Art & Opera Unite:
ICO Art & Music Gallery
http://www.icogallery.com/ and
OCB
http://www.operabrooklyn.com/
present: Puccini's Madama Butterfly at ICO Art & Music Gallery, 606 W. 26th Street, in Chelsea
November 19, 7:30PM, BYOB Performance - THE ORIGINAL BYOB SERIES - Bring wine and a friend!
Our BYOB operas are extremely popular and much fun. Bring drinks! We'll have the glasses and snack-type food.
November 17, 7PM, Dress Rehearsal for Students
STARRING:
Alexandra LoBianco-Butterfly
Kenneth Overton-Sharpless
Hector Palacio-Pinkerton
Christine Reimer-Suzuki
Basia Revi-Mother and Kate
Leslie Tay-Goro
Alfred Barclift-Imperial Commissioner
Djore Nance-Bonze
Nina Riley-Cousin
Boris Bogdanovic-Registrar, Yamadori, Yakuside
Wei-En Hsu-Pianist
Jay Meetze-Conductor
Price of Admittance, $5-$35; Buy online at:
http://www.operabrooklyn.com/tickets.htm
MEET OUR ARTISTS
Dr. Alfred Barclift, Bass-baritone, studied with internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Betty Allen. Operatic roles for Dr. Barclift include Figaro - The Marriage of Figaro, the title role & Leporello - Don Giovanni, Don Alfonso - Così fan Tutte, Colline - La Boheme, Don Basilio - The Barber of Seville, Porgy - Porgy and Bess, Count des Grieux - Manon, and others. Alfred has been a prize winner in numerous competitions such as 1st Prize in the Friday Woodmere Vocal Competition, 2nd Prize in the New Jersey N.A.T.S. Vocal Competition, a Finalist in the Leontyne Price Vocal Competition, and a Finalist in the YWCA Vocal Competition of New York. Dr. Barclift was selected as a vocal participant in the 2007 Aims at Graz Program.
Boris Bogdanovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, where he graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts. Since his arrival to New York in 2007, Boris has made his Carnegie Hall debut as Gregorio in Gounods Romeo et Juliette with New York Lyric Opera, and will be playing Bretigny in Manon by Massenet with the same company this season. Also he has performed the role of Count Almaviva from Mozarts Le Nozze di Figaro in Rome, as part of the Operafestival di Roma program. Boris is currently a Masters student at Mannes College of Music in New York.
Wei-En Hsu, pianist, native of Taiwan, received his education from the Juilliard School , Royal Academy of Music, College-Conservatory of Music, and Taipei National University of the Arts. Winner of Scott Huxley Piano Accompaniment Prize, Major Van Someren-Godfery Prize Accompaniment Award(2004), Ludmilla Andrew Russian Song Prize Accompaniment Award, Sir Arthur Bliss Prize(2005). Recent engagements include conducting appearance at CCM for Ariadne auf Naxos in March, as well as a chamber concert at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall this May. He was named a Stern Fellow in SongFest 2009, and has just been awarded the Sing for Hope Grant for Arts Activism and Community Outreach. During the season 2009-2010, Mr. Hsu will join the Opera Company of Brooklyn Resident Artists as a pianist/coach/conductor.
Alexandra LoBianco, soprano, is delighted to be a Resident Artist with OCB performing Cio Cio San (Madame Butterfly) and First Lady (Magic Flute). Her voice was described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch asvelvet covered steel Roles include Leonora (Il Trovatore), Mother (Amahl), Praskowia (Merry Widow), Dama (Macbeth) and Sieglinde (Die Walküre) cover Mimi (La bohème) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and as Sister Robert Ann (Nunsense). In December, she returns to St. Petersburg in December to perform on the Candle Light Concert with St. Petersburg College.
Jay Meetze, Conductor - is lauded for his "passionate and undeniably impressive command of performances." (Opera News). He conducted the OCB CD on Albany Records featuring Sheri Greenawald and Ashley Putnam. Opera News named the CD Critic's Choice and Top 10 of the Year. Meetze was featured on CNN's Tips from the Top, and the front-pages of Wall Street Journal and Crain's NY Business. He has landed OCB on the Jeopardy quiz show and Good Morning America with MythBusters and has received rave reviews/articles in American Record Guide, NY Magazine and the NY Daily, Times and Post newspapers.
