In Brief: April 4

Ante up for health at National Walking Day

Improve your odds for good health on National Walking Day, April 6. Take some turns around the Perry Field House track with friends and colleagues during the Poker Walk sponsored by the Wellness Connection for the chance to win prizes. Walkers can come anytime between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Collect a card each turn around the track. Whoever comes up with the best hand will win a prize. There will also be raffles and healthy snacks. Walkers are invited to bring their lunches.

The Golden Sneaker Award will go to the employer with the most participants, and the Spirit Award of a chair massage to the team demonstrating the most spirit.

BGSU is partnering with the city of Bowling Green, Wood County Hospital and county employees to promote the National Heart Association event. Celebrity walkers include President Mary Ellen Mazey, Mayor Richard Edwards, Falcon Health Center director Dr. Nicholas Espinoza and other BGSU, county and city administrators.

For more information, contact Karyn Smith, wellness educator, at karync@bgsu.edu or 372-9309.

Conrad Art Song Competition to showcase vocal, piano performance

Twenty-nine singers and pianists will compete for honors and prize money in the annual Conrad Art Song Competition on April 9 at the University. The group includes 15 undergraduate and 15 graduate students.

Art song is music written especially for vocal performance, usually in the classical style, and typically for one voice accompanied by piano.

Audiences can hear the winners at the final round, a concert at 8 p.m. that evening in Bryan Recital Hall at the Moore Musical Arts Center. The performance is free and open to the public.

The total prize money for the competition is $6,500. All prizes will be awarded in voice and piano, with the funds equally distributed between both musicians. A total of six prizes may be awarded: two first prizes of $1,500 each, two second prizes of $1,000 each, and two third prizes at $750 each. The duos winning first prize will also be awarded the opportunity to perform one-half of a song recital.

The first round of the competition will take place from 1-5 p.m. Finalists will be announced at 6 p.m. The judges for 2016 competition are Dr. Anne Kissel Harper, director of collaborative piano at SUNY Fredonia; Dr. Carol Dusdieker, assistant professor of voice at Heidelberg University; and Dr. Minnita Daniel-Cox, assistant professor of voice at the University of Dayton.

Local physician and patron of the arts Dr. Marjorie Conrad gave nearly $150,000 to BGSU for music programs and scholarships in 1999. About $125,000 was used to endow the Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition, whose aim is to encourage students enrolled at BGSU to approach the art song in a serious and intense manner and enhance their learning experience.