Musical Moments with L. Christine Wertman

Soprano L. Christine Wertman performs "Songs of Love, Longing, Hope, and Joy" at the Geneva Public Library on May 29 and is accompanied by Meg Cognetta Heaton on the piano and Murray Heaton, who provides vocal accompaniment. The program begins at 7 PM and is part of the library's monthly Musical Moments series of performances that are free and open to the public. The program includes the music of Purcell, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Obradors and Gershwin. In addition, Ms. Wertman sings several of her own compositions that include a variety of texts she has set to music. These texts include Psalm 33, Psalm 100, the Peace Prayer of St Francis, "Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace," and "Music and Silence" by the nineteenth century Scottish poet, Alexander Smith. Ms. Wertman received her undergraduate degree in music at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and earned a master’s degree in education from Nazareth College in Rochester. Ms. Wertman attributes her interest in composition to her aunt, Helen Kemp, who began a career in composition at age 70 and continues to produce and publish at age 91. Ms Wertman recently retired after twenty-seven years in music education and has served for the past twenty years as Director of Music at Presbyterian Churches in Geneva. Ms. Wertman continues to actively study voice, most recently with soprano Angela Libertella Calabrese. She appears in choral and solo performances and collaborates with local musicians, including Meg and Murray Heaton. Musical Moments at the Geneva Public Library is sponsored by the Margaret Wyckoff Charitable Trust and supported by Friends of the Geneva Public Library.