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UI alumnus to sing for pope Sunday

John Des Marais, a graduate of the University of Iowa School of Music and former student of Professor Stephen Swanson, will serve as cantor for the celebration of the eucharist to be held Sunday in Yankee Stadium in New York with Pope Benedict XVI.

The mass will be telecast by several major networks, including CNN, which will begin covering the service at 1 p.m. Central Time, according to a University of Iowa news release.

As a student Des Marias, a tenor, sang major roles in productions of the UI Opera Theater: Tamino in Mozart’s “Magic Flute” in 1999; Romeo in Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” in 1998; and Rinuccio in Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” in 1997.

He was also the tenor soloist in performances of Mendlessohn’s “Die erste Walpurgisnacht” ("The First Walpurgis Night") with the University Symphony and Choruses in 2000, among the performances on campus.