Yesterday we closed "Turandot" to our 4th fabulous, sold-out crowd. Some of my favorite parts of the production: making rapid costume changes between peasant and handmaiden in Act I, being part of the savage mob threatening Liu in Act III, sharing the stage with opera legend Samuel Ramey, and hearing the principals' arias up close (I feel like I had the best seats in the house!).
We already have two music rehearsals for "Nixon in China" this week, so I've loaded up my iPod and am listening away. The music is VERY different from Puccini! And, I'm excited to be digging into my friend Jason Charney's art song, "How the Ginko Got Its Smell," which will be part of his composition recital November 6.
0 Comments
You can see a gallery of pictures from the Lyric Opera Kansas City's production of "Turandot" on their blog, plus check out interviews from the leading cast members and more!
The Lyric Opera's first opera in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Puccini's "Turandot," opened last night to a sold-out audience! It was great to have a performance after all the hard work we've been doing in our rehearsals, and a thrill to perform for such an enthusiastic audience! Check out the review of the production in the Kansas City Star. Now for a few days off (gives me a chance to look at some new solo rep!) before our Wednesday night show!
Life has been moving quickly...so many things to catch up on! Quick update:
Lawrence Opera Works was a blast! KC Lyric Opera sang at the opening of the Kauffman Center last week! It was SO fantastic to be in the beautiful new space! Turandot opens October 1st! We're in the final week of dress rehearsals for Lawrence Opera Works, and the music is sounding great! I'm having a great time working with fellow singers and pianists. We open Friday with a free performance in Prairie Village before our weekend of performances at the Lawrence Arts Center Saturday-Monday. Here's what I get to do each night:
August 19, 7:30 pm at Asbury United Methodist Church, Prairie Village, MO "Me voici dans son boudoir" (aria) from Mignon August 20-22 at the Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS: August 20, 7:30 pm "It's Kind of Hard to Explain" from Picnic "Votre Toast" from Carmen August 21, 4:30 pm "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof "Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide August 22, 7:30 pm "Duet and Quartet Tableau 1" from Eugene Onegin "Hal's Grand Scena / Madge's Lament" from Picnic "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from La Traviata It's just 2 weeks til the opening of Lawrence Opera Works, so rehearsals are revving up! I'll be performing in "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof, the opening quartet from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and two scenes from the contemporary opera Picnic by Forrest Pierce, plus arias and chorus numbers. Read more at the Lawrence Opera Works website and be sure to catch a performance (or more than one...each night is different!) August 19-22.
Our performance schedule is: Friday August 19, 7:30 pm, Asbury United Methodist Church, Prairie Village, MO, FREE August 20-22 at the Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS, $12 adults, $10 students and seniors Saturday August 20, 7:30 pm Sunday August 21, 4:30 pm Monday August 22, 7:30 pm Today I'm launching a new Media section on my site which will feature photos, audio, and video clips, the first of which being a photo gallery from Helianthus Contemporary Ensemble's production of White Horizon. Click here to view the White Horizon Gallery, and check out the Media page for more content in the future!
Earlier this year, I was interviewed by the New York Times for an article about GTAs (Graduate Teaching Assistants) at colleges & universities. The article was published in the Sunday edition of the NY Times on July 24. Click here to read the article and see photos of a typical day in the life of a KU GTA. I taught Music Theory I and II to a fabulous class of students...good times!
Click here to read an article about the collaboration between The Center for the Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) and Helianthus Contemporary Ensemble last April. CReSIS supplied images, information on the polar regions, and a hands-on presentation to accompany the performance of White Horizon at the Helianthus Chamber Operas performance.
Musical recordings are now online for selected compositions, including "eddy," "brook," "seedling," "Three Basho Haiku," and the first song in my cycle, "Snapshots." Go to the Selected Works tab and click on any of the highlighted pieces to listen.
|