Elizabethtown College News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1/6/06
Contact: Mary Dolheimer, director of marketing and media relations, 717-361-1587, dolheimerm@etown.edu
E-town College music division to celebrate Mozart’s birthday with ‘Mozart Marathon’
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – To celebrate Mozart’s 250th birthday, the Music Division of Elizabethtown College’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts will hold a Mozart Marathon from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Jan. 27, in Zug Recital Hall. The daylong event is open to the public free of charge. More information is available by calling 717-361-1212.
The marathon will feature continuous performances of Mozart’s music by students and faculty members. In addition to solo works played by each of the department’s music majors, there will be student and faculty performances of choral and chamber works. Highlights of the day include birthday cake at noon and a sing-along of Mozart choruses at 4 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on Jan. 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. One of history’s great prodigies, he learned to play the piano at age four, composed his first piano pieces at five, his first symphony at eight and his first opera at 11. By the time of his death at age 31, he had written some of the most memorable music of the Classical Era. A master of every genre of his day, he has been called “the most universal composer in the history of Western music.”
The birthday celebration was the brainchild of Fine and Performing Arts Department Chair Douglas Bomberger, who urged teachers to assign Mozart works for their students to learn over the holiday break. Faculty and students responded enthusiastically to the challenge by preparing a varied program of music. “The beauty of Mozart’s repertoire is its breadth,” says Bomberger. “There is something for every taste and skill level.”
At Elizabethtown College -- central Pennsylvania’s premier small, comprehensive college -- 1800 men and women enjoy personal attention, breadth of curriculum, experiential learning and a commitment to serving others. Elizabethtown has been ranked for 12 consecutive years by “U.S. News and World Report” as one of the top comprehensive colleges in the North.
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