Renowned vocalist Diane Thornton to appear at Gaston College at Gaston College

Contralto Diane Thornton will perform a program of American art songs on the Dallas Campus of Gaston College on Tuesday, May 2. The program, entitled “A Sampling of American Art Songs with a Little ‘Twist,’” begins at 12:30 p.m. and takes place in Room 160 of the Myers Center. The event, sponsored by the Gaston College Multicultural Affairs Committee, is free and open to the public.

Thornton received her Master of Music at Temple University and embarked on a thirty-year career as a performer and vocal pedagogue. She has appeared with companies such as Delaware Valley Lyric Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Greensboro Opera, Piedmont Opera Theater, Triangle Opera Theater, Opera Carolina, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Philadelphia Choral Society and Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Messiah Choral Society. Performances with the North Carolina Symphony and the South Carolina Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra were broadcast on PBS, and she has also appeared at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

In a variety of venues, including the International Lute Symposium, the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, the Hermitage Mansion Summer Festival in Philadelphia, and radio station WDAV’s Main Street Sessions broadcasts, Thornton has shared her love of story-telling through vocal recitals and chamber music. Her repertoire ranges from early baroque to mélodie and Lieder and on to American spirituals and classical contemporary music.

Thornton was Artist Associate in Voice at Davidson College for over 20 years, until her retirement in 2015. At that time, she opened her own private studio and she is an affiliated teacher with the Opera Carolina Academy.

At the event at Gaston College, Thornton will be accompanied on piano by Judith Porter, Instructor of Music at the College, and assisted by Debbie Bonkowski on flute and Peter deKlerk on string bass. She will perform works by composers such as Stephen Foster, Aaron Copland, Amy Cheney Beach, Florence Price, Ricky Ian Gordon, Leonard Bernstein, and Duke Ellington. A question and answer session will follow the performance.

For more information about Diane Thornton, visit her website at www.dianebthornton.com.

The Gaston College Multicultural Affairs Committee (MAC) presents a variety of programming on the Gaston College campus throughout the school year. Its mission is to develop and deliver an array of activities to expose the Gaston College community to diverse cultures.