Frederick Community College music faculty Mary Gresock, David Loy, and John Wickelgren will perform a duet recital at college’s Jack B. Kussmaul Theater on Nov. 19.
With soprano Gresock, baritone Loy, and Wickelgren accompanying on piano, the event promises to have a range of sounds, from musical theater fan favorites to lesser-known pieces. The concert is free.
Gresock, who has been a member of FCC’s voice faculty since 2001, is looking forward to the recital, expressing excitement at working with Loy, whom she has had few opportunities to collaborate with.
Gresock and Wickelgren, on the other hand, have worked together on numerous occasions, the most recent of which being in March of 2022, with their performance “Ode to Animals!,” which also was held at FCC.
Gresock considers performances such as this an important aspect of her work as a voice teacher.
“It’s important to ‘walk the talk’ and demonstrate through your own performance skills what you have been teaching your students every week throughout the semester,” she said.
The songs to be played for the recital were chosen by Gresock and Loy. According to Gresock, the songs were chosen because of the singers’ enjoyment of them, and because of their dynamic contrast with other songs in the selection, in terms of things like tempo, genre, and mood
“We knew we wanted to include pieces that were familiar — crowd pleasers—like ‘Wunderbar’ and ‘Anything You Can Do,’” Gresock said. “But also pieces that might be less familiar like David’s Irish songs, my Bernstein songs from a little-known musical version of ‘Peter Pan,’ and ‘Too Many Mornings’ by Sondheim.”
Loy will open the recital with several solo songs, such as “It’s a Grand Night for Singing,” from “State Fair,” by Rogers and Hammerstein, and ‘The Chapel on the Hill,’ from ‘A Fire of Turf,’ by Charles V. Stanford.
Gresock will follow with several solos of her own, including “Dream with Me,” from “Peter Pan,” by Leonard Bernstein. The two will then come together to perform, in addition to classics “Wunderbar” and “Anything You Can Do” songs such as “So In Love” and “All Through The Night” by Cole Porter, ending the evening with the duet “It Takes Two,” from “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim.
Seat reservations can be found here, at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/it-takes-two-duo-delights-tickets-534881945297.
