Classically trained operatic soprano Christine Westhoff will perform a concert at University of the Ozarks on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
Soprano Christine Westhoff will present a concert on Tuesday, Nov. 11, in Munger-Wilson Chapel.
The concert will begin at 7 p.m. in Munger-Wilson Memorial Chapel. The event, which is sponsored by the Walton Arts & Ideas Series, is free and the public is invited to attend.
Westhoff specializes in oratorio, an extended musical composition with a text more or less dramatic in character and usually based upon a religious theme. Considered one of the leading young American artists in sacred music, her repertoire ranges from the Renaissance madrigal to opera to 20th Century art and theater music.
The 32-year-old singer is unique in that, although trained as an operatic singer, she has devoted her career to sacred music that was written some 500-700 years before her birth.
"I assumed I was going to be an opera singer. I’d trained as one. I sounded like one. I just couldn’t figure out why the idea of having to sing opera for the rest of my career left me with a hollow feeling," she said in a 2013 interview.
Westhoff says an accidental discovery changed her path. "One afternoon I stumbled onto an old oratorio book of music. Just as a priest is called to the collar, I instantly knew that God was showing me where he wanted me."
Westhoff has sung to audiences in America, as well as in Great Britain and Ireland. Her CD Ora Pro Nobis has developed a worldwide following through its internet sales in America, Europe, the UK, and Australia. She has a new Christmas CD that is scheduled to be released in November.
A native of St. Louis, Westhoff was considered a prodigy by many of her early voice teachers. She began her vocal training at the age of 9 and, by the age of 11 was studying and training with various college professors. Since then, Christine has devoted herself to perfecting her art and to breathing new life into the sacred texts of bygone centuries. She has sung with members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in oratorio performances.
Westhoff is married to British organist and composer, Timothy Allen. More information about Westhoff can be found on her website, www.christinewesthoff.com.
Topics: Community Events