Silliker Next Up for ‘Friends of the Pipes”
Ms. Silliker, a native of Bellefonte, has studied at Penn State University and has been coached by artists from around the world. She teaches voice, music theory, piano and sight-singing at her home studio and specializes in preparing high school students for college auditions. She works regularly as a vocalist at area churches and, intermittently, serves as music/vocal director of regional theatrical groups. Additionally, she conducts the women’s vocal group, “The Accidentals”, a group that emphasizes the experience of singing rather than the actual performance of music.
Equally at home performing operatic roles and in music theater, Ms. Silliker admits that opera is her first love. She has performed such diverse roles as the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Nettie Fowler in Carnival, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and Widow Corney in Oliver!, among others.
Ms. Silliker’s Friends of the Pipes program will revolve around a theme of “love”, all-be-it, in some cases, questionable love. She will perform Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix from Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saens and Habañera and Seguidilla, both from Carmen by Georges Bizet all of which will be familiar standard operatic arias. An English set of four art songs by Ben Moore which contain love oriented texts from James Joyce’s Chamber Music and three pieces from Tre Ariette by Vincenzo Bellini will be presented. The later offerings tell a love story too, threaded between the 3 pieces. The first defines the love, the second defines the loss, the third focuses on the beauty that was. Additionally, she will be performing works by Verdi, Heggie and Granados.
Her accompanist for this recital, Svetlana Rodionova began her performing career in her native city of St. Petersburg, Russia, where she earned her doctorate from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. She performed numerous solo recitals and chamber concerts, both in St. Petersburg and on officially sponsored tours of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In 1992, she assumed a professorship at the Escola de Música Virtèlia, in Spain. Since coming to State College, Svetlana has appeared as soloist with the Nittany Valley Symphony, with whom she most recently performed the Piano Concerto of Edvard Grieg, the Penn’s Woods Festival Orchestra, and the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra.
“It is our honor to host a recital by this duo, both of whom are donating this performance to benefit the pipe organ restoration at Great Island. Both Amanda and Svetlana have studied with some of the greatest teachers and have accomplished so much. Expect to be wowed by their performance”, said Christina Frank, concert organizer.
Additional information may be obtained by calling 570-726-7070.
