FEB. 15 IS LAST DAY TO RSVP FOR FRIENDS OF WOMEN'S STUDIES DINNER
The deadline has been extended to Friday, Feb. 15, for the Old Dominion University Friends of Women's Studies annual dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in the multipurpose room of the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The reception begins at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 for the general public and $15 for students.
The theme for this year's dinner is "Cabaret 2008! Women's Songs." Virginia Opera artist Geneviève Després and local favorite Lisa Coston, accompanied by Bobbie Kesler-Corletto, will evoke women's lives, loves, struggles and triumphs through songs by women composers and lyricists from Hildegard von Bingen to Nina Simone, and Alma Mahler to Joni Mitchell.
French-Canadian mezzo-soprano Després, acclaimed for a voice and theatrical presence that enhance every production in which she performs, has sung in opera houses in Canada, the United States and Israel. Hampton Roads audiences will recognize her from the recent Virginia Opera productions of "La Traviata," "Le Nozze di Figaro" and "Cavalleria Rusticana."
Coston, a native Virginian mezzo-soprano, has a professional career based in Hampton Roads and beyond. A vocalist in the contemporary classical music ensemble Creo, she also has served as soloist with the Virginia Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Czech Virtuosi Orchestra in Prague. Coston is on the voice faculty at Christopher Newport University and is a long-time member of the Virginia Chorale.
Kesler-Corletto is a much sought-after accompanist in Hampton Roads. She has served as rehearsal pianist and performer with the Virginia Symphony, Virginia Chorale and Virginia Opera. Currently she accompanies musicians in the ODU music department and at Second Presbyterian Church in Norfolk.
Charitable contributions received at the annual Friends of Women's Studies dinner support the women's studies department, the service-learning/study abroad program, the Carolyn Rhodes undergraduate scholarship and the Nancy Bazin graduate scholarship.
To RSVP and for more information, contact Kathy Pim, women's studies department, at 683-3823 or kpim@odu.edu.