April 26, 2010
The York College Opera Theater, along with the York College Chorale, Chamber Singers and Orchestra, will present a fully staged production of Felix Mendelssohn’s English oratorio “Elijah” on May 1 and 2, at 3 p.m., in the Collegiate Performing Arts Center. The role of Elijah (the Prophet) will be sung by music faculty member James Valiant. This event is open to the public free of charge.
“Elijah” will be the final production for Frederick Schreiner, associate professor of music and director of the Division of Music. Schreiner plans to retire at the end of the 2010-2011 academic year.
Completed in 1847, “Elijah” is one of Mendelssohn’s greatest works for choir and orchestra. The story revolves around Elijah, the great Hebrew prophet of the Old Testament: his dramatic confrontations with the prophets and priestesses of the Baal religious sect and his struggles to bring the Hebrew people back into harmony with the God of Israel. The work will be performed with an orchestra.
Schreiner came to York College in 1989 as associate professor of music and director of the Music Division. Throughout his tenure, he played a significant role in the growth and development of the College’s music program. He was instrumental in the building of a new facility for the Music Division -- Evelyn and Earle Wolf Hall – that included adequate classroom, practice room, rehearsal and studio space, as well as a concert and recital hall. He also developed a general music degree that was supported by the Department of Education, and he worked to generate new music scholarship funds for the effective recruitment of talented music majors. Perhaps his most significant accomplishment came this fall when the College was granted accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music.
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