From: "Thomas L. Arthur"
Subject: Wagner Society Concert in DC
Those of you in the Washington, D.C. area and those of you who can
make it here will be interested in the following announcement. Do
come!
Fourth Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Concert At
German Embassy, May 3rd 2002
Under the honorary patronage of His Excellency, Wolfgang Ischinger,
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Wagner Society of
Washington, D.C. will present the Fourth Evelyn Lear and Thomas
Stewart Emerging Singers Concert in the auditorium of the Embassy of
Germany, 4645 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, on Friday, May 3rd
2002, at 7:30 P.M. An artists' reception with the singers, Evelyn
Lear and Thomas Stewart will follow the concert.
The concert will consist of an all-Wagner program of solos, duets,
and scenes from the Wagner operas. It will be performed by four
American professional singers with the potential and talent for
distinguished careers singing Wagner's music. The singers have been
selected and coached by the world-famous opera stars and teachers
Thomas Stewart and Evelyn Lear, together with John Edward Niles a
member of the Board of Directors of the Wagner Society and Director
of the Opera Theater of Northern Virginia.
The four singers are dramatic soprano Gail Sullivan, bass-baritone
Nathan Bahny, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Roderer, and tenor Thomas Rolf
Truhitte. Washington teacher and performer Betty Bullock will
accompany the four singers.
The Program
"Allmacht'ger Vater, blick herab!" ("Rienzi's Prayer")
(From Rienzi, Act V)
Thomas Rolf Truhitte
"Weiche, Wotan! Weiche! Flieh' des Ringes Fluch!"
(From Das Rheingold, Scene IV)
Jennifer Roderer and Nathan Bahny
"Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge; in prachtiger Glut prangt glanzend
die Burg"
(From Das Rheingold, Scene IV)
Nathan Bahny
"Wintersturme wichen dem Wonnemond"
(From Die Walkure, Act I)
Thomas Rolf Truhitte
"Hore mit Sinn, was ich sage!" ("Waltraute's Narrative")
(From Gotterdammerung, Act I)
Jennifer Roderer
"Wie aus der Ferne langst vergang'ner Zeiten spricht dieses Bild zu mir"
"Wirst du des Vaters Wahl nicht schelten?"
(From Der fliegende Hollander, Act I)
Gail Sullivan and Nathan Bahny
"Dich, teure Halle, gruss' ich wieder, froh gruss ich dich, geliebter Raum"
(From Tannhauser, Act II)
Gail Sullivan
"Einsam wachend in der Nacht" ("Brangane's Warning")
(From Tristan und Isolde, Act II)
Jennifer Roderer
"Mild und leise wie er lachelt" ("Liebestod")
(From Tristan und Isolde, Act III)
Gail Sullivan
"Wache, Wala! Wala! Erwache!"
"Stark ruft das Lied; kraftig reizt der Zauber"
(From Siegfried, Act III)
Nathan Bahny and Jennifer Roderer
"Siegmund heiss' ich und Siegmund bin ich!"
(From Die Walkure, Act I)
Thomas Rolf Truhitte
The Emerging Singers Program is a partnership of the Wagner Society
with Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart. Although it is not a contest,
singers who are presented in the concert may receive support from
the Society to advance their singing careers. Of course, it is also
intended to provide for the public enjoyment of Wagner's music.
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 Europe,
North and South America. 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 young 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
singing careers.
Several singers in recent Emerging Singers concerts have gone on to
promising engagements, both here and in Europe. For example, in the
Washington area, Thomas Rolf Truhitte, who appeared in the Third
Emerging Singers Concert last October and will return in the upcoming
May program, will also sing the role of Siegmund in the Virginia
Opera's production of Die Walkure next fall.
Admission to the concert and reception is $25 for Wagner Society
members and $35 for others. Society membership information and
reservation and for the concert and reception are available by
calling the Society at 301.907.2600 and on the Society's web page at
www.wagner-dc.org. Public parking is available outside the embassy
on Reservoir Road.
