School of the Arts will host a Guest Recital in the Music Building Recital Hall on Sep. 2 at 5:30 p.m. The recital will feature vocalist Dr. Serena Hill LaRoche and pianist Dr. Catherine Garner.
Dr. Hill LaRoche graduated from UNA with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She went on to earn her Doctorate in Musical Arts and Master of Music from the University of South Carolina.
She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, as well as the Voice Director of Carolina Music Studios
She has recently been featured in Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass,” Mozart’s “Requiem,” and Vaughan William’s “Dona Nobis Pacem.”
Additionally, Dr. Hill LaRoche was a 2003 finalist in the Southeast Region Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Also that same year, she was the Bizet Award winner for the Orpheus National Young Artist Vocal Competition.
She will be joined by Dr. Garner on the piano for the recital. Dr. Garner is an assistant professor in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University. She has performed with the Louisiana State University Orchestra and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Garner has three published recordings, which are “Monuments,” “21st Century American Flute Sonatas,” and “Saloons, Salons, and Salutations.”
Dr. Hill LaRoche and Dr. Garner perform various works together across the country, focusing on music from “underrepresented composers.” More information on the pair can be found at https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/music/faculty-staff/hill-laroche.php.
Attendees of the recital can expect to hear classic Italian, contemporary art song and even French music by Messiaen. Their performance on Sep. 2 will be free and open to the public.
