OAKLAND, N.J. – A singer who has appeared in opera houses throughout the United States and Europe will be performing in Oakland this weekend during the second installment of this year’s Sunday Afternoon Concert Series presented by the New Friends of the Oakland Public Library.
It is the first Oakland performance for mezzo-soprano Tammy Hensrud, who teaches voice at Hofstra University on Long Island.
She will be accompanied by Richard Thomas on piano for the show dubbed, “The Great American Songbook Meets Cabaret.”
“It is really fun music,” Hensrud said. “It has been a really great program to put together.”
She said one the parts of the show she is looking forward to most is partnering with Thomas for the comedic piece, “A Word On My Ear” by English song writers Donald Swann and Michael Flanders.
“It is about a singer that explains that she is tone deaf, so it is kind of a gag between the singer and the pianist in that he is constantly trying to get her to sing in the key he is playing in,” Hensrud said. “She hangs on for dear life, and he ends up modulating throughout the whole piece so that he has to find her and match her. It is fun.”
The concert will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church of New Jersey, 222 Ramapo Valley Road, Oakland. It is free, but donations are being accepted.
Oakland resident Laura Hamilton serves as the artistic director of the Sunday Concert Series. She said she is “excited about” the professional musicians that will be preforming during the series. Future concerts are:
Feb. 12: Four cellists led by Oakland resident Lanny Paykin perform during the “CelloMania” concert.
March 19: Metropolitan Opera Bass Richard Bernstein and Soprano Korliss Uecker perform arias and duets from the operatic canon. Martyn joins them on the grand piano for the “Opera Matinee.”
April 23: The American Brass Quintet, one of the pre-eminent chamber music ensembles in the world, will perform.
For more information, contact the Oakland Public Library at 201-337-3742.
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