"*CLASSICAL COMPOSERS UNDER THE INFLUENCE! FROM THE SALON TO BROADWAY"
AT HUDSON OPERA HOUSE FEATURES ARTISTS FROM THE BARD CONSERVATORY'S
GRADUATE PROGRAM IN VOCAL ARTS*
* *
*Free Recital Presents Classic Songs and Recent Works by Eminent Composers*
HUDSON, N.Y.*---*The American melting pot is a uniquely diverse blend
of cultures, and many best-loved American compositions have melodies
influenced by popular music. On *Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 8:00
p.m.*, the *Hudson Opera House* presents an exciting and innovative
recital of American art song, *"Classical Composers Under the Influence!
From the Salon to Broadway," * that features students from the Bard
College Conservatory of Music's Graduate Program in Vocal Arts. This
program is *free* and open to the public without charge.
Performed by sopranos *Kristin Ezell, Yulia Van Doren, *and *Chanel Wood*
and baritone *Yang Yang, *with piano accompaniment by * Lucas Wong, *the
recital program ranges from the cabaret-influenced songs of Kurt Weill
and William Bolcolm to American spirituals and folk songs arranged by
Aaron Copland, and from the intricate music of Charles Ives to playful
songs by Adam Guettel, composer of the Broadway hit /The Light in the
Piazza/.
The artists are all members of the inaugural class of the Conservatory's
Graduate Program in Vocal Arts, a ground-breaking new program designed
by renowned soprano Dawn Upshaw. Emphasizing a strong commitment to
new music and chamber music collaborations, the program cosponsored the
singers' Carnegie Hall debuts this March in a special program of newly
commissioned chamber music. Hailing from around the United States as
well as China and Canada, these young musicians are rapidly gaining
international attention. This program provides a chance to hear the
singers in an intimate recital of spirited music.
The Hudson Opera House is located at 327 Warren Street. For further
information, see www.hudsonoperahouse.org <http://www.hudsonoperahouse.org>.
*_About the performers:_*
Soprano *Kristin Ezell*, formerly of Harlingen, Texas, received her
first master of music degree from Manhattan School of Music in 2006,
where she earned the Janet Schenck Award. She holds a bachelor of music
degree from Boston University, where she won the Ella Lou Dimmock Award
for outstanding promise on the operatic stage. Also an alumna of the
University of Texas at Brownsville, Ezell will perform this fall at its
10-year anniversary gala honoring the Bravo! Opera Company. She recently
made her Carnegie Hall debut in the Osvaldo Golijov and Dawn Upshaw
Workshop for Composers and Singers in the world premiere of/ Scenes/,
by Johannes Lauer. Roles and performances include /Thirteen Ways of
Looking at a Blackbird/ with TACTUS and Patti Monson at the Manhattan
School of Music and at Bard College Conservatory of Music with Joan
Tower; the cover of Susanna in /Le Nozze diFigaro/ with the New Jersey
Opera Theater; Cathleen in /Riders to the Sea/ by Vaughan Williams; the
Second Lady in /Die Zauberflote/; and Grace in /Annie./ Committed to
collaboration and contemporary music, Ezell spent the summer at Song
Fest as a professional fellow where she worked with composers James
Primosch and Ricky Ian Gordon, and singers Janice Felty and Judith
Kellock. She is a cofounder of American Music Productions (AMP), a
performance ensemble based at Manhattan School of Music. In 2006, she
created the lead role of the Wife in Seymour Barab's new opera, /Everyone
Has To Be Free/, commissioned by AMP.
While still an undergraduate at New England Conservatory, soprano *Yulia
Van Doren* was awarded the grand prize in the International J. S. Bach
Vocal Competition, third prize in the American Bach Soloists' Competition,
and recorded the role of Ceres in the Boston Early Music Festival's
world-premiere recording of the Lully opera /Thesee. /In 2007 Van Doren
made several important debuts, including her professional operatic debut
as Poppea in /L'Incoronazione di Poppea/ to much critical acclaim, which
described her as having "the perfect baroque voice/" (Seattle Times)/.
