Lyric tenor Billy Craven, who is a new member of the San Antonio College music faculty, will perform in a recital on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in McAllister Auditorium. The recital is free and open to the public.
Pianist Mary Lou Russell and visiting violist David M. Bynog will accompany Craven in a variety of Italian, German, French, and English classical selections by Scarlatti, Caldara, Battista, Schubert, Brahms, Clara Schuman, Strauss, Ravel, Bridge. He will also sing an aria from Faust, by Charles Gounod.
A native of Searcy, Ark., Craven received his BME in Voice and Piano from Arkansas Tech University and his MM in Vocal Performance from Louisiana State University. He has become a noted soloist, choral director, and accompanist. He has performed roles in operas by Benjamin Britten, Mozart, Johann Strauss, and Hoffman.
Pianist Mary Lou Russell has been on the San Antonio College Music/Humanities faculty since 1971. An organist and pianist at Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, Russell is a member of the American Guild of Organists. She was voted Keyboardist of the Year by Current Magazine when she played with R&B band Beverly Houston and Breezin'.
David Bynog is a visiting violist from Houston, where he teaches in the Musicology department at the University of Houston. He has performed throughout the south with orchestras that include the Baton Rouge Symphony, Lake Charles Symphony, Opera in the Heights, and has appeared as soloist with the Laredo Philharmonic Chorale Orchestra.
For more information, call the Music/Humanities office at 733-2731.