Spring 2016 Newsletter

Spring 2016 Newsletter

- Cover story in Classical Singer Magazine!
- World premieres
- Company debuts
- Boston Shows
- My first show with Michael Mayes in over 10 years
- Recitals
- Pan Mass Challenge

It's May and I am honored to be on the cover of Classical Singer Magazine!

I will be giving a master class at the Classical Singer convention in Boston. The theme is Preparing a New Work. If you know someone who would like to participate, send them our way!

I am still glowing from the magical production of The Magic Flute with Boston Baroque featuring a stellar cast including Nick Phan, Leah Partridge, Sarah Heaton, Gustav Andreassen, and So Young Park, a custom made glockenspiel and my new Papageno pipes made by Charlie Hind.

Next month I return to Dayton to revisit an old favorite and a world premiere. Dayton Opera has commissioned The Book Collector a prequel to Carmina Burana. Joining me in this double bill are Andrew Owens and Angella Mortellaro as well as conductor Neil Gittleman and director Gary Briggle.

For all of my South Shore friends, please come hear a recital in Kingston on June 3. The lovely and talented Estela Olevsky will join me for a program including Obradors, Cole Porter, Folk Song settings of Steven Mark Kohn and Schumann's Dichterliebe. This will kick off First Parish Kingston's new Main Street Main Stage concert series and raise funds for and preview our 300th anniversary.

This summer I will be in Charlottesville, VA reprising Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte with Ash Lawn Opera. Mireille Asselin and I will give a recital there on June 22. Other cast members include Cassandra Velasco, Melinda Whittington, and Joshua Dennis.

July 16 and 17 Estela and I will perform our recital at Mohawk Trail Concerts in Charlemont, MA.

August 6-7 is the 37th annual Pan Mass Challenge. I began my training in February in Greenville, SC which surprisingly is one of the best cities for riding. There are lots of hills, trails, suitable roads, courteous drivers and it is the hometown of Tour de France rider George Hincapie. A special thanks to the people of Greenville, Bob Jones University and Jonathan Pait, my bicycle concierge. Oh, and by the way, while there we put on Rossini's Cenerentola to three sold-out crowds of over 2,600.

September 1 NYFOS will reprise our Schubert / Beatles program in Moab, UT.

In the Fall I return to Boston Lyric Opera for their new production of Carmen. I encourage you to read their season announcement; a lot of exciting events and changes are taking place this year. In this production I will be reunited with fellow gingers Jennifer Johnson Cano and Roger Honeywell and will sing my first show with Michael Mayes in over ten years.

Early December I return to Boston Baroque for their annual Messiah. It is a tremendous experience. I wrote about them on this blog five years ago. After forty years their playing remains fresh and exhilarating.

And then right before Christmas I rejoin James Kim and the Colorado Bach Ensemble for their Messiah. I am proud of this organization. They started from scratch four years ago and are now giving masterful performances of Bach, Handel, and other greats in four cities.

In March of next year I will make my Minnesota Opera debut in the world premiere of William Bolcom and Mark Campbell's Dinner at Eight. Cast includes Laura Claycomb, Stephen Powell, Brenda Harris, Craig Irvin, Susannah Biller, Adriana Zabala and Richard Troxell with conductor David Agler and director Tomer Zvulun.

In April I will be participating in the American Pianist Award competition. Not as a contestant, but as a recitalist (though I did make my New York piano debut in December.*) I will have the privilege of performing a recital with competition finalists and with a brilliant artist, soprano Jessica Rivera.

May 4-7, 2017 is the premiere of Requiem by my good friend Gabriela Lena Frank with Spanish text by pulitzer prize winning author Nilo Cruz. I will be singing again with Jessica Rivera. This will be my Houston Symphony debut.

More announcements to come soon. Thank you for reading.

* Barely.

-