Please pass this along to anyone whom you think will be interested in attending
and we hope to see you at the upcoming
Seventh Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Concert
To Conclude a Three-Day Ring Seminar at the Smithsonian Institution
The Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. and the Smithsonian Institution's
Resident Associate Program will present the Seventh Evelyn Lear and Thomas
Stewart Emerging Singers Concert, with orchestra, in the Baird Auditorium
of the National Museum of Natural History on the National Mall on Constitution
Avenue, Northwest at Tenth Street at 2:45 pm, Sunday, September 21, 2003.
The concert will consist of a program of solos and scenes, all from the
four operas of Wagner's Ring. They will be performed by three American
professional singers with the potential for distinguished careers singing
Wagner's music. For the first time in these concerts, the emerging Wagner
singers will be accompanied by an orchestra, the Friday Morning Music Group
Orchestra, Sylvia Alimena, Music Director and Conductor. The singers have
been selected and coached by the world-famous opera stars and teachers,
Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart, assisted by John Edward Niles, a member
of the Board of Directors of the Wagner Society and Director of the Opera
Theater of Northern Virginia.
The concert will be the concluding event of a three-day seminar on
Richard Wagner's monumental tetralogy, The Ring of the Nibelung, that
will be jointly presented by the Resident Associate Program and the Wagner
Society of Washington, D.C., Friday, September 19 through Sunday, September
21. For information about the seminar, see the Society's web page at
www.wagner-dc.org or the Resident Associates web page at
http://residentassociates.org/com/ring.asp
Featured singers will be Charles Robert Austin, who will be returning for
his second appearance in these concerts and who sang the part of Hunding in
last year's Virginia Opera production of Die Walkure; soprano Caroline
Whisnant; and tenor Roy Stevens.
The Emerging Singers Program is a partnership of the Wagner Society and
Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart. Its concerts are intended to provide enjoyment
of Wagner's music to the public and to provide the singers with experience
singing the Wagner repertoire. Although this is not a contest, participating
singers may receive support from the Program to help advance their careers.
Several performers in recent Emerging Singers concerts have gone on to
promising engagements, both in the United States and in Europe.
Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart are two of the greatest singers in American
operatic history. Their distinguished careers have taken them to all of the
major opera houses and music festivals of the world. Both have won prestigious
awards, including a number of Grammy Awards for their recordings. Now settled
in the Washington area, they are in constant demand for master classes and
coaching. They are devoted to helping develop American singers. In this
way, they pass on to the next generation of world class opera singers the
high artistic standards they set in their own brilliant careers.
Admission to the concert is included in the fee of the three-day seminar
which must be paid directly to the Smithsonian Institution. Separate admission
to the concert only costs $25 for Wagner Society members and $35 for others
and must be paid directly to the Wagner Society. Society membership information
and reservations for the concert are available by calling the Society at
301.907.2600 and on the Society's web page at http://www.wagner-dc.org.
The complete concert program has been posted at the Wagner Society's web
site. Biographies of the performers and publicity photographs are available
for electronic transmission by calling John Edward Niles at 301.587.3580.
The Wagner Society of Washington, D.C.
P.O. Box 33051
Washington, D.C. 20033
Telephone 301.907.2600
Facsimile 301.907.8671
http://www.wagner-dc.org
Posted by
Janice Rosen
Founder
Wagner Society of Washington, DC
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