In the Golden Light of Evening
AUAlbanyAlumniTrio
Melinda Conroy (piano)
Dara Ribis (viola)
Melanie Shank (soprano)
Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 7pm Recital Hall
Department of Music and Theatre
University at Albany
presents:
In the Golden Light of Evening
A UAlbany Alumni Trio
Melinda Conroy, piano
Dara Ribis, viola
Melanie Shank, soprano
Saturday, November 8, 2025, at 7pm
Recital Hall
UAlbany Performing Arts Center
Program
Élégie………………………………………... Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Text by Louis Gallet
I’ll Bid My Heart Be Still………………. arr. Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) Old Scottish border melody
The Seal Man………………………………. Rebecca Clarke
Text by John Masefield from A Mainsail Haul
Down By the Salley Gardens…………….. Rebecca Clarke
Text by W.B. Yeats
Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91………………….. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
1. Gestillte Sehnsucht
Text by Friedrich Rückert
2. Geistliches Wiegenlied Text by Emanuel Geibel after Lope de Vega
Intermission
Three Songs, H. 76……………………………. Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
1. Far, far from each other
2. Where is it that our soul doth go?
3. Music when soft voices die
Four Hymns……………………….Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
I. Lord! come away!
II. Who is this fair one?
Text by Bishop Jeremy Taylor
Text by Isaac Watts
III. Come Love, come Lord Text by Richard Crashaw
IV. Evening Hymn
Text by Robert Bridges translated from the Greek
Translations
Élégie (Elegy)
Oh, Sweet spring of the past, green seasons, you have fled forever. I do not see the blue sky, I do not hear anymore the joyful songs of the birds!
Away my happiness, my beloved, you left! And it is in vain the spring returns! Yes! Along with you, the cheerful sun, the laughing days have left. Like my heart, all dark and ice, all is withered forever.
Gestillte Sehnsucht (Satisfied Longing)
In the golden light of evening How solemn the forest stands!
Among the quiet voice of the little birds Breathes the evening winds quietly blowing. What whispers the wind and the little birds? They whisper the world to fall into slumber.
My wish, the one I always have of you stirs
In my heart without rest or peace. You see, that my breast is alight, When will you rest, when will you sleep? The whispers of the wind, the little birds, You, longing wish, when will you sleep?
Ah! When no longer into the far off golden light, My spirit flies on the wings of dreams, No more on eternally distant stars, With longing eyes my gaze stays; Then whispers the wind and the little birds, WIth my longing, my life, to sleep.
Geistliches Wiegenlied (Sacred Lullaby)
You who float Around these palms
In night and wind
You holy angels
Quiet the treetops! My child is sleeping. You palms of Bethlehem
In gusts of wind, How like today
So angrily fly! O rustle not again! Keep quiet, bend Over us quiet and gentle; Quiet the treetops! My child is sleeping.
The heavenly boy Suffers complaints Ah! So tired he is From the sorrow of the world. Ah! Now he sleeps, Quietly soothed, The pain crumbles. Quiet the treetops! My child is sleeping.
Fierce cold Rushes down
With what should I cover My little child’s limbs! Oh all you angels, You who winged Moved in the wind, Quiet the treetops! My child is sleeping.
Performer Biographies
Hailed by the Albany Times Union for her “agile technique and ringing tones” soprano Melanie Shank is a frequent performer in the Capital Region and beyond. In 2012 Melanie graduated from UAlbany with a double major in Vocal Performance, studying with Frances Wittmann and the late David Janower, and Psychology, where she was awarded the title of valedictorian. In 2016, Melanie received her Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, studying with Deborah Massell and Francois Germain. Following graduation, Melanie moved to NYC where she studied
with Arlene Shrut, Beth Roberts, and Kristen Kemp. Since her return to the Albany area, she has been coaching with Michael Clement and returned to UAlbany for her MBA, graduating in 2022.
A true lover of art song, Melanie has participated in various recitals including at solo performances at UAlbany, Opera Saratoga Sing-In, the American Art Song Festival, First Reformed Church of Scotia series, Tuesdays at Noon at St. Paul’s and ENY/NATS. Solo performances with opera companies and oratorio societies include Opera Company Brooklyn (Janthe, Der Vampyr), College Light Opera Company (Lady Battersby, Titanic, and others), Burnt Hills Oratorio Society, Octavo Singers, and UAlbany Chamber Singers and Chorale.
Melanie supports her passion for the arts through her day job as Director of Financial Systems at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Following an extensive clinical practice career in healthcare, Dara Ribis received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University at Albany and a Music Therapy Equivalency Certificate from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana. Throughout her music therapy clinical training, Dara has worked with individuals of all ages with complex medical conditions, developmental disabilities, and cognitive impairments. Dara currently practices as a full-time board-certified music therapist at Wildwood School in Schenectady. Dara’s primary instrument is the viola, and she has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the Capital District and the foothills of the Catskills for the past 25 years. Dara is currently an active community member of UAlbany’s Symphony Orchestra.
A graduate of the University of Florida, Melinda Conroy (née Cestaro) earned her Master of Music in piano performance in May 2014 under the instruction of Kevin Orr. In May of 2012, she graduated summa cum laude from the University at Albany, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in music with a concentration in piano performance and studied with Duncan Cumming.
During her time at UAlbany, she had numerous solo performance opportunities, performed chamber music and accompanied vocalists, was a member of the University Chamber Singers, and was a music theory assistant for three years. At the University of Florida, she held a graduate assistantship where her duties included teaching multiple sections of the four-semester undergraduate class piano sequence, teaching private piano lessons to vocal majors, and accompanying the women's chorale.
As a soloist, she has participated in summer music festivals including the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine in 2012 and the University of Florida International Piano Festival from 2013-2015, where she also worked as a program assistant and a theory teacher for the precollege division. She currently serves as the Director of Music at Christ the King Church in Guilderland, is a member of the Diocese of Albany’s Music Subcommittee, serves as treasurer and secretary of the Albany Chapter of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM), and accompanies vocalists and instrumentalists throughout the Capital Region.
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