By ALAN HOSKINS
Three weeks of study at the prestigious New Brunswick Early Music Festival this past year proved to be an experience of a lifetime for 20-year-old Piper graduate Emily Mosier.
“It was a wonderful experience. I learned so much about myself and my strengths and the things I need to work on,” said Mosier, who was nominated for the Festival by John Stafford II, the Director of Choral Music at Kansas City Kansas Community College after Mosier spent the 2011-12 school year as a KCKCC student singing in the Chamber Choir and Stafford’s “The Standard” vocal ensemble.
Stafford was joined in recommending Mosier by two KCKCC adjunct instructors, her voice coach, Erin Jackson-Legris, and accompanist Joyce Steeby.
“We felt her vocal style and tone quality was perfect for what the Festival wanted,” said Stafford. “That she was selected certainly speaks directly to the quality of our music program.”
A soprano, Mosier was one of 14 vocalists selected for the Festival and the only one from a community college. Eleven of the participants were students or graduates of Millikin University of Decatur, Ill., which partners with the St. Andrews Art Council is hosting the unique festival which focuses on combining college-level academic classes for credit with pre-professional performing opportunities and significant community involvement.
Now a dual major in Vocal Performance and Vocal Music Education at Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mosier returned to the campus this past week for an hour-long program on her experiences and performances at the Festival held annually in the small and picturesque seaside resort of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, about 60 miles over the U.S. border from coastal Maine.
“It was very intense and they kept giving us more music. It never stopped and so I spent a lot of time practicing and rehearsing,” said Mosier, who also took a class for credit. “We’d have two or three rehearsals a day and performed inside and outside and in a couple of churches and other places including once in Maine. I learned a lot, especially that I need to improve my sight reading and bE my own leader on my voice part.”
The main focus was on a Baroque Opera by Chapentier, “La malade imaginaiare,” and a setting of “Vespers” by Monteverdi. While Mosier excels at opera and classical music, she also admits “I grew up singing jazz and love to perform it.”
Her goal is to sing professionally with becoming a vocal music instructor at a university in the future.
The daughter of Ray and Jennifer Mosier, she graduated from Piper High School in 2010 and spent one year at Washburn University before transferring to KCKCC.
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PHOTO: Emily Mosier’s three weeks of study at the prestigious New Brunswick Early Music Festival drew plenty of questions for Mosier, a 2011-12 KCKCC student who was recommended for the Festival by the KCKCC music faculty. (KCKCC Photo by Alan Hoskins)
