2008 Lillian & Paul Petri Foreign Music Study Award Winner
Rebecca Fromherz, 2008 Petri Foreign Music Study Winner
OREGON MUSICIAN AWARDED NEARLY $20,000 TO STUDY IN EUROPE
By Erin Sneller, Events Coordinator & Publicist, Oregon State University Department of Music, (541)-737-5592
“Soprano Rebecca Fromherz, is the 2008 recipient of the Lillian and Paul Petri Foreign Music Study Grant from the Benton County Foundation of Oregon. Fromherz grew up in Dallas, Oregon, where she attended elementary through high school. She started her West Coast performance career with winning the Young Artists Live Competition in Portland in 1996, giving her the chance to sing at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall at the age of seventeen.
That year she was also honored to attend the San Francisco Girl’s Chorus Opera Training Program with Blanche Thebom. Upon completion of that program, Fromherz moved to Ohio and completed her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. There she was honored as Outstanding Vocal Student, for her work in the Otto B. Schoepfle Vocal Arts Center.
After completing her degree at Oberlin, Fromherz moved to Vienna, Austria, where has lived for the last seven years. Her teachers there include Kammersangerinnen Christa Ludwig and Hilde Zadek, and Professor Konrad Leitner at the University of Vienna. In addition to voice studies, Fromherz has studied dance and acting at the Vienna Konservatorium. Rebecca’s European professional resume includes appearances at the famous Councertgebouw, Amsterdam, and outdoor opera festivals in Holland, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Slovakia.”
Since its inception in 1962, the Petri award has been granted to 29 other top Oregon musicians. The scholarship grant is based on the applicants’ performance, professional goals and confirmed plans to study music outside the U.S. The biennial competition was established by the estate of Lillian and Paul Petri, who were residents of Corvallis, Oregon, for over thirty years. Both were talented musicians and teachers at Oregon State College (now OSU). Paul Petri was chair of the Department of Music for 24 years. Administered by the Benton County Foundation and coordinated by the OSU Department of Music, the Petri scholarship grant is intended to provide the means for broadening the scope of an Oregon musician’s present training through overseas travel and study.
Rebecca Fromherz received her early musical training at Dallas High School and studied vocal music with Brian Swingle in Salem. In Europe, Fromherz has studied with Christa Ludwig, Hilde Zadek, Charles Spencer, Christian Koch, Konrad Leitner, Ron LaFond and Michael Pabst. Fromherz used the money awarded through the Petri Competition to return to Vienna to study with soprano Elisabeth Promonti, voice coach Christian Koch, and acting coach Mike Loewenrosen.
She has performed numerous concerts in Europe as a guest artist, including Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” with the Orpheus Quartet in a twelfth-century chapel in the Swiss Alps, and a benefit concert with the Bratislava Radio Orchestra to raise money for building wells in Malawi, Africa. In 2007, Fromherz sang all three of the female roles in Verdi’s opera “Nabucco,” with three different opera companies in Germany and Holland.
In Oregon she has performed the American premiere of the Hidas Requiem with the Salem Concert Band at the Elsinore Theater. She sang with John Skelton and the Salem Concert Band in January 2009. Rebecca Fromherz completed her final scholarship grant requirement on April 23, 2009 by performing at Music a la Carte in the Memorial Union located on the Oregon State University campus.
Foundation Director Dick Thompson, Rebecca Fromherz, Foundation Board President Pete Sekermestrovich following Rebecca’s performance April 23, 2009 at Oregon State University.
The Lillian and Paul Foreign Music Study Scholarship is now available for year 2010. For more information, contact the Benton County Foundation at (541) 753-1603. Applications for the 2010 award are due February 22, 2010.