Alumni join forces for classical concert
Monday, July 6, 2020 8:00 AM
Giving Back, People and Society, Arts & Entertainment, Alumni, News
Pittsburg, KS
Two Pittsburg State alumni will join forces for a classical music concert as the second offering in the Pittsburg Virtual Festival for the Arts, planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 8.
The festival, which kicked off on July 1 and will continue through Aug. 12, is a collaboration of The Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, the Pittsburg State University Department of Music, and local performers in an attempt to provide a concert-like experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Violinist Rebecca Cutler-Metzger and pianist Robert Ensor will bring to life the works of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and several other musical masters.
Ensor, who earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s in music from PSU in 1973 and ‘74, spent a large portion of his career in Vienna, Austria, performing recitals and accompanying opera singers throughout Europe.
He retired from Crowder College a few years ago and is a resident of Joplin, where is serves as an adjunct professor of music at Missouri Southern State University.
"Given all that is going on in these turbulent times, it is a joy to spend time with colleagues making music and sharing a bit of that joy," Ensor said.
Cutler-Metzger earned her bachelor’s from PSU in 2008, followed by her masters in violin and orchestral conducting from Illinois State University.
She is a private music instructor at Thomas Jefferson School in Joplin and performs regularly with groups such as the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.
"We all are missing out on so much with this whole pandemic and quarantine situation. I certainly feel it hard, not being able to make music and collaborate with my musician friends. It's like a part of my soul is missing,” she said. “Being able to provide a little light right now through this very dreary time is exciting to me, because Lord knows we could use some light going around!”
The festival, which kicked off on July 1 and will continue through Aug. 12, is a collaboration of The Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, the Pittsburg State University Department of Music, and local performers in an attempt to provide a concert-like experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Audiences may view the one-hour concerts streamed at 7 p.m. each Wednesday evening on the PSU YouTube channel, the Bicknell Center Facebook page, on CAPS 13 TV, on pittstate.tv, and at www.vimeo.com/pittstate.