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ISU music professors head to Russia for series of concerts
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A delegation of Iowa State University music faculty and alumni will be
traveling to Kaliningrad, Russia, later this summer to participate in
two concerts commemorating the 750th anniversary of the founding of the
city formerly known as Konigsberg.
Jeffrey Prater, professor of music, will lead the Iowa State group that
also includes current faculty members Andrew Adams, piano; Michael Giles,
saxophone; and Sonja Giles, flute.
They will be joined by Elizabeth Sadilek-Labenski, flute, a former Iowa
State music faculty member and now regular flutist with the Cedar Rapids
Symphony and the Boulder Philharmonic, and Laura Pedersen, an ISU music
graduate. The soprano spent five years performing with the Bremen Opera
in Germany and is a frequent guest artist with various American opera
companies and major orchestras.
Several of Prater's works will be featured on two full-length concerts
during this weeklong festival. The first concert, presented by all American
performers, will consist of chamber music by various composers including
Prater.
The second concert on Aug. 10, will feature the Kaliningrad State Symphony
Orchestra (KSS0), conducted by Arkadi Feldman, performing two of Prater's
compositions including Veni Creator Spiritus, a 55-minute work
for solo flute, solo soprano, mixed chorus and symphony orchestra. Sadilek-Labenski
will perform the flute solo with Pedersen as soprano soloist along with
the Saratov (Russia) Opera Choirs. This large work was premiered
by the KSSO, American soloists and a German-American chorus in June 2000
in conjunction with Expo-2000 in Hanover, Germany.
On the second half of this concert, the KSSO will perform Prater's recent
composition Promise, a nine-minute work for flute and string
orchestra. Sonya Giles will be the flute soloist performer with the KSSO.
Promise was recently premiered by the ISU Symphony Orchestra
with Giles as featured soloist.
The KSSO concert will take place in the newly renovated 13th century Konigsberg
Cathedral located in the heart of Kaliningrad.
After these early August concerts, Prater will stay on in Kaliningrad
for the fall semester, where he will be a Fulbright Grant lecturer. He
will lecture to American Studies Program students at Kaliningrad State
University (Albertina University) on musical culture in the United States.
The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Prater is one of approximately 800
faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 140 countries
for the 2005-06 academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program.
Jeffrey Prater
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