College of Arts and Humanities Spotlight
Helene Joseph-Weil
Professor of Voice
Department of Music
Over the course of her twenty-two year teaching career at Fresno State, Prof. Joseph-Weil has educated and mentored student singers with little to no formal musical training to prestigious singing careers in opera houses across the U.S. and Europe, Broadway, and faculty voice positions in colleges and universities across the nation. In addition to her passion for and excellence in teaching, Prof. Joseph-Weil, a mezzo-soprano, has had a long, extensive career performing in Europe and the United States. Before coming to Fresno State, she was Visiting Professor of Voice at the Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and later the Founding Director of the Mozart Opera Studies Institute. She continues to perform for audiences both here and abroad, most recently for the prestigious Old First Concerts in San Francisco and the Ascoli Piceno Music Festival in Italy.
Prof. Joseph-Weil’s fascination with the life Ascención Solórsano de Cervantes (1854-1930), the last of the California Amah-Mutsun (San Juan) tribal band to retain complete linguistic and cultural fluency of her people, led to the composition of a new addition to the mezzo-soprano and multicultural music repertoire. ASCENCIÓN: A Dramatic Ethno-historical Cantata for Mezzo-soprano, Piano, Chorus, and the Bells of Mission San Juan Bautista, with words and lyrics by Helene Joseph-Weil and music by Benjamin Boone, received its premiere at the Concert Hall on February 24, 2008 to critical national acclaim. Ascención Solórsano’s direct descendents and other members of the Amah-Mutsun tribal band were among the hundreds in attendance. Since the premiere, Joseph-Weil has received the Ascoli Piceno (Italy) Festival’s Una vita per la musica award for a lifetime of contributions to the musical arts.
For more information about Prof. Joseph-Weil visit Professor Joseph-Weil For more information about ASCENCIÓN visit Ascencion Project
Programs in the College of Arts and Humanities
Programs in the College of Arts and Humanities provide you with the base of humanistic studies and creative expression essential to the understanding of contemporary civilization. Reflect critically on questions of belief, values, and the nature of human existence. Expand your imagination and creativity. Develop an appreciation and understanding of the great works of human imagination.
Message from the Dean
Is an education in the Arts and Humanities worth anything? At times I run across this question — perhaps less bluntly put — in conversations with parents or students. It actually might be more appropriate to ask . . . read more
