The Shenson Series celebrates 10 years of recitals

The A. Jess Shenson Recital Series will celebrate its 10th anniversary this Sunday by welcoming baritone Stephen Salters to Campbell Recital Hall for a performance featuring Rachmaninoff, Strauss and American, Spanish and Brazilian folks songs.

The Shenson Series was founded in 2004 by pianist LAURA DAHL, a lecturer in music, to bring vocalists to campus for recitals and public master classes. The master classes are open to the public and often involve discussions that extend well beyond singing technique to such topics as diction, foreign languages, poetry interpretation and stagecraft. Over the past decade, the series has brought 30 performers to Stanford. The series is funded by the Ben and A. Jess Shenson Funds at Stanford.

GREG WAIT, director of vocal studies, said the series “has provided a rich and inspiring resource for our students, faculty and community-at-large, and taught us all the joys and worth of the intimate art of the vocal recital.”

Dahl said she hope the campus community continues to be “inspired by the very special synthesis of poetry and music and the uniquely intimate relationship it requires between singer and pianist.”