The La Sierra University Music Department will present the Brahms Requiem on May 31, 2008 at 8 p.m. in the La Sierra University Church in Riverside.

The performance will feature the University Chorale, Claremont Chorale and the LSU Symphony Orchestra. Bass-baritone Wayne Shepperd and La Sierra’s Director of Vocal Studies, soprano Raejin Lee will perform as soloists. La Sierra’s Director of Choral Studies, E. Earl Richards II will conduct.

Concert admission is free, although donations are welcome. The church is at 4937 Sierra Vista Ave. Information about the concert is at (951) 785-2036.

The group will perform the Lara G. Hoggard English edition of the massive requiem, a rendition that has been warmly received by audiences and critics. Johannes Brahms composed the large-scale work between 1865 and 1868.

Wayne Shepperd, bass-baritone, has sung throughout the United States, China and Europe in recital, opera and oratorio performances. He has appeared at the Los Angeles Opera, Opera San Jose, the Mormon Tabernacle, Carnegie Hall and the nationally televised Hour of Power with Dr. Robert Schuller. In addition, he has performed with the Riverside Master Chorale, the Desert Chorale, the Claremont Chorale, the Los Angeles Camerata, Canto Bello Chorale and the Angeles Chorale. His engagements for this season include George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” Johann Sebastian Bach’s “ Mass in B minor,” Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem,” Kirke Mechem’s “ Songs of the Slave,” Ludwig Van Beethoven’s “ Choral Fantasy,” and Johannes Brahms’s “Requiem.”

Lee, originally from Seoul, Korea, has performed throughout the United States, Italy, and Korea in oratorio, recital, and opera. Her performance roles include Adina in L’elisir d’amor, Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel.

Her awards include a special prize for distinguished performance of the Italian Art Song repertoire from Italian America Cultural Foundation. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University and received an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Lee recently completed doctoral studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey as a student of Faith Esham.

Richards’s musical career was influenced by early performance experiences and piano studies. At age 13 he accompanied the church choir his father directed. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from La Sierra University and later earned distinguished citations from the Royal School of Music in England. He received a master’s in choral conducting from the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied with Donald Neuen. He is pursuing a doctorate in choral conducting.

Richards has performed in the United States, Canada, Europe and East Africa, and recorded with the United States Air Force Golden Band of the West. Past appointments include artistic director and conductor of the Canto Bello Master Chorale and director of choral activities for the Milwaukee High School of the Arts. He recently served as guest conductor for the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove and is choral director for the Claremont United Church of Christ Congregational.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)