The Bassett House Spring Concert Series continues on Sunday, May 26 at 1:00 pm with a concert of vocal music presented by UW-Whitewater faculty Bob and Sarah Gehrenbeck, joined by special guests Nahuel Recoba, Molly Wanless, and Angela Bleke. The three guest singers are former UW-W voice majors who have worked closely with the Gehrenbecks in the past, who have each made their mark on the local music scene and beyond. Recoba recently made his professional debut at The Fireside in Fiddler on the Roof; Wanless will be starting a Masters program in vocal performance at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in the fall, and Bleke recently moved back to Wisconsin after completing a Masters at the University of Louisiana.
The program will consist of classical and musical theatre songs sung in German, Italian, and English, including art songs by Robert Schumann, Gioachino Rossini, and Charles Ives, along with selections from My Fair Lady, Pirates of Penzance, Les Misérables, and Anastasia. A unique feature of the event will be an audience sing-along of Memorial-Day themed music, based on a song by American composer Charles Ives called “The Things our Fathers Loved.”
The concert is a fundraiser sponsored by the Whitewater Federation of Women’s Clubs, with all proceeds going toward the preservation of the historic Bassett House, 708 W. Main St, Whitewater.
The two Gehrenbecks have been a musical duo for 25 years since they first met during a performance of a Bach cantata during their graduate school days at Indiana University (Sarah was the organist, and Bob, the baritone soloist). Since that time, they presented additional recitals together in Indiana and Illinois, and portions of recitals in Whitewater, but the upcoming Bassett House concert will be their first joint recital since the birth of their musically talented sons, Henry and Theo. Both Sarah and Bob hold doctorates in music from Indiana University and both also earned degrees at Boston University prior to their paths finally crossing in Indiana. Sarah is currently music director and organist at First English Lutheran Church in Whitewater, and instructor of piano, organ, and harpsichord; staff accompanist, and vocal coach, at UW-W. Bob is director of choral activities at UW-W and artistic director of the Wisconsin Chamber Choir, based in Madison. In addition to their main pursuits as pianist/organist/coach (Sarah) and conductor (Bob), both are also trained singers, having studied once upon a time with the same teacher, Mary Ann Hart, former chair of the Voice Department at Indiana University.