Other debuts included Carnegie Hall, the Bach Festival of Philadelphia,
the Boston Early Music Festival, and a summer of performances at Tanglewood,
where as a vocal fellow she sang Belinda in the acclaimed Mark Morris
Dance Group production of /Dido and Aeneas/ and performed in a concert
of opera scenes coached by Maestro James Levine. During the 2007--08
season Van Doren appears in concert with internationally renowned ensemble
Teatro Lirico, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra
/(Messiah), /American Bach Soloists' /(Weilnacht's Oratorium), /Grace
Church Choral Society /(Mass in c minor), /Berkshire Bach Society /(Chandos
Anthems),/ and reprises the role of Belinda on tour with Mark Morris
Dance Group's /Dido and Aeneas./ She is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious
Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
*Chanel Wood's* "gleaming soprano" (/The New Yorker/) has been heard
in an increasingly diverse repertory. Her orchestral credits include
appearances with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops in both their Holiday
Concerts and /A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim. /Most recently, she made
her American Symphony Orchestra debut as the Erste Gespielen in Bard
SummerScape's production of /Der Zwerg/. In the summer of 2006, Wood
was heard at the Tanglewood Music Center as Helene in Hindemith's /There
and Back/ and as Die Schlepptragerin in a concert version of /Elektra,/
conducted by Maestro James Levine. Most recently she performed a solo
recital in Lenox, Massachusetts, and gave the world premiere of a new
composition by Lawrence Kramer at Fordham University. Upcoming engagements
include a 2007--08 performance of Samuel Barber's /Knoxville: Summer of
1915/ with the American Symphony Orchestra. Wood is a graduate of the
Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Baritone *Yang Yang* was born in North China. He began ballet studies
at age 10, and at 19 was accepted at the Shanghai Conservatory, earning
a bachelor of music degree in vocal studies as a student of Zhou Zheng.
As a participant at Zhou Xiaoyan's International Opera Center, he performed
in productions of/ Le/ /Nozze di Figaro/ and /Don Giovanni/, among others.
Yang made his Carnegie Hall debut in March in a new composition by British
composer David Bruce, and in November he made his debut with the Berkshire
Bach Society in a concert of Bach cantatas.
Canadian *Lucas Wong* is quickly establishing a career as a young
emerging solo and collaborative pianist. After winning the Debut Young
Artist Competition 2003, he made notable appearances at CBC Vancouver
Studio One (later broadcaston CBC Radio), Holland Music Sessions, Concours
International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon, Banff Keyboard Festival,
Songfest, and Norfolk Chamber, and Choral Festival. Most recently, Wong
has been honored with a Post-Graduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship at
the Bard Conservatory, under the direction of Frank Corliss, Kayo Iwama,
and Dawn Upshaw. He is also pursuing his doctoral degree in piano
performance at Yale. Mentors in the past years include Boris Berman,
Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Richard Goode, Martin Katz, Graham Johnson,
Julian Martin, JJ Penna, and Robert Silverman.
*_About the Graduate Program in Vocal Arts at the Bard College
Conservatory:_*
Conceived and designed by the renowned American soprano Dawn Upshaw,
the Graduate Program in Vocal Arts was created to prepare the young
singer to meet the special artistic and practical challenges of a musical
career in the 21st century. This unique two-year master of music degree
balances a respect for established repertory and expressive techniques
with the flexibility and curiosity needed to keep abreast of evolving
musical ideas. It also includes a strong practical component with
seminars and classes on career skills led by some of the leading figures
in arts management and administration. Each year a select group of up
to 8 singers is invited to join the program through an intensive audition
process.
* *
*_About the Hudson Opera House:_*
* *
The oldest surviving theater in New York State, the Hudson Opera House
offers a year-round schedule of arts and cultural programming, community
events, classes, exhibitions, and more. Hudson Opera House, Inc. (HOH
Inc.), founded in 1991 by Hudson and Columbia County residents, is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the community by restoring
the historic and architecturally significant Old City Hall---long known
as the Hudson Opera House---as a cultural and civic center for Hudson
and the surrounding region. Since opening in December of 1997, HOH Inc.
has restored five rooms on the first floor, and presented more than 2,000
cultural and educational programs. The Hudson Opera House provides free
or low-cost cultural offerings every week of the year. Ongoing programs
include concerts, readings, lectures, exhibitions, theatre and dance
presentations, after-school programs, workshops, classes, and community
arts events like the annual "Winter Walk on Warren Street
<http://www.hudsonoperahouse.org/winterwalk.html>."
Emily M. Darrow
Bard College
Public Relations Associate
PO Box 5000, 30 Campus Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
www.bard.edu
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T: 845.758.7512
F: 845.758.7411
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