Singer to perform spirituals Feb. 6

Bass-baritone Frank Ward Jr. will present a voice recital, “An Evening of Spirituals,” Friday, Feb. 6, at Ripon College. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Demmer Recital Hall, C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts. It will be free and open to the public.

Selections will include “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “I’ve Been In De Storm,” “Nobody Knows de Trouble I’ve Seen,” “Deep River,” “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child,” “Go Down, Moses,” “Ride On, King Jesus!,” “Wade In De Water,” “My Good Lord Done Been Here,” “I Want Jesus To Walk With Me,” “Witness” and “Ain’t-a That Good News!”

Ward’s appearance also is being presented as part of the College’s Black History Month celebration.

Ward is a versatile performer in recitals, opera and oratorios and has appeared in productions as diverse as “La Boheme,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Showboat” and “The Mikado.”

He has performed Handel’s “Messiah,” Faure’s “Requiem,” Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass,” Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess Suite” with orchestras from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Ward is equally as comfortable in a variety of musical styles. In addition to standard repertoire such as Purcell, Handel, Schubert, Copland and Barber, Ward enjoys singing art songs by African-American composers. He has been working closely with composer Adolphus Hailstork in preparation for the world premiere of a cantata, written especially for him, “Crispus Attucks.”

Posted January 29, 2015 in Fine Arts.

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