Live Music

From Handel to Strauss Concert

Thursday, Jun 16, 2016
5:30pm -> 7:30pm
American University of Beirut (AUB)

Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering presents
‘From Handel to Strauss’ an Evening of Arias and Lieder

Wassim W. Ayass, Baritone
Matthias Gerchen, Bass-Baritone & Pianist

Work from Handel, Gluck, Mozart, Beethoven, Jadin, Schubert, Marschner, Brahms, Duparc and Strauss will be performed.

The Lebanese Beirut-born Baritone, Wassim W. Ayass holds a BSc. and MSc. in chemical engineering from AUB and KAUST respectively. He is expected to complete his PhD in chemistry next year at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany. Wassim had an active youth in learning piano and singing in school choirs. While aiming to be a first-rate engineer, Wassim initially joined the LAU choir conducted by Leila Dabaghi for 1 year followed by voice training with Dr. Reem Deeb for another year. Since 2014 he worked with Matthias Gerchen in Bremen. His first solo concert was held in May 2012 in Beirut. He also performed in 4 solo concerts in Germany as well as private concerts and events in KSA.
Wassim enjoys creating new concepts aiming to diffuse this genre of music into our new generation. He produced and wrote a comic “Stand-up Opera Show” in 2013 that was well received in KSA. Recently, he also performed in his own modern mini-operetta “A Trip to The Future”, which received the 1st prize in a talent show. Wassim’s journey does not end here, but it goes further towards a bigger dream to be an opera singer on the international stage. Away from Beirut for 2 years, Wassim is happy to embark you on a musical voyage from the 1700s to the 1900s.

The German bass, Matthias Gerchen – after a musical active youth learning piano and bassoon – had worked as a physician, when he began his voice training with Prof. Carl-Heinz Müller in Hannover. Studies followed with Christoph Stephinger and for many years with the renowned teacher Margreet Honig in Amsterdam. Master classes with Ingrid Bjoner, Jessica Cash, Elio Battaglia, Josef Metternich and others gave important impulses. With his wide-ranged repertoire from renaissance to modern music, Matthias is a much sought-after concert performer. His interest lies with the late Romantic French and German Repertoire in particular. He may also often be heard as a Lied interpreter. On the field of oratorio, he sings all major works of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Brahms etc. On the opera stage, he performed works by Cavalli, Handel, Mozart and Keiser.
He has been invited to numerous international festivals, such as Brügge, Innsbruck, Melbourne, Prague, and has worked with conductors as Martin Gester, Eduardo Lopez Banzo and Konrad Junghänel. He has recorded works by J.S. Bach, Biber, Monteverdi, Johannes Brahms, Dvorak and Strauss for various European radio stations and for CD. Matthias currently teaches in Hannover and at the University of Arts, Bremen. He was also a visiting professor at `Escola das Artes´ in Porto/Portugal.

Location: Bathish Auditorium – West Hall

Free Entrance