Oct. 17, 2007 – Tenor Gylchris Sprauve will open this year's Arts Alive Concerts in the Garden on Dec. 5. Sprauve, who has performed widely throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and South and Central America, will sing a diverse repertoire of opera, oratorio, gospel, world music and Christian contemporary. He will appear in Arts Alive's Concerts in the Garden series at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Tillett Gardens.
Sprauve credits his broad range in part to his St. Thomas origins. He gained some of his early musical experience as a pianist and organist at the Moravian Church. As a teenager, he attended Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, where he also cultivated his love of foreign languages. The tenor went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Iowa and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance/Pedagogy from the University of Maryland. He has also studied at the Hochschule Mozarteum Akademie in Saltzburg, Austria, and in Italy.
Sprauve is currently the artistic director of Opera Diaspora, a new opera company dedicated to presenting rare 19th century works, which touch on artists of African heritage and subjects with African themes. He is affiliated with Opera Rara Ltd., a London-based recording company that specializes in recording forgotten works from the 19th century.
He has led master classes in the interpretation of Afro-American sacred music in addition to performing many of the traditional classic religious works. He has been a returning artist in residence at the School of Music at the University of Cuyo.
In addition to his performance December 5th at Tillett Gardens, he will perform for students in the St. Thomas schools as part of the Student Outreach Program. A signal part of the Arts Alive mission consists of encouraging young people in the Virgin Islands to appreciate the arts.
Sprauve will be the first artist in Tillett Gardens' concert series. Concertgoers can make a whole evening of it with dinner and the concert in the outdoor atmosphere, or purchase tickets for the concert separately.
Tickets for the concert are $30 (or $66 for the prix-fixe dinner, including gratuity); reservations are recommended. Tickets are available at Tillett Gardens in the Tillett Gallery 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information and to make reservations, call 776-8566 or visit artsalive@tillett.net.
This program is funded in part by the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