Djoré Nance is a bass who is poised for a major operatic and recital career of international scope. With the Opera Company of Brooklyn, Mr. Nance has performed Zuniga in Carmen, and Colline in La Boheme. He has studied with, among others, Marylin Horne, W. Stephen Smith, and Fred Carama. He holds a Bachelors of Music from the Juilliard School in Voice Performance. While at Juilliard, Mr. Nance performed the roles of Sarastro and the Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, and Rev. Olin Blitch in Susannah. His awards have included the Giulio Gari Foundation, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, and Opera Index.
Kenneth Overton, baritone, started off the 2009 season as Porgy(Porgy and Bess) with the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, followed by concert appearances in the same role with The Richmond Symphony and The Paducha Symphony. He also made his San Francisco Opera debut as Lawyer Frazier in the same opera. Upcoming engagements include the soloist in Handel's Messiah with The Norwalk Symphony and Verdi's Requiem at Montclaire State University and The Cathedral Basilica in NJ. Kenneth also made his Pensacola Opera debut this season in the world premier of David Ott's The Widow's Lantern and will return to Penscola Opera as Joe(Showboat). Later this season Kenneth reprises the role of Germont(La Traviata) in his return to Sacramento Opera in addition to Escamillo(Carmen) with Asheville Lyric Opera. The young baritone will also sing Zemlinsky's Lyric Suite with the Gulf Coast Symphony and Jake(Porgy and Bess) with the New Jersey State Opera.
Héctor Palacio, tenor, originally from Tabasco, Mexico, is a graduate in Sociology from the National University of Mexico where he also studied music, voice, and acting. He debuted in Sept. 1999 with Opera de Bellas Artes singing the Slave in Salome. Then, he sang Tonio, Edgardo, Rinuccio, Fenton, Rodolfo, Javier Moreno, Joseand Hoffmann. Sponsored and mentored by Martina Arroyo and her Foundation, he prepared Alfredo, Pinkerton, and Cavaradossi. He also received the sponsorship of SIVAM (supported by Domingo, with whom he sang as soloist in the Gala Latina 2001 at Bellas Artes), INBA and CONACULTA sponsored by the Mexican Government. Recent appearances: Alfredo, Regina Opera and Staten Island Ph.; Pollione, Metropolitan Lyric Theater; Rodolfo, Brooklyn Summer Op. Orch. and Eastern Festival Symphony Orch.; Canio, EFSO; Pinkerton, The Fujiwara Opera, Japan.
Christine Reimer, mezzo-soprano, is proud to be making her debut with Brooklyn Opera. Her international career has taken her to the Wexford Opera Festival in Ireland, as well as to Austria, Switzerland, and the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Originally from the San Francisco area, Ms. Reimer has sung with the San Francisco Opera, Marin Opera, and Oakland Opera companies. Her most recent work in New York was as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Schenectady and Utica Symphonies. Her varied repertoire includes Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, and the title role in Carmen.
Basia Revi, Mezzo-soprano holds Masters of Music degree with distinction from the Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland and MA from ACSM at Queens College. In Poland, she sang the roles of Third Lady, Olga, and the mezzo solo in Missa Criolla by A. Ramirez in televised performances. Most recently she performed the role of Balia and Madonna Montecchi with International Opera Theater in Italy. In 2007 she made her New York City Opera debut as a Spirit in a production of Cendrillon. Other roles: Giulietta and the Voice of the Mother in Martina Arroyos Prelude to Performance.
Nina Riley, soprano, heralded as "the kind of Despina one hopes for: diminutive, agile and with just the right clear, slender soprano voice"(NYTimes), has performed with OCB, Dell'arte Opera, Martina Arroyo Foundation, Project Opera of Manhattan, Chelsea Opera, Center City Opera, and Minato Mirai Opera in Japan. This fall: Javotte (Manon) with New York Lyric Opera Theater at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Gauchito (Gauchito and The Pony) with Queens Symphony Orchestra. Roles: Despina (Cosi Fan Tutte), Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte),Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), La Novizia (Suor Angelica), Mrs Hayes (Susannah), *Adina(L'elisir D'amore), and *Zerlina (Don Giovanni). *(cover)
Leslie Tay is a Singaporean character tenor who has performed in opera, oratorio, musical theater, choral, pop a cappella and theater. His operatic roles include Monostatos, Beppe, Don Basilio, Alfred, King Kaspar and Adalgiso (Tassilone). He has sung with Dicapo Opera, Bronx Opera, American Opera Projects, Opera Manhattan, Brooklyn Repertory Opera and Singapore Lyric Opera. He has created lead roles in original musicals by Singaporean playwright, Stella Kon and performed Banquo in Shakespeare's Macbeth with Singapore Repertory Theatre. Leslie holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music where he was in the studio of Arthur Levy.