Carren Moham

Professor Carren Moham is Groovin' With the Winter Blues

Nov. 11, 2004

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. –Vocalist Carren Moham is hoping to add some pizzazz to a cold, gray, November afternoon. The IWU Associate Professor of voice will perform an entertaining selection of well-known jazz, blues, and musical theatre tunes at her program entitled, “Groovin’ On a Sunday Afternoon.”

The performance will take place on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 5:00 p.m. in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall, 1210 Park St., Bloomington. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will also feature Erin Mulliken on piano.

Moham and Mulliken hope to chase winter blues away with soulful songs such as W.C. Handy’s St. Louis Blues and Basin Street Blues by Spencer Williams. The program will also include: Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine, Oscar Hammerstein/Jerome Kern; Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Otto Harbach/Jerome Kern: and Stormy Weather, Ted Koehler/Harold Arlen; in addition to upbeat numbers such as It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing, Irving Mills/Duke Ellington; Ain’t Misbehavin’, Fats Waller/Harry Brooks; and Whatever Lola Wants, Richard Adler/Jerry Ross.

Moham, who received her D.M.A from Ohio State University in Columbus in 1997, centered her doctoral research on vocal pedagogy and black music studies, subjects she continues to research at Illinois Wesleyan. Before joining the music faculty at IWU, she spent years as a full-time performer. Moham made her professional singing debut with the Cimarron Circuit Opera in Norma, Okla., her European debut with the Breman Piccolo Opera, and her achievements include a multitude of performances with opera companies and orchestras, including Opera Francais and the National Symphony Orchestra. In 2002, she released her debut CD entitled Sonnets on Love Rosedbuds & Death, a collection of songs by African American women.

For additional information, contact Illinois Wesleyan University’s School of Music at (309) 556-3061.