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Laura Greenwald
Laura Greenwald D.M.A. is the director of the Caldwell University concert series which will open its 19th season on Sept. 20 with a Faculty Favorites concert. The concert will be part of the university’s 75th anniversary celebration activities. Greenwald, a soprano and director of vocal studies at Caldwell, will be performing with her colleagues and some recent Caldwell alumni. **

Caldwell, N.J. –August 7, 2014 – The Caldwell University Concert Series opens its 19th season with a special Faculty Favorites concert 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Alumni Theatre. The performance will be one of the many activities to celebrate university status, Caldwell’s 75th anniversary, and homecoming weekend.

Other fall concerts will include one act operas by Mozart and Puccini performed by the Garden State Opera, Chinese world music and Vivaldi’s “Gloria” with orchestra. Spring concerts will feature the UpTown Flutes, Rob Middleton & Soundscapes, the All Seasons Chamber Players and the Harmonium Chamber Singers.

Music Department faculty and recent alumni will perform works from a broad range of styles including musical theater, jazz, world music and classical selections at the opening concert on Sept. 20. Caldwell alumni will receive a special $10 admission rate.

The Garden State Opera will appear 4 p.m.Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Student Center Auditorium, with a school matinee 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, in the same venue. The talented young singers of the GSO will perform Puccini’s first opera, “Le Villi,” in Italian and Mozart’s comedy “Der Schauspieldirektor” in German with English supertitles. The Caldwell University Chorale will serve as the chorus, and both will be accompanied by a full orchestra thanks in part to an Essex County Local Arts Programming grant. For more information, go to www.gardenstateopera.homestead.com.

The EastRiver Chamber Ensemble, a group of Chinese musicians living in New York, will perform 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9, at the Alumni Theatre. Since 2000, EastRiver has played in an impromptu style, reinventing folk and traditional music from the Dongbei and Hebei regions of north China in the idiom of urban America.

The Christmas Spectacular! will be held 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, at the Student Center Auditorium. The Caldwell University Chorale and String Ensemble will perform Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” and the Caldwell Wind Ensemble and Honor Band will perform “Sinfonia V” by New Jersey composer Timothy Broege. The concert will culminate with the annual carol sing-along under the direction of Laura Greenwald and Rebecca Vega.

The UpTown Flutes will appear 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, at the Alumni Theatre. This dynamic ensemble commissions and presents original works and arrangements composed for the entire family of flutes. The group’s fourth CD, “Streaming Green,” was released in August. The concert will include selections by women composers, including Catherine McMichael, Elise Carter and Alexandra Molnar-Suhajda.

Rob Middleton & Soundscapes will present “Brazil and Beyond” 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, at the Alumni Theatre. Soundscapes is a jazz ensemble built around beautiful timbres, exotic textures and irresistible beats. It includes woodwinds, acoustic guitar, Latin percussion, vibraphone and marimba. This concert will focus on Brazilian samba and bossa nova along with music that crosses the boundaries of jazz, popular and classical styles. The program will include favorites by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Djavan as well as original music by Rob Middleton.

The All Seasons Chamber Players will present “Spring Mix” 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, 2015, at the Alumni Theatre. In its 34th season, the group will perform chamber music including Doppler’s Nocturne for Flute, Violin and Piano, Kuhlau’s Trio in G Major, Cecile Chaminade’s Trio No. 2 and a piece by Amy Beach for cello and piano..

The Harmonium Chamber Singers will perform 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, 2015, at the Alumni Theatre. The group includes 24 selected singers from the Harmonium Choral Society, a 100-voice auditioned community choir. Named Outstanding Arts Organization in 1998, Harmonium is dedicated to performing a diverse repertoire at a high artistic level and increasing community appreciation of choral music through concerts, education and outreach.  This program, “Heart and Hand” includes works from John Dunstable to Eleanor Daley, Orlando di Lasso to Nils Lindberg, and from the sublime to silly.Dr. Anne Matlack, who holds degrees from Yale University and the College-Conservatory of Music, has been artistic director of the Harmonium Choral Society since 1987.

General admission is $20, and tickets are $15 for students and seniors. All tickets for the Christmas Spectacular! are $10. Individual tickets and group or subscription discounts are available through advance purchase by mail, online or at the door. The group discount (10 or more tickets to a single concert) is 20 percent. A subscription to eight concerts is $112 for general admission and $88 for students and seniors. Checks should be made payable to Caldwell University and sent to Caldwell University Concert Series, Laura Greenwald, Music Department, Caldwell University, 120 Bloomfield Ave., Caldwell, New Jersey 07006-6195.

Parking is free. Receptions will follow the concerts. For more information, go to www.caldwell.edu or call (973) 618-3520.