Alumna Dantzler to launch Filene concert series

Mezzo-soprano Alta Boover Dantzler will perform as the first in Skidmore's Filene Alumni Concert Series at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, in the Arthur Zankel Music Center. 

Dantzler, a 2000 graduate, is Skidmore's inaugural Filene Scholar Alumni Resident, with her husband, tenor Drake Dantzler.Experienced as both a concert soloist and as an opera singer, Alta Dantzler has been praised for her unique voice and her perfect comic timing. She has appeared as a concert soloist at Carnegie Hall, and with the Rochester Philharmonic, Temple Symphony, Texarkana Chorale and Symphony and on the operatic stage with Austin Lyric Opera, Shreveport Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera.

Dantzler's passion for performing extends from opera to musical theater and everywhere in between. She has spent three seasons with the Ohio Light Opera, portraying Bloody Mary in South Pacific, Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, Ruth in the Pirates of Penzance, and Katisha in The Mikado. She has also recorded several roles on both the Albany Records and Operetta Archives labels, for which Opera News lauded her for her "hefty mezzo voice, and strong characterization that dominated the stage."

Drake Dantzler is a frequent recitalist and performer of opera and oratorio. He was hailed by Opera News as "A real find: he has a voice of molten silver, immaculate musicianship and an expressive stage persona." Recently Dantzler appeared with the Ohio Light Opera as the Caliph in Kismet, Ren in The Count of Luxembourg, and the Duke of Dunstable in Patience.The Dantzlers received master's degrees in vocal performance from Eastman School of Music and doctorates in vocal performance from the University of Texas at Austin. They actively perform as well as teach voice at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich.

The Nov. 4 performance will include songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Gustav Mahler, "Ah mio bene" from the opera La Favorita by Donizetti, A Young Man's Exhortation by Gerald Finzi, songs by Frederick Delius, and Benjamin Britten's Cabaret Songs, which Alta performed for her Skidmore Senior Recital in 2000.

Admission for the Nov. 4, 8 p.m. Alta Dantzler performance is $7 general admission, and $5 seniors. For advance reservations visit www.skidmore.edu/zankel or call the Zankel box office (518) 580-8381 for more information. The Zankel Music Center is wheelchair accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired. For more information, please visit www.skidmore.edu/zankel.