Hale-Wallace give an informal public talk at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, in the Common Room, Old Main. She also will meet informally with students at the ABLE Cultural Jam BBQ at 12 noon Saturday at ABLE Center for Black Culture. All members of the Knox Community are welcome to attend. Her appearances on the Knox College campus are sponsored by ABLE and the Intercultural Life Office.
Hale-Wallace also will be featured at Music Mornings, a concert preview for children ages preschool through the fifth grade, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, in the Community Room of the Galesburg Public Library. Music Mornings are co-sponsored by the Knox-Galesburg Symphony and the Galesburg Public Library in cooperation with District #205.
At 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Orpheum Theatre, Galesburg, Rauquaia Hale-Wallace will join the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, Bruce Polay, director, for "This is my Country, An American Revolution". The program will feature American folk music and spirituals, plus the world premiere public performance of selections, composed by Richard Einhorn and Mark O'Connor, from "Liberty! The American Revolution," a PBS mini-series sponsored by the Norwest Corporation.
Advance tickets are available at the Orpheum Theatre Office, 60 South Kellogg Street or by calling 342-2299. Tickets are also available at the door. Admission is free to Knox College students with student I.D.; Knox College faculty and staff receive a 20% discount on tickets.
Hale-Wallace is a native of Chicago. She explains: "My family lived in Cabrini Green. Living there was an unforgettable
experience. As a child, I was exposed to a lot of violence and
witnessed terrible crimes, but that was my home, and my family, friends and school were there. We did not have the income to move.
"My mother would always look for creative ways to shield and protect our
minds. One day, listening to opera on the radio, I decided I could do
what the soprano did and so I went into the bedroom, closed the door and
sang. To my surprise, I could sing in an operatic voice, and since that
moment I wanted to sing opera. This has become my dream."
Hale-Wallace gave her debut solo recital in 1996 under the sponsorship of the Chicago Fine Arts Society, which is also sponsoring her appearance with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony. In 1994 she performed in the chorus and as Lillias Pastia in Bizet's "Carmen" and won first place in the Winnetka Club Competition. Earlier this year she performed the role of Fiordiligi in Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte". She now coaches with Metropolitan Opera diva Judith Heddon at the Chicago Musical College of Rosevelt University.