Blinn to host award-winning soprano Rebecca Hays for guest recital on Sept. 22

Free performance will be held at Finke Recital Hall on the Brenham Campus

September 14, 2023

Award-winning soprano Dr. Rebecca Wascoe Hays will perform at a Friday, Sept. 22, recital hosted by the Blinn College District Music Department.

Hays will be joined by Dr. Jeffrey Peterson, Associate Professor of Vocal Coaching at Baylor University, who will be the pianist.

The performance will be at 7 p.m. in the C.F. Schmidt Building’s Finke Recital Hall, 800 College Avenue (map) on the Brenham Campus. Tickets are free and may be reserved at www.blinn.edu/boxoffice. The recital will also be streamed on the Music Department YouTube Channel.

Hays serves on the faculty of Texas Tech University, where she is Associate Professor of Voice. She also is studio administrator at the Amarillo Opera Studio and artistic director of Music in the Marche, an operatic training program held each summer for young singers in Mondavio, Italy.

Hays has received the prestigious Gerda Lissner Foundation Award twice and has performed around the world, including numerous venues in the United States and Europe. She has placed in the Sigma Alpha Iota Graduate Performance Awards, was a finalist in the Charles A. Lynam and Opera Company of the Quad Cities Competitions, and has been recognized as a finalist or semifinalist in many other international competitions.

Peterson, who has collaborated with Hays on several musical projects, earned a doctorate in vocal coaching and accompanying at the University of Illinois. He has appeared in recitals and master classes on five continents in venues as far-reaching as Hoam Hall in Seoul, the Marian Anderson Festival and Competition, the Manaus Opera House in Manaus, Brazil, and venues in Paris, Venice, Florence, and Bologna. He also has performed throughout the United States.

“We’re so excited to host world-class performers and educators at the Blinn College Department of Music,” said Dr. Daniel Johnson, Blinn Voice and Choir Professor. “Their presence helps to enhance our students’ educational exposure and demonstrates our commitment as faculty to giving them the broadest possible experience while here with us.”

Blinn’s Music Department offers small classes, one-on-one attention, practical learning, and accessible faculty so that students are actively engaged in a superior learning environment. Students can pursue an Associate of Arts Degree in Music that provides a solid foundation in the creative and technical aspects of music, including music theory, history, composition, and performance.

For more information regarding the Blinn Music Program, including scholarship and audition guidelines, visit www.blinn.edu/music.