Karen Albert

The Alpena Symphony Orchestra welcomes mezzo-soprano Karen Albert of Grand Rapids to join them in performing their “Autumn Dreaming” concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at Word of Life Baptist Church in Alpena.

This concert will feature a performance of the work “Raspberry Island Dreaming” by Libby Larsen, which premiered on Sept. 8, 2002. Raspberry Island is a small snippet of land below the Wabasha Bridge on the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minn. This small but very beautiful piece of property was so picturesque and peaceful that many people over the years fell in love with it, including navigators, voyageurs, poets, painters and ordinary people. Bruce Carlson, director of St. Paul’s Schubert Club, was so inspired by Raspberry Island that he raised money and hired an architect, James Carpenter, to create a lovely glass band shell on the island. Then he asked writers Patricia Hampl and Joyce Surphen for prose and poetry about the river. Libby Larsen was invited to compose songs based on these words and the result was “Raspberry Island Dreaming.”

Soloist Albert will sing the three songs that make up this work “Raspberry Island Dreaming.” Albert was born and educated in Michigan. A native of McMillan, Albert holds a Master of Music degree from Central Michigan University and a Master of Arts degree in musicology from Michigan State University. She has performed works by Elgar, Rutter, Larsen, and Mozart with various orchestras in Michigan. Albert has also appeared on stage singing roles in a number of different operas and operettas. Experiences of study at the Aspen Music Festival and at Park Church in Grand Rapids have also helped shape her career. Albert is currently an adjunct music faculty member at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids where she teaches music history and voice.

The ASO will open this concert with Mozart’s overture from his opera “Idomeneo” and will perform “Symphony No. 100 in G Major” by Franz Joseph Haydn on the second half of the concert. Jim VanEizenga, Director of Orchestras for Novi Public Schools, will conduct the orchestra for this performance. His pre-concert commentary is always informative and entertaining.

Learn more about the ASO on the Alpena Symphony Orchestra Facebook page and at www.alpenasymphony.org.

Tickets are $10 per adult, and free to students and children. Tickets may be purchased prior to the concert at Neiman’s Family Market and at the door at the time of the concert. The ASO is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. A reception will follow the concert in the fellowship hall. For more information, call Andrea Arbuckle at 989-464-9586.