The Worship and Music Committee of the First United Presbyterian Church of Dunkirk announces its 2012 Marsh Memorial Advent Recital Series. This year there will be two recitals, held on consecutive Wednesdays at noon, Dec. 12 and 19. The program is free, complimentary coffee is available, and those on lunch hour are encouraged to bring a bag lunch.
The first recital will feature Jannis Peterson, pianist, and Margaret Flanigan, soprano, who will be performing in the church sanctuary located at 19 W. Fourth St., Dunkirk.
Jannis Peterson joined the faculty of the School of Music at the State University College at Fredonia in 1978 and retired in 2010. Her activities there included piano, piano pedagogy, and theory instruction as well as solo and collaborative performance. She was the first recipient of the Fredonia School of Music Outstanding Female Faculty Award sponsored by the student music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha. She graduated cum laude from Washington State University with a bachelor's degree in piano performance and received her master's degree in the same field from the University of North Texas. Her teachers include Stefan Bardas, John Simms, Claudette Sorel and Stephen Manes, among others. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda, she is chairman of the Fredonia chapter of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, and has adjudicated for the guild as well as for other organizations in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Peterson continues to be active as a performer and continues to teach piano to students of all ages.
Margaret Flanigan, soprano, is a double major in vocal performance and music education at SUNY Fredonia. Most recently, she performed the role of Anne Page in Otto Niccoli's "The Merry Wives of Windsor," was seen as Miranda in scenes from Lee Hoiby's "The Tempest," and sang the role of Despina in Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte." Flanigan is the residing president of the Student Opera Theater Association on the SUNY Fredonia campus, and is currently a student of Julie Newell. Flanigan is from Albany.
The First United Presbyterian Church of Dunkirk has presented Advent and Lenten recitals for 33 consecutive years. The recital series was begun by the late Howard Marsh when he was director of music for the church. His widow, the late Adelaide Marsh Gaeddert, continued the tradition, as does the Worship and Music Committee today and into the future.
