Westminster Choir College opens the 2016-2017 Faculty Recital Series with a program titled Songs of Love and Loss featuring works by composer and pianist Tom T. Shelton, Jr. on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton.
The free recital will feature original works by Shelton set to the poetry of Sara Teasdale. The three song cycles will be performed by Shelton, and fellow faculty members, sopranos Sally Wolf and Elizabeth Sutton, along with Westminster alumna, mezzo-soprano Jessica Kerler.
The recital will also include be a lecture on the poetry of Sara Teasdale presented by Carolann Buff.
Shelton has been composing for children’s and youth choirs for over 20 years. He has composed numerous commissions including those for the North Carolina Elementary Honors Chorus, the North Carolina All State Chorus, the Eastern ACDA Junior High Honor, among others.
He is the series director for the Music for Young Voices Series with GIA Publications and has approximately 50 published compositions with several publishers including the Choristers Guild, Colla Voce Music and G. Schirmer.
Shelton is an assistant professor of sacred music at Westminster Choir College, teaching courses in conducting, sacred music and music education. He coordinates and conducts Westminster’s Neighborhood Children’s Choir Program and serves as director of music for the Children’s and Youth Choirs at Princeton United Methodist Church.
For more information visit www.rider.edu/arts.
