Music Faculty to Give Solo Voice Recital

Westmont music instructors William Nield Christensen and Celeste Tavera will perform a faculty recital 1:30 p.m. April 21 in Deane Chapel on Westmont’s lower campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

Christensen is finishing his doctorate in music at UCSB and has been a regular at music performances around Santa Barbara. He has performed with the Santa Barbara Grand Opera and performed at the opera nights at the Arts and Letters Café.

He attended the School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with Carlos Montane and famed Helden tenor James King. Later he was one of two School of Music students chosen to represent Indiana University in an exchange program with the Stuttgart Hochschule fur Musik in Germany. Christensen has taught at Westmont since 1990.

Tavera has been recognized with many awards for her performances throughout the United States and Italy. She was the national winner of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Awards as well as the Golden Eagle Awards for most promising performer in the classical music field.

Tavera has performed with the national tour of “Carmen” and she was the soloist for the Newport Music Festival in Newport, R.I. She also has been extensively involved with the Santa Barbara Grand Opera. She has also collaborated with Yamaha’s software department in recording classical CDs.

The concert will feature songs from Henri Duparc, Hector Berlioz and Manuel de Falla as well as Handel and Brahms. Christensen and Tavera will also perform two opera duets, one from “Carmen” and the Love Duet from “Madama Butterfly.”

For more information, contact the public affairs office at (805) 565-7057 or pubaffairs@westmont.edu.