Baritone to Take Place of Arwady to Close Out Pitt-Bradford's Marilyn Horne Series

Baritone Sidney Outlaw is replacing the previously announced contralto Meredith Arwady for the final Marilyn Horne Residency Recital Jan. 30.

Arwady was unable to perform after becoming ill.

Outlaw and his accompanist, Carol Wong, will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Bromeley Family Theater of Blaisdell Hall. Cost is $10 for the public, $8 for faculty and staff and free for students. This is part of the university’s Spectrum Series.

Outlaw will perform works by Henri Duparc, Johannes Brahms, Ambroise Thomas, Modest Mussorgsky, Wayne Oquin and Hall Johnson. The piece by Oquin is based on texts by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Outlaw presented his debut recital under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation’s “On Wings of Song” recital series in February 2007. Later that year, he made his debut at Avery Fisher Hall as the soloist for The Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor.

In addition, Outlaw was the baritone soloist for “The Messiah” with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall.

A native of Brevard, N.C., Outlaw is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he earned a bachelor of music degree. He received his master’s degree in vocal performance at The Juilliard School.

Accompanying Outlaw is Carol Wong, who is enjoying a flourishing career that includes performances broadcast live on nationwide radio, a summer tour that took her to three continents and numerous awards.

In July 2008, she was one of only 50 people invited to the Arctic Expedition for Climate Action, sponsored by National Geographic and made into a documentary. Fellow guests included President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn; Ted Turner; Madeline Albright; Chevy Chase; and Google founder Larry Page.

Wong grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and made her concerto debut at age 11 with the Vancouver Philharmonic. She earned her master of music degree in piano performance from Indiana University and was granted her doctor of music arts degree in piano performance at Rutgers University. She also completed the prestigious Artist diploma program at Juilliard.

Other activities part of the national residency series start Jan. 27, including performing for Pitt-Bradford's Freshman Seminar classes and holding master classes for area schools on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Since the Marilyn Horne Foundation residencies began in 2002 with James Westman and Jennifer Aylmer, we have seen 12 amazing artists,” said Randy L. Mayes, director of arts programming at Pitt-Bradford.

“All of the performers have gone on to extensive careers in the United States, Europe and Asia. Natalie Cabell and Elaine Alvarez have performed leading roles in season-opening productions. The successes of the Marilyn Horne Foundations singers have had a profound impact around the world. We are proud that each of them can say that their career path took them through Marilyn Horne’s hometown of Bradford, Pa.”

For disability-related needs, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at 814-362-7609 or arj4@pitt.edu.

For tickets, call the Bromeley Family Theater Box Office at (814) 362-5113.