Some of Bermuda's leading teachers will step into the limelight this coming Sunday when they present A Musical Fanfare at St. John's Church.

Teachers of the Dunbarton School of Music will be performing a programme which they believe should have wide appeal and will include works that range from the English composer Henry Purcell, the romanticism of Chopin, Richard Strauss and Schubert to the 20th century creations of Poulenc, Ravel, Debussy and Rachmaninov.

Lyric soprano, Susan Levasseur, whose repertoire will range from German lieder to songs from films and musicals, actually sang for the first time since her arrival here this summer at a recent harvest festival concert at St. Mary's Church.

"Just as I was getting ready, there was this big electricity `black-out', so there was no lighting, no plumbing for me to wash my hair, or anything. The recital itself had to be by candlelight, which looked very beautiful, but Karol Sue, who was accompanying me on the piano, had to use a pen-light to read the music! But it went very well. Of course, as soon as we had finished, the lights came back on -- so I shan't forget my very first appearance here.'' Dr. Levasseur, who obtained her doctorate from Columbia University and also trained at Juilliard, is qualified both as a performer and teacher. She has performed with the Chicago Chamber Opera and was a co-founder of Circle Theatre there. In New York, she has performed with Playhouse 51, the New York Opera Theatre and Queens Opera, as well as teaching voice at Columbia University.

In Bermuda, she is teaching voice and guitar and says that she hopes to become involved with local theatre.

"I'm fascinated by the range of voices I am teaching here -- everything from torch singers, to opera and church music. There's a diversity of talent here, with different ethnic backgrounds and ages, but I've also noticed a lot of stress in many of the voices.'' To try and eliminate this problem, she is working closely with Dr. Vallis and Heather Coles in an attempt to treat vocal chords, and so avoid permanent damage.

"It's all very challenging, but I love it. Singers here have to learn how to use their `head' voice. At first, some singers think you are going to destroy their style, so there is some initial resistance, but once they start to learn how to use projection, resonance and registration, there's a huge improvement.'' Susan Levasseur will be singing the lovely solo from Purcell's opera, Dido and Aeneas, a short "poignant'' piece by Brahms, a "jubilant'' song from Strauss and her favourite piece, Les Chemin de l'Amour by Poulenc, which she describes as "poetic and sensuous''. By complete contrast, her final three songs come from the world of the musical: Would You, from the film, Singin' in the Rain, Love is a Many Splendoured Thing and Till There Was You from The Music Man.

Both she and her accompanist, James Burn are keen in their support of musical theatre.

Mr. Burn, who composed the score for Warren Cabral's Joan of Arc, premiered by BMDS at Daylesford earlier this year, says "In fact, this is my main area of interest at the moment. I believe it's just as difficult, technically, to write a song like Love is a Many Splendoured Thing as it is to write a string quartet. You're working with a different set of conventions, which can be just as rigorous and challenging to make it work.'' Mr. Burn, whose compositions recently took on an international slant when he was awarded a major commission for a Shell-Exxon exhibition in Singapore, studied composition at Oxford University. While there, he was President of St.

Edmund Hall Music Society, and composed a complete score for a promotional video of Oxford's Undergraduate Studies Programme. He teaches traditional and Suzuki piano (his youngest student is five), and hopes to add the theory of music next term.

"I love accompanying -- it's an art in itself,'' says Mr. Burn, who will also be performing this duty for Jack Kripl.

Mr. Kripl's talent on the saxophone is well known; in this concert, he will be playing the lovely Suite for Alto Saxophone in five movements by Richard Lane.

His impressive background as a master also of classical and jazz clarinet, flute, synthesiser, flute and electronic keyboards, began at the University of Michigan. He became a Fulbright Scholar in Paris as well as a Rockefeller recipient in London. As a former student of possibly the greatest teacher in recent memory, Nadia Boulanger, he went on to win the Geneva International Competition, became principal woodwind with the famous Philip Glass Ensemble, and was a founding member of the American Saxophone Quartet.

Dunbarton School of Music faculty to perform in concert Karold Sue Reddington makes her pianist solo debut in this concert when she plays two Preludes by Rachmaninov and Jeux d'Eau by Ravel. An immensely experienced performer and teacher, Ms Reddington is completing her doctorate in Piano Performance and Theory from the University of Cincinnati.

An exponent of 20th century music, she has performed world premieres of major works in the US, France and Hong Kong. As a soloist, she has performed with the International Arts Festival of Iceland, as an artist of the famed Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and in the Hong Kong Festival.

She will also be playing a duet with fellow pianist Margaret Fox -- the Fantasia in F minor by Schubert -- as well as accompanying Charles Li in Pablo de Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen for Violin and Piano.

Mr. Li, who obtained his Masters from South Illinois University and has recently completed Kindermusik training at Northwestern Univer sity, is an expert of the Suzuki violin method for young performers. As well as teaching, he has performed with the Tellerania String Quartet, with whom he toured Panama, and has also appeared with Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Harvard Summer Orchestra.

Pianist Margaret Fox, who gave an acclaimed solo recital earlier this year, obtained her Masters from the University of Western Ontario. As a former pupil of Ronald Turini (reputedly Horowitz's favourite student), Mrs. Fox performed in numerous major concerts in Canada, and maintained her own teaching studios in New Brunswick and London, Ontario. Bermuda has become `home' since her marriage to fellow musician and teacher, Bermudian Bruce Fox. Mrs. Fox will open the concert with two well-loved pieces, the Ballade in F major and the Po lonaise in A major by Chopin. The Dunbarton School founder, Ann Brown, will make a now rare appearance at the piano when she joins Margaret Fox for the duet, La Petite Suite by Debussy.

Mrs. Brown, who obtained degrees from the University of Wales and of Liverpool, teaches traditional and Suzuki piano. She was chairman of the Geoffrey Tankard Foundation for 12 years and conductor of its Choir for ten years.

American Mary Eileen Marie holds a degree in piano performance from De Paul University and ad vanced Suzuki piano certification from the School for Strings in New York. Before her arrival here in August, she was deeply involved in conducting children's choruses in several US cities, notably in building a special musical curriculum for young people in Miami's "depressed'' inner city, known at the `overtown' area.

"This is where the riots took place, and kids couldn't get to school for two weeks. It was a challenging, but very rewarding experience to mount musical shows and concerts with these kids and to see how it helped their confidence and self-esteem.'' She did similar work in New York, composing and recording `Children of the World' during the United Nations' Year of the Child, to benefit Child Hope, an international organisation that fights child poverty.

In January, Mrs. Marie will commence a new programme for mothers and children, starting from the age of six months, which will lead into the Kindermusik system.

Says Dr. Levasseur, "There is now no doubt that the earlier a child starts music, the sooner he will learn co-ordination, and develop mental processes and perceptual skills. There is also evidence that children who learn music have higher IQ's and are more motivated. There is a growing belief that music should be incorporated into the core curriculum, as experts are realising that it is essential to the development of the whole person -- emotionally, physically and intellectually.'' A Musical Fanfare takes place in St. John's Church, Pembroke, on Sunday, November 27 at 7 p.m. Tickets (patrons $30, $20 adults and $10 students/senior citizens) are available at the Dunbarton School of Music at the White House (opposite Miles Market), Opus 1 on Reid Street or Meyer Agencies on Church Street.

A MUSICAL FANFARE -- The faculty of Dunbarton School of Music, pictured in St.

John's Church where they will perform in concert this Sunday. In back row (left to right) are James Burn, Susan Levasseur, Mary Eileen Marie, Jack Kripl, Margaret Fox, and Charles Li. In front row are Karol Sue Reddington and Ann Brown.