Sopranos Concert Features Two Mississippi College Graduates

Maribeth Crawford and Rebecca Freshwater

Mississippi College music graduates Maribeth Crawford and Rebecca Freshwater, both sopranos, are featured in a free concert on the Clinton campus.

The show is booked at the Jean Pittman Williams Recital Hall on Monday October 13. The program begins at 8 p.m. Sponsored by the MC Music Department, the event is open to the public.

Originally from the Magnolia State, Crawford is an assistant professor of voice and music at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. She’s appeared with musical groups such as the Cincinnati Opera, Bowling Green Symphony Orchestra and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

The Mississippi native received her master of music and doctoral of music arts degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She’s performed in roles like Mabel in “Pirates of Penzance” and Josephine in “HMS Pinafore.” In 2011, Crawford made a solo appearance with the New Sousa Band in China.

Freshwater serves as assistant director of the Opera Per Tutti in Cleveland, Ohio.  She received her master’s of music in vocal performance at Ohio State University. In recent years, Rebecca has given many recitals in Mississippi, Ohio and Alabama.

Her first musical love remains opera. Rebecca’s spring performance as Lisette in Puccini’s “La Rondine” was praised as “vocally compelling” by the “Cleveland Plain Dealer.”

The native Mississippian resides in University Heights, Ohio with her husband and two sons.

During their Monday evening concert titled “Rhymes, Lullabies and Letters, Oh My!,” the sopranos will perform a piece by retired Mississippi College music professor and award-winning composer James Sclater of Clinton.

In addition, Crawford and Freshwater will perform a piece commissioned by Millsaps College music professor Cheryl Coker. Written for Coker’s daughter, Christine, “The Hare and the Tortwahzay” creates a playful atmosphere for the fable about the race between the Hare and the Tortoise.

The talented sopranos will perform musical selections by Leonard Bernstein, among others.

For more information, contact Dottie Serio of the Mississippi College Music Department at 601-925-3440 or serio@mc.edu.