Grammy Award winning Soprano Christine Brewer and the Chicago Chamber Orchestra will perform a concert as part of the 4th annual Southern Illinois Music Festival at the Russel E. and Fern M. Hettenhausen Center for the Arts on June 18 at 7:30 p.m.

 Brewer, a 1976 McKendree graduate and a resident of Lebanon, is recognized as one of the world's top sopranos and is much sought after for both recordings and performance. Highlights of her 2007-2008 performance schedule include recitals The Paris Opera, Carnegie Hall, Florence and Leipzig. In the recent past she has performed at The Met in New York, Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera and London's Convenant Garden. BBC Music Magazine recently named her one of the top 20 sopranos of the recorded era. 

 The Southern Illinois Music Festival Features 51 performances in venues from Mt. Vernon to Cairo and Murphysboro to Martion. The Festival was founded by music director, Edward Benyas who also serves as artistic director for the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. Benyas will conduct the orchestra and Brewer in concert that will feature Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915 and Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs as well as works by Beethoven and Schumann. 

 Tickets for the concert can be purchased through the Hett's box office or online. Prices are $12 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $5 for students and children. Contact the Hett box office at 618-537-6863 or thehett@mckendree.edu. For more information about the Southern Illinois Music Festival visit www.sifest.com.