The Performers
Nathan Bahny (Bass-baritone). Mr. Bahny has appeared with several
opera companies in the New York area and in the Liederkranz Foundation
competition. Among the Wagnerian roles he has performed are Wotan
and Alberich, The Dutchman, and Telramund. His non-Wagnerian roles
include the four villains in Les Contes d'Hoffman, Ford in Falstaff,
Amonasro in Aida, Tonio in Pagliacci and Mephistopheles in Faust.
German rarities he has performed include Falstaff in Nicolai's Die
lustigen Weiber von Windsor and the title role in Peter Cornelius's
Der Barbier von Bagdad. Mr. Bahny has appeared on "Late Night with
David Letterman" as a member of the Late Night Choir and appears on
the Polygram CD, Chants Mystique. He was born in California and grew
up in New York. He was educated at the State University College at
Brockport.
Jennifer Roderer (Mezzo-soprano) has been a recipient of many grants
and prizes including one from the Wagner Society of New York, another
from Opera Buffs of Southern California, and from the Opera Guild of
Southern California, among others. Ms. Roderer began this year with
a Virginia Opera debut as the First Serving Maid in Elektra. This
fall, she will sing at the New York City Opera in Dead Man Walking
and make her Lyric Opera debut as Waltraute. She will also debut
at Toledo Opera. She has sung at the Sarasota Opera and covered
the roles of Waltraute and Fricka in the Ring operas last summer in
Seattle. In Europe she sang Amneris at Opern Air Gars in Austria,
a role she has also sung at Opera Illinois. At Opera Pacific, she
sang Emilia in Otello and Rossweise in Die Walkure. She has sung
the Second Serving Maid in Elektra at the Los Angeles Opera, a role
she reprised with the Washington Opera under Heinz Fricke. Jennifer
Roderer was born in Illinois and raised in Los Angeles, where she
was educated at the University of Southern California.
Gail Sullivan (Soprano) began her professional singing career at the
Erfurt Opernhaus in Germany singing Senta in Der fliegende Holander
and was a member of the Erfurt company for two years. Later, she
freelanced in Europe. Since returning to the U.S., Gail Sullivan
has appeared in the New York area as Turandot, Aida, Elisabeth and
Venus in Tannhauser and as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel. She won
top prizes in the Queens Opera Competition, the Opera at Florham
contest, and the New York Performing Artists Competition. Last summer
she performed Brunnhilde in Die Walkure in concert scenes at the
Mannes Music School Wagner Festival. In July she will be appearing
again with the Festival, singing the role in its entirety. With
Dorothy Maddison, she co-authored the book Kein Angst, Baby!" A
Singers' Guide to German Auditions, now in its third edition. Her
New York teacher is Barbara Conrad. A native Iowan farm girl, Gail
Sullivan has degrees from Simpson College and the University of
Colorado.
Thomas Roft Truhitte (Tenor) was selected last fall for support
from this Emerging Singers Program, and on a supported trip to New
York was chosen "Top Male Vocalist" in the Wagnerian Division of the
2002 Liederkranz Foundation Competition. Last year, Mr. Truhitte
completed a four-year professional Principal Artist Residency at
Opera San Jose, where he sang thirteen leading roles. He has also
sung with Sacramento Opera, Stockton Opera, North Bay Opera, Townsend
Opera, and the Mendocino Music Festival. He has also been a soloist
with the Sacramento, Camellia, Redding, and Davis symphony orchestras.
He recently recorded a CD of German songs titled An die Musik. A
student of the late, great tenor Jess Thomas and currently under the
tutelage of Claude Heater in his transition to heldentenor, Mr.
Truhitte has been chosen to sing Siegmund in Virginia Opera's production
of Die Walkuke in September and October of this year. Mr. Truhitte
was born in Hollywood, California.
Betty Bullock is well known to Washington audiences as a soloist,
chamber musician and accompanist. She is on the music staff of the
Washington Opera and the faculty of the Levine School of Music. She
has performed in recital at the Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collection,
and many other area venues. In addition, she has appeared on national
television with singers Paul Plishka and Gary Lakes, and with violinist
issac Stern.
The Wagner Society of Washington, D.C.
P.O. Box 33051
Washington, D.C. 20033
Telephone (301) 907.2600
FaX (301) 907.8671
http://www.wagner-dc.org
Janice Rosen, [log in to unmask]
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