Nov. 12, 2019
Contact Mary Ellen Haupert at 608-796-3770 or mehaupert@viterbo.edu
INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED SINGER AND COMPOSER MATT BOEHLER TO PERFORM AT VITERBO UNIVERSITY NOV. 24
LA CROSSE, Wis. – Internationally acclaimed singer and composer Matt Boehler will return to his alma mater to present Back to Roots as part of the Viterbo University Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music series at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall.
Boehler will perform his original Foursquare Cathedral and other works with Viterbo faculty member Mary Ellen Haupert on piano. Foursquare Cathedral was the winner of the 2017 Art Song Composition Competition of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, described by the judges as “absolutely brilliant, from the first note to the last.” While at Viterbo, Boehler will also share his knowledge about performance and music composition with students in music theory, acting, and performance classes.
“Matt is an extraordinarily talented person and a world-class bass, who will surprise and delight the audience,” said Haupert. “As a composer, Matt interprets and performs music at a deep and meaningful level. I’m thrilled to be able to work with him, and overjoyed that he’s going to share a bit of what he knows with our students.”
Hailed by the New York Times as “a bass with an attitude and the goods to back it up,” Boehler is an international opera star who has appeared as a principal artist with The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Theater St. Gallen, Canadian Opera Company, and as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and the New York Festival of Song.
A native of Minneapolis, Boehler studied voice with music professor Jerry Benser at Viterbo and went on to earn a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He also received a Master of Music in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of David Conte. He will perform Conte’s Everyone Sang as part of this recital.
“So much of what I do as an artist and who I’ve become as a person have their roots planted in my experience at Viterbo,” Boehler said. “Your first teachers are your most important, and many of my very first mentors come from my time in La Crosse. It’s a privilege to be coming home—not only to be making music with Mary Ellen Haupert, but also to spend time with the students.”
All Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music series events will be held in the Viterbo Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall. The concerts are free, but a freewill offering will be taken for the musicians. The entertaining and educational concerts of the Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music series are designed to increase the accessibility, opportunity, and exposure to high quality classical music.
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