Metta Ensemble Celebrates Verdi Bicenntennial November 17 in Music, Gettysburg! Concert

(11/11) Music, Gettysburg! presents one of the up and coming music ensembles of central Pennsylvania celebrating one of the most popular romantic composers of all time, Giuseppe Verdi on Sunday, November 17, 2013 at 4:00pm in the Gettysburg Seminary chapel. The Metta Ensemble, a chamber orchestra directed by Dr. Alexander Kahn, makes its third appearance on the Music, Gettysburg! stage.

The Metta Ensemble is a 21-member orchestral group created and directed by Alexander Kahn of the Gettysburg College Sunderman Conservatory of Music. Metta includes professional musicians from across Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as students from the Conservatory.

The concert will feature highlights of favorite Verdi operas, including arias from Don Carlo, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Simon Boccanegra, Falstaff and more. A fantastic group of soloists known throughout the Mid-Atlantic will provide the vocal drama for the Bel Canto master’s work, including soprano Leah Crowne, bass Jeffrey Tarr, baritone Matthew Osifchin, soprano Stacey Mastrian, and tenor Yoonsoo Shin.

Alexander Kahn is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. He conducts the 70-piece Gettysburg College Symphony Orchestra and teaches courses in Music History and Conducting. Previous university-level orchestras with whom Alexander has worked include the UC-Berkeley Chamber Orchestra (Founder and Music Director) and the UC Berkeley Symphony (Assistant Conductor). In addition to his position at Gettysburg College, Kahn has worked with professional orchestras across the United States and throughout Europe. He currently serves as Cover Conductor for the Baltimore Symphony and as Staff and Assistant Conductor for the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. Recent guest conducting engagements have included the Latoshinsky Orchestra in Kiev, Ukraine, and the Salzburg Soloists of Salzburg, Austria.

For more information about Metta Ensemble visit www.alexanderkahn.com. The Metta Ensemble takes its name, "Metta," from a Pali word that can be translated as loving-kindness, benevolence or good will. In the Buddhist tradition "metta" is seen as one of the four sublime states, or divine abodes. Cultivating good will towards all living beings is a key element of Buddhism; the goal of the Metta Ensemble to choose music and perform it in a fashion that has the power to create good will towards others in both its ensemble members and its audiences.

Music, Gettyburg! is a premier free concert series featuring the finest regional, national and international musicians hosted by the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. The seminary chapel is located at 147 Seminary Ridge on the west edge of the Borough of Gettysburg. For more information about this and other concerts remaining in the Music, Gettysburg! schedule, please call 717-334-6286 ext 2197 or email info@musicgettysburg.org or visit the web site at www.musicgettysburg.org.