already is considered an amazing feat for the university.

Edgerton promised the audience will be impressed with the quality of all the performances.

"Any music faculty, including Eastman and Julliard, would be proud of these students," she said.

Many of the students begin planning their Aria and Concerto Competition performances a year in advance. The winners are chosen from a panel of music faculty members.

The program this year is wide-ranging. Included are arias from Verdi's "La Traviata," Mozart's "The Abduction From the Seraglio," and Rossini's "La Cenerentola." In addition, Chen will perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major.

In the second half of the program, the symphony will perform "Urlicht," the fourth movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, with Lowery soloing.

Edgerton said this Mahler work is rarely heard live because it requires a large orchestra and is so demanding for the performers.

The orchestra will conclude with Khachaturian's "Three Dances from the Gayaneh Ballet," which includes the well-known "Sabre Dance."

Admission is $4 for adults, and $2 for students and seniors. Admission is free with a university ID.