Belmont University School of Music
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2025 2:00 P.M. MCAFEE CONCERT HALL
Belmont University School of Music presents
the
Keith B. Moore
Classical Singers Recital
Svegliatevi nel core George Frideric Handel from Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1685-1759)
The Monk and His Cat Samuel Barber from Hermit Songs, Op. 29 (1910-1981)
Abby Ferrell, mezzo-soprano Alessandra Volpi, piano
Il fervido desiderio
Als Luise die Briefe, K. 520
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Val Haas, mezzo-soprano Laura Benavides, piano
O del mio amato ben Stefano Donaudy (1879-1925)
Vainement, ma bien-aimée Édouard Lalo from Le roi d’Ys (1823-1892)
Clay Bradford, tenor Laura Benavides, piano
Les papillons Ernest Chausson from Sept mélodies, Op. 2 (1855-1899)
Take, O Take Those Lips Away Amy Beach from Three Shakespeare Songs, Op. 37 (1867-1944)
Rebecca Pinkston, soprano Drake Bailey, piano
Per pietà, bell’idol mio Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Give Me Jesus Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
Emilee Beauman, soprano
Laura Benavides, piano
Nina Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
The Roadside Fire
Ralph Vaughan Williams from Songs of Travel (1872-1958)
Ethan Voraritskul, tenor Michelle Carr, piano
Les berceaux Gabriel Fauré from Trois mélodies, Op. 23 (1845-1924)
Lied der Desdemona aus “Otello” Carl Loewe from Gesammelte Lieder, Gesänge, Romanzen und Balladen, Op. 9 (1796-1869)
Rox Davidson, mezzo-soprano
Laura Benavides, piano
Una furtiva lagrima
Gaetano Donizetti from L’elisir d’amore (1797-1848)
Joy
Ricky Ian Gordon from Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs (b. 1956)
Javier Castro, tenor Alessandra Volpi, piano
Va godendo
George Frideric Handel from Serse (1685-1759)
Will There Really Be a Morning?
André Previn from Three Dickinson Songs (1929-2019)
Daniela Baker, soprano
Aaron Bostwick, piano
Batti, batti, o bel Masetto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from Don Giovanni, K. 527 (1756-1791)
Frère! Voyez!...Du gai soleil
Jules Massenet from Werther (1842-1912)
Katelyn Glass, soprano Olena Williams, piano
About the Performers
Daniela Baker, soprano, is a junior vocal Music Performance major from Sacramento, California, studying with Dr. Savanna Sokolnicki. Baker has appeared with Belmont Opera Theatre as the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel and will perform as a wood nymph in a scene from Rusalka in this fall’s Opera Scenes production. She currently serves as President of the Belmont Opera club. This past summer, Baker performed at the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy, singing the role of Giulietta from Les contes d’Hoffmann (scenes).
Emilee Beauman, soprano, is a freshman vocal Music Performance major from Danville, Kentucky. A student of Dr. Kristi Whitten, Beauman is a member of the Belmont Bel Canto. This past summer she attended the Washington National Opera Summer Institute (WNOI). She is a 2023 Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts (GSA) alumna (Vocal Music) and a finalist at the 2024 Kentucky National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Auditions.
Tenor Clay Bradford, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, is a senior Music Education major on the Vocal Licensure track, studying with Dr. Angela Yoon. A third-year member of Chorale vocal ensemble, Bradford has also sung with Belmont’s Jazz Ensemble. Upcoming performances include collaborations with Jazzmin, Pitchmen, and other a cappella groups in the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Bradford has participated in a number of student organizations, including serving as Membership Chair of Belmont’s student chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and as a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He has been named to the Dean’s List for five semesters. In the spring, Bradford will complete student teaching at two Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Javier Castro, tenor, is a senior vocal Music Performance major at Belmont from Knoxville, Tennessee. He studies with Dr. Mark Whatley and has studied at young artist programs in Prague, Vienna, and Lucca (Italy). His roles include Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro at Prague Summer Nights, Ferrando in Così fan tutte (scenes) at Opera Lucca, and Viscount Casada in The Merry Widow, Pinocchio in Pinocchio, and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette (scenes) with Belmont Opera Theatre. He is a member of the Belmont Chorale and was chosen to perform in a masterclass with internationally renowned soprano Kathryn Lewek last year. He serves as president of the 2× ICCA -winning a cappella group The Pitchmen and was a 2024 Top Three Finalist in Classical and Musical Theatre for the NATS competition. Castro is making his second appearance on the Classical Singers Recital.
Rox Davidson, mezzo-soprano, is a junior vocal Music Performance major from Singapore, studying with Dr. Angela Yoon. Davidson has performed with the Belmont Chorale and Belmont Opera Theatre, and this past summer appeared in the Berlin Dramatic Voices program as Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos and as a soloist in the Lieder Akademie and Festival in Berlin (Germany). Last year, Davidson was a finalist in the Schmidt Undergraduate Vocal Competition and is currently a member of Sigma Alpha Iota. This fall, Davidson will appear in Belmont Opera’s scenes production as Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina.
Mezzo-soprano Abby Ferrell is a senior Music Education major/ESL minor from Topeka, Kansas. She is a student of Dr. Mark Whatley and has performed with the Belmont Chorale for five
semesters and Belmont Opera Theatre for two semesters. She is the President of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), a member of American Choral Director's Association (ACDA), and a member of Belmont Music Connections. She has been a voice and piano instructor at W.O. Smith, as well as a co-conductor of the W.O. Smith Community Choir. Ferrell has been on the Dean's list at Belmont for five semesters and is an intern with the Nashville Children's Choir.
Katelyn Glass, soprano, is a junior Music Education major from Friendswood, Texas. She studies voice with Dr. Kristi Whitten and sings with the Belmont Chorale under the direction of Dr. Jeffery Ames, having previously been a member of Bel Canto and University Singers. Glass is a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and represents the College of Music and Performing Arts as a Bruin Recruiter through the Belmont Office of Admissions. She holds an executive position within Belmont Panhellenic and has been active in Belmont’s new student orientation program as a Towering Traditions Leader. Glass is currently serving as the music ministry intern at West End United Methodist Church, studying choral pedagogy under Dr. Matthew Phelps and Andrew Risinger.
Mezzo-soprano Val Haas is a senior majoring in classical vocal Music Performance at Belmont University, studying with Dr. Angela Yoon. Originally from Kingsport, Tennessee, Haas appeared earlier this year as the Sandman in Belmont Opera Theatre’s production of Hansel and Gretel. This past summer, Haas participated in the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno (Italy), singing the role of Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann (scenes). Upcoming performances include the role of Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina in Belmont Opera’s fall Opera Scenes program.
Soprano Rebecca Pinkston is a junior classical Music Performance major from Tulsa, Oklahoma, studying with Dr. Angela Yoon. Pinkston performed with Tulsa Opera’s youth opera program for four seasons and has been involved in the Tulsa Performing Arts community through studios such as Clark and TAPEs Fine Arts. She also volunteers annually as a counselor and stage manager for youth theater programs in Oklahoma. At Belmont University, Pinkston performed in the 2024 Keith B. Moore Classical Singers Recital and is an active member of Bel Canto.
Ethan Voraritskul, tenor, a senior from Richmond, Virginia, is majoring in Mathematics and Computer Science with a minor in Music. He has been named to the Dean’s List for six semestersfive at Lee University and once at Belmont University. Voraritskul studies with Prof. Mary Bates George and transferred from Lee University, where he sang as bass with the Voices of Lee a cappella ensemble for three years
About the Judges
Stephen Carey is in his third season as Director of Education and Engagement and Chorusmaster with Nashville Opera. Mr. Carey has previously been on the staff of Fort Worth Opera, and Opera Memphis, and has been part of the artistic staff of summer festivals such as Charlottesville Opera, Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, and Chautauqua Opera. Mr. Carey also spent time working on the artistic staffs of both the University of North Texas opera program, and the Texas Christian University opera program.
Liza Forrester Kelly, mezzo soprano, is an active performing artist, stage director, and music educator. She received the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music. She is an alumna of the Glimmerglass Opera Young Artist Program, Ravinia Steans Institute, and the Carnegie Hall Weill Institute. Notable recital engagements include those with the New York Festival of Song, New York City Opera, and Joy in Singing. Stage credits include roles and engagements with Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and New York City Opera. As a stage director Liza has conducted research on vocal performance practices and experimental theater in Atlanta, Ecuador, England, Finland, Iceland, New York, and Scotland. Liza is currently resident faculty at the Schmidt Vocal Arts Foundation Summer Institute, and serves as professor of voice, coordinator of vocal studies, and director of opera theater at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
All are invited to the reception in the lobby following the recital.
Keith B. Moore Classical Singers Recital
The Classical Singers Recital began in 1992 as a way to provide an extra performance opportunity for our most outstanding classical vocal students each year in the School of Music. In 2019, the recital was renamed in honor of Professor Emeritus Dr. Keith B. Moore, who taught classical voice at Belmont for thirty-eight years and served as Coordinator of the Vocal Program in the School of Music. A teacher, administrator, leader, and musical performer, Dr. Moore provided organization and leadership to one of the largest vocal programs in the country. He also served as a conductor, pianist, singer, and vocal pedagogue. Beyond Belmont, he gave numerous concert and operatic performances, including many roles with Nashville Opera and Tennessee Opera Theatre. Dr. Moore was also an active recording session artist, having sung background vocals on recordings with Amy Grant, Larnell Harris, Steve Green, Michael Crawford, Sandy Patti, and Michael W. Smith.
The ten performers for today’s Keith B. Moore Classical Singers Recital auditioned and were selected by guest adjudicators. These students represent a variety of study within the Belmont School of Music, which offers numerous majors in classical voice, including Church Music, Music Education, Music with an Outside Minor, Music Performance, Musical Theatre, and Music Therapy, as well as graduate degrees in Pedagogy and Performance. Students in the classical voice area receive an education that is both challenging and nurturing, studying a wide range of musical styles and repertoire in a thriving Christian environment.
Upcoming Concerts and Events
Composition Honors Recital
Wednesday, October 1, 7:30 p.m.
McAfee Concert Hall
Concert Band & Wind Ensemble Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.
McAfee Concert Hall
Musical Theatre
Anything Can Happen in the Theatre: The Music World of Maury Yeston Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 4, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 5, 2:00 p.m.
Massey Concert Hall
This is a ticketed event.
Students may purchase tickets at the Belmont Box Office
