Krista Palmquist, soprano & Thomas Bartsch, piano
"S'il est un charmant gazon" – Franz Liszt (1811-1866)
"Oh! quand je dors"
"Kennst du das Land?"
"Wanderers Nachtlied II"
"Freudvoll und leidvoll"
Krista Palmquist enjoys a busy life as a singer and a music educator in the Twin Cities. She teaches applied voice and class voice at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls. She also teaches voice students at St. Joseph's School of Music in Saint Paul, MN. Krista has sung opera and operetta in the past, but in recent years she has focused on being a professional chorister, first with the Dale Warland Singers and currently with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers. Among the many outstanding experiences she has had as a choral singer were singing with the Dale Warland Singers and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival and singing on the Grammy-nominated recording of Dominick Argento's Walden Pond. With VocalEssence, she is presented with a wide variety of musical experiences, and she sometimes has the pleasure of singing on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show. Krista is also a church musician. Although she enjoys a wide variety of musical genres and styles, Krista is most at home with the simple art song recital. She gives several recitals per year at any number of fine venues in the Twin Cities area.
Thomas Bartsch pursues an active and varied career as a free-lance coach/accompanist. He is a staff accompanist at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and performs frequently at local academic and competition venues. In addition, Tom is the Organist/Choir Director at Temple of Aaron Synagogue in St. Paul, and Organist at St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Roseville.
Rebecca Davis, piano
Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 31 – Fréderic Chopin (1810-1849)
Caprice espagnole, Opus 37 – Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925)
Étude No. 6 in F major, Opus 72 – Moszkowski
Born in Philadelphia, Rebecca Davis began her studies at the age of four and by thirteen had already performed as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra on two separate occasions. A recipient of numerous awards/scholarships/grants, she received a coveted Teaching Fellowship while earning her Bachelors and Masters degree at The Juilliard School and subsequently became a faculty member in the conservatory's Pre-College Division. Over the past several years, Ms. Davis won top honors (First Prize, Second Prize, Music Critics Choice Awards, Audience Favorite Performer Award, finalist) at international piano competitions held in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, New York City and Washington. She was awarded a Legacy Arts Grant and the Minnesota State Arts Board recently awarded her a Certificate of Merit for contributions to the arts in Minnesota. Before moving to Minnesota, she produced and hosted her own classical music program on National Public Radio at KUSC in Los Angeles. In addition to performing, Rebecca has a busy teaching schedule working with piano students in her studio.