THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music and
present
Faculty/Guest Artist Recital and Panel Discussion
“Living Song Project: Healing Through the Arts” featuring
Quinn Patrick Ankrum, Mezzo-soprano André Chiang, Baritone Elizabeth Avery, Piano Natalie Sherer, Piano Lorena Surducan Barefoot, Music Therapy
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 7:30 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All… Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers. Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance. Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
PROGRAM The Diary of Virginia Woolf 2. Anxiety
Dominick Argento (1927–2019)
I Will Breathe a Mountain 8. The Bustle in a House
William Bolcom (b. 1938)
The Keats Cycle 5. This Living Hand
Nightsongs 1. Prayer
Take It All Away
Quinn Patrick Ankrum, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Avery, piano
André Chiang, baritone Natalie Sherer, piano
Quinn Patrick Ankrum, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Avery, piano
Lorena Surducan Barefoot, piano and voice
Four Poems of Nikita Gill I. Sorcery Blackbird Etude
Be for Me the Rain
Harry Stafylakis (b. 1982)
H. Leslie Adams (1932–2024)
Lorena Surducan Barefoot (b. 1994)
Melissa Dunphy (b. 1980)
Quinn Patrick Ankrum, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Avery, piano
André Chiang, baritone Elizabeth Avery, piano
Ed Windels (b. 1967)
Carolyn Quick (b. 1994)
Purify
Judith Cloud (1954–2023)
Cabaret Songs, Vol. 1 4. Waitin
William Bolcom Quinn Patrick Ankrum, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Avery, piano
Flying Among the Clouds Guided Music/Imagery Experience
Lorena Surducan Barefoot
Lorena Surducan Barefoot, piano, facilitator Prayers and Blessings Gwyneth Walker 2. Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace (b. 1947) 3. Gaelic Blessing André Chiang, baritone Natalie Sherer, piano Shadow of the Blues 2. Litany
John Musto (b. 1954)
Quinn Patrick Ankrum, mezzo-soprano Natalie Sherer, piano
Collection of Spirituals, Volume 1 Great Day
Shawn E. Okpebholo (b. 1981)
André Chiang, baritone Natalie Sherer, piano
Upon a Broken World 3. Small Kindnesses
Lisa Neher (b. 1985)
Quinn Patrick Ankrum, Natalie Sherer, Lorena Surducan Barefoot, and André Chiang, reciters Elizabeth Avery, piano You’re Not Alone
Lorena Surducan Barefoot Lorena Surducan Barefoot, piano and voice
I Am in Need of Music
Quinn Patrick Ankrum, mezzo-soprano; André Chiang, baritone Elizabeth Avery, piano
Lori Laitman (b. 1955)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS Mezzo-soprano Quinn Patrick Ankrum is celebrated for her engagingly lyrical singing and her commitment to excellence in teaching and research. With pianist Elizabeth Avery she is co-creator of Living Song Project, promoting the art song and vocal chamber music of contemporary American composers. In addition, she performs an eclectic repertoire and has sung throughout the USA and abroad, with a recent focus on climate justice. In demand as a voice teacher, she takes an avid interest in musicians’ health and wellness and traumainformed pedagogy; she is a Licensed Body Mapping Educator and a longtime student of the Alexander Technique. She is a core member of the Center for Integrative Health and Wellness at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Ankrum serves as Associate Professor on the voice faculty at CCM where she trains the next generation of artists for the classical and musical theatre stages. Collaborative pianist Elizabeth Avery is known for her sensitive partnership with singers and her deep commitment to contemporary art song. She actively commissions and performs new vocal works and co-founded the Living Song Project, which makes its public debut at this event. Avery is Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Florida State University College of Music, which she joined in 2023 following faculty appointments at the University of Oklahoma, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Austin Peay State University, Castleton State University, and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Music Education from the Crane School of Music. Baritone André Chiang has been described as “vocally commanding” (Oregonian), “handsome of voice” and “stood out for his chiseled vocalism” (Opera News), as well as lauded with “let’s hear more from this singer” (Washington Post). Chiang’s recent engagements include Ping (Turandot) with Opera Delaware, Captain Corcoran (HMS Pinafore) with Opera Las Vegas, Pacific Opera Project, and Opera Grand Rapids, and Wáng Yuè/Nephew (Stuck Elevator) with Knoxville Opera. He has also been seen with the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Opera Philadelphia, the Atlanta Opera, Portland Opera, Virginia Opera, and other American opera companies. Chiang is the VP of Outreach for NATS, was a 2018 NATS Intern, and a member of the first cohort of Pan American Vocology Association – Recognized Vocologists (PAVA-RV). He is an Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at Florida State University also teaching commercial and musical theatre voice, an Instructor of Voice at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and runs a private studio. www.andrechiangbaritone.com
Dynamic pianist Natalie R. Sherer thrives in collaboration with singers and instrumentalists alike. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024 as a performing artist in Renée Fleming’s SongStudio, where she “created magic” at the piano (Seen and Heard International). She is currently touring with tenor Eric Rieger, performing Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin.
Song Chicago.
Sherer premiered Sorrow & Ecstasy: The Complete Songs of Henri Duparc, a semi-staged musical narrative tracing four characters’ journeys through love and loss. Performance engagements include Sparks & Wiry Cries, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, CollabFest, SongFest, and Orvieto Musica. She was a Vocal Chamber Music Fellow with Art
Sherer serves as Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching at Florida State University. She is a member of the research team for the Living Song Project and hosts the CollabPiano Podcast and the annual Tally SongSLAM competition. Sherer studied Piano Performance at Manhattan School of Music, Wheaton College, and Roosevelt University and earned a DMA in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Martin Katz. collabpianist.com Originally from Transylvania, Romania, Lorena Surducan Barefoot is a Board-Certified Music Therapist and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at Florida State University. She initially pursued a career in piano performance, competing nationally and internationally, before shifting her focus to music therapy and completing her undergraduate degree at Mississippi University for Women. Surducan completed her master’s degree in music therapy at the University of Miami and her PhD in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy at the University of Kansas. Her clinical experience spans a variety of populations and settings, including work with children and adolescents with developmental disabilities, adults undergoing cancer treatment, and older adults receiving hospice and dementia care. She has practiced as a music therapist in both Florida and Kansas, including in clinical and hospital settings. Surducan’s research focuses on the use of music in the treatment of specific phobia, with particular interest in the mechanisms involved in overcoming fear. Although she does not consider herself a songwriter, two of the pieces performed today were written and inspired by experiences from her personal life, including one inspired by witnessing her husband’s stroke.