Contralto Kelly Samarzea and pianist Charis Dimaras will team up for a free faculty recital, Poulenc's "The Work of the Painter: Painting with Song," at Ithaca College on Monday, February 2. The performance will begin at 8:15 p.m. in the Hockett Family Recital Hall.
Samarzea joined the Ithaca College faculty as assistant professor of music performance in 2001. In addition to performances throughout the Middle East and Asia, she has appeared with the Indiana University Opera Theater and the Des Moines Metro and Cincinnati Operas.
Samarzea has been awarded prizes from the Metropolitan Opera auditions, Opera Music Theater International, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Having done doctoral work in vocal performance and literature at Indiana University in Bloomington, she holds a master's degree in vocal performance from Indiana University and a bachelor's in piano accompanying from the University of Arkansas.
Dimaras is an assistant professor of musical performance in the School of Music and coordinator of collaborative studies. He has frequently performed as a soloist with orchestras as well as in solo and chamber music concerts throughout Europe and the United States. He has appeared with the Greek National Symphony Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and the MAV Hungarian Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has performed at the Salzburg Mozarteum International summer concerts, the Brighton and Newcastle International Chamber Music Festivals, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard Theater, and Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Dimaras holds a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music, a master's degree from Juilliard, and a diploma from the Royal College of Music in London. He also holds a soloist's diploma from the Contemporary School of Music in Athens. He won first prize in the Conferenza Musicale Mediterranea and top prize at the Palmo d'Oro International Chamber Music.
Find more information on campus concerts at the School of Music's Concert Calendar.
Contributed by Erik Kibelsbeck
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20040123143157510