Faculty, alumni and graduates of the SMU Meadows School of the Arts will debut new compositions and perform classic favorites at the Spring of Harmony 2008 – a concert series hosted by St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 3204 Skillman, Dallas, beginning April 26. 

The five concerts in the series will be held Saturday evenings April 26, May 3, May 10, May 17, and May 24, beginning at 5 p.m.  The concerts will be presented with no charge for admission, although an offering will be taken to help offset the expenses. A reception will be held following the concerts on April 26 and May 24.

Lakewood families are especially invited for the May 3 concert, which will feature soprano Francesca Placanica and bass Christiaan Bester performing familiar works, including duets from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. After the May 3 concert, all are invited to the Boy Scout's Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Nance Fellowship Hall at St. Andrew's.

“We welcome East Dallas music lovers of all ages to join these wonderful musicians in celebrating the joy of spring,” said Suzanne Anderson, Music Director of St. Andrew’s. “Our church is proud to offer this performance venue to the international students and musicians who bring such rich diversity to the music program of SMU and East Dallas.”

International students, alumni and faculty members featured in Spring of Harmony 2008 include pianist Luca Bruno, soprano Francesca Placanica, and cellist Francesco Mastromatteo from Italy, violinist Linda O’ Connor from Ireland, pianist Alena Zyl from Belarus and bass Christiaan Bester from South Africa. The concert series will feature the world premier of compositions by Dr. Robert J. Frank, Head of the SMU Music Theory and Composition department, and Nadia Getzova, a Bulgarian composer who is a graduate student at SMU. A piece dedicated to one of the guest performers by Dr. Simon Sargon, SMU Professor of Composition, will also be performed.