Bel Canto lives up to its name during UNMC performance

From left: Carmen Sirizzotti, employee relations director, and daughter Anmarie; Mohan Mysore, M.D., pediatric intensivist, and daughter Priya; and Peter Coccia, M.D., the Ittner Professor of Pediatrics, and daughter Kathryn. All three girls are part of the Nebraska Children’s Chorus’ Bel Canto choir.

With a blend of voices that rang clear as a bell, the Bel Canto choir was true to its name during a performance last Thursday in the season’s final “Music as Medicine” concert at UNMC.

In Italian, Bel Canto means “beautiful music.”

The group entertained more than 100 people during the noon hour last Thursday in the Durham Outpatient Center West Atrium. The concert was one of the groups’ last before they left Monday for a tour Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany.

Beautiful music Click here to see video of Bel Canto performing a piece titled “Salmo 150” and here to see the group’s performance of the spirituals, “Deep River” and “Praise His Holy Name!”

The perfect harmonies rising from the group during their UNMC performance made it easy for some listeners to imagine what beautiful music the singers will create in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, where they have been invited to perform during their current tour.

The concert at UNMC was dedicated to Hobart Wiltse, M.D., Ph.D., professor, pediatrics, who died last week of cancer. Dr. Wiltse was a member of the committee that sponsors the “Music as Medicine” series.