Noted soprano up next in Saint Martin’s Abbey concert series

Soloist Hope Briggs to perform with pianist Jay Rozendaal

Jan. 28, 2008

Lacey, Washington — Saint Martin’s Abbey continues its 2007–08 concert/lecture series with a recital by soprano Hope Briggs on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. The performance will take place in the Saint Martin’s Abbey Church on Saint Martin’s main campus, 5300 Pacific Avenue, Lacey, Washington, 98503. The event is open to the public free of charge but a voluntary offering is suggested. Seating is limited. Doors open one hour prior to the event.

Accompanied by pianist Jay Rozendaal, Briggs will perform a program that features works of Richard Strauss, Gabriel Fauré and Samuel Barber, and concludes with a group of spirituals. The second half of the program will open with Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915.” This marks the first time that this major American work will be performed in the Abbey Church.

Briggs has been a National Finalist, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and has performed with the Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Choral Society and Opera Frankfurt. Rozendaal holds a Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and has studied with Elly Ameling, Maureen Forrester and Dalton Baldwin. He also holds two degrees in theology and is an Episcopal priest. Since 1991 Rozendaal has served as pianist and assistant conductor for numerous productions of the Seattle Opera.

The abbot and monks of Saint Martin’s Abbey, Lacey, established their annual concert/lecture series in 1980 during the sesquimillenial celebration honoring Saint Benedict of Nursia.

It is suggested that concert patrons enter the campus via the Sixth Avenue entrance, adjacent to the Lacey City Hall and public library.

Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, Catholic, coeducational university located on a 320-acre wooded campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 21 majors and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main campus, and 650 more to its five extension campuses located at Fort Lewis Army Post, McChord Air Force Base, Olympic College, Centralia College and Tacoma Community College.

For additional information:

Brother Boniface Lazzari, O.S.B.
Saint Martin’s University
(360) 491-4700

Jennifer Fellinger
Saint Martin’s University
(360) 438-4332
jfellinger@stmartin.edu