Aurelius Gori, baritone & Maribeth Gowen, piano

Baritone,

Aurelius Gori with pianist Maribeth Gowen will perform as part of the

Washington Conservatory Piano, Plus! Concert Series at 8 pm on Saturday,

December 7 at Westmoreland Congregational UCC Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle,

Bethesda, MD (on the border of DC and Bethesda). This concert is free, with

donations accepted at the door. 

The

program consists of the complete Winterreise (Winter Journey) by Franz

Schubert, performed without intermission, lasting approximately one hour, ten

minutes. Following the concert, the audience is invited to a Question and

Answer session with the performers with wine and juice provided.

Winterreise

is a setting of 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, a somber song cycle for voice and

piano written by Franz Schubert shortly before his death at age 31. Schubert

composed and published Winterreise in two halves, in February and October of

1827. The work presents a dramatic narrative about a young man’s winter journey

- an allegory reflecting his tortured thoughts and feelings as a result of

unrequited love.

Baritone

Aurelius Gori, is an acclaimed soloist and recitalist based in Washington, DC

whose singing has been hailed as “splendidly lyrical” by the Washington Post. A

Fulbright scholar, he studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, was a

semifinalist in the International Belvedere Competition in Vienna, and

performed solo concerts in Germany and Austria.  Dr. Gori has appeared as

a soloist at the Kennedy Center with the Fairfax Symphony and has presented

solo performances with the Amherst (New York) Symphony and the North York

Symphony in Toronto, Canada. He is a guest artist with numerous Washington area

choral societies. His many appearances with the Washington Metropolitan

Philharmonic include J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (November 2012), Delius’ Songs of

Sunset (March 2012), Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus (November 2011), Carmina Burana

(May 2010), Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem (April 2009) and Ralph Vaughan William’s

magnificent Sea Symphony (April 2008). He is a faculty member at the Washington

Conservatory of Music.

Maribeth

Gowen, praised as a “sensitive and passionate pianist” (Washington Post),

specializes in the field of chamber music, working with many vocal and

instrumental artists.  As a soloist, Ms. Gowen has appeared with the

Baltimore Symphony, the Chattanooga Symphony, the Alabama Symphony, the Tucson

Symphony, the National Chamber Orchestra, and the National Gallery of Art

Orchestra.  Ms. Gowen’s many chamber performances have included two

performances in 2012 at the National Gallery of Art, the Lake Placid Summer

Chamber Festival, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina,

Symphony Hall in Chicago, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. 

Overseas performances include the Kredi Arts Festival at the Topkapi Palace in

Istanbul, appearances in Yucatan and Germany, the opening of the International

Bellapais Music Festival in North Cyprus, and a live radio recital in

Rotterdam, Holland.  She is a faculty member at the Washington

Conservatory of Music.