Media Release

Lawrence, KS – On Sunday, September 11 at 5 PM, the Spencer Museum of Art and the KU School of Music will present Mexican-American lyric tenor Genaro Méndez, a KU associate professor of voice, and accompanist Robert Hiller, a KU alumnus and university voice coach in Germany, performing a program that celebrates music and art from the 16th to 19th centuries, featuring composers Beethoven, Dowland, Liszt, and Tosti.

The event in the Museum’s Central Court is free and open to the public; donations will benefit the KU School of Music’s Voice & Opera Program and the Spencer Museum of Art. Doors will open at 4:30 PM.

Méndez has a versatile and wide-ranging career as a leading operatic tenor, chamber and solo recitalist, conductor, and voice professor. Hiller coaches voice at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart (Germany), and has a distinguished resumé of international performances.

The song recital relates to three periods exhibited at the Spencer: Baroque, Classic, and Romantic, with songs by John Dowland, Ludwig van Beethoven, Francesco Paolo Tosti, and Franz Liszt. Hiller will accompany Méndez on the Spencer’s famed Liszt piano, which was made by the C. Bechstein company of Germany around 1885-1886.

More about Genaro Méndez

Genaro Méndez has taught on the University of Kansas music faculty since 2001. He was most recently heard singing the role of Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles with Wichita Grand Opera. Some of his many roles include: Tamino, Die Zaubertlöte, Alfredo, La Traviata, Quint, Turn of the Screw, Rinuccio Gianni Schicchi, and Ferrando, Cosí fan tutte. Méndez has appeared with such companies as Heartland Opera, Springfield Regional Opera, Nevada Opera, Illinois Opera Theater, Eugene Opera and Colorado Opera Troupe. Also a popular concert artist, Mendez has performed at Martha's Vineyard Music Festival, with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, and the Reno Philharmonic.

More about Robert Hiller

Robert Hiller grew up in Humboldt, Kansas. He studied at KU with Richard Angeletti and John Perry and received his Master of Music in piano in 1972. Since 1967 he has lived in Stuttgart, Germany, where he has taught from 1972 to the present as a voice coach at the State University of Music, where he graduated with the Concert Diploma. In addition to teaching a Lied Class for 11 years at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, Hiller has performed with singers and taught master classes in many countries including the United States, Germany, Austria, and Japan. In 1993, Hiller accompanied Patricia Wise, Joyce Castle and David Holloway at the inaugural concert of the Lied Center. He has just returned from concerts and teaching at Ars Vocalis México.