A one-man show, drawing on the experiences and relationships of French composer, pianist, singer, music critic, conductor, and impresario Reynaldo Hahn (1875-1947) comes to the Creative Arts Center Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Titled “�coute: pieces of Reynaldo Hahn,” the performance is by guest artist Norman Spivey, baritone, a voice faculty member at Penn State University. It begins at 8:15 p.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall Room 200A and is free and open to the public.

The show’s Fall 2009 tour schedule includes many major universities in the eastern half of the United States. Spivey’s performance moves between text, music and poetry and includes music by Hahn and others.

Conceived by Spivey, the show was written by playwright Susan Russell, who is on the theatre faculty at Penn State. Her works have been produced by the Emerging Artists Theatre Company in New York City and at Lincoln Center’s Millennium Living Room Festival. Her play “Severe Clear” was a semi-finalist in the 2006 O’Neill Theatre Center Playwriting Competition. Russell is also director of the one-man show.

“I feel a bit of a kinship with Hahn—I many not be the Renaissance man he was, but living with this character has provided a window,” Spivey said. “I have long had an affinity for French art song—it has always seemed to fit my singing and temperament and this show has been a way to combine my many interests in music and theatre.”

Hahn has been called “the” musician of the “Belle �poque.” He was born in Venezuela and when he was very young the family relocated to Paris where his musical gifts blossomed. He entered the conservatoire at age ten, wrote many of his most enduring m�lodies during his teen years, and became the darling of the salons, many of which were major centers of literature and music.

His closest friends were the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt and the famous writer Marcel Proust, who in many ways acted as his greatest muse.

For translations of song texts and more information, visit http://www.normanspivey.com.

For more information about the concert, contact the WVU College of Creative Arts at 304-293-4841, Ext. 3108.

-WVU-

10/21/09

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4841 ext. 3108, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu