(COLUMBIA, SC) Opera singer Ariana Wyatt will perform "Songs of Passion" in concert at Columbia College as a guest of the department of music on Tuesday, February 8, 7:30 p.m., in the Concert Hall of Spears Music/Art Center.

The concert will include songs by Handel, Chausson, R. Strauss, Debussy, and Amy Beach. Wyatt, a soprano, will be accompanied on piano by Dr. Alan Weinberg, Columbia College professor of music. The event and a reception afterwards are free and open to the public.

Wyatt, who will join the Juilliard Opera Center in August 2005 as a Young Artist, holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. She was named Thornton's Outstanding 2001 Graduate and received the 2003 Vocal Arts Department Award. She won first place in the 2003 Western Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the 2004 Pasadena Opera Guild Competition. She apprenticed last summer with the Santa Fe Opera Company and will perform with the company this spring on its Apprentice Regional Tour.

This summer, she will sing with the Aspen Opera Theater in its production of Giasone. She has been featured in concert by Opera Buffs, the Ventura Chamber Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